Advo HR Consultant, Louise Herring, takes a closer look at the wide range of protections and responsibilities, whistleblowing and exposure to tribunals.

Quite often Advo advice will be dependent on whether an employee has any “Protected Characteristics”, but what exactly are these and, how do they apply to you as an employer?

Protected Characteristics are aspects of a person’s identity that are legally protected from unlawful discrimination under the Equality Act 2010. The Equality Act 2010 is a UK law that consolidates and strengthens previous anti-discrimination laws, aiming to protect individuals from unfair treatment and promote equality.

Therefore, the Equality act prohibits unlawful discrimination based on 9 protected characteristic which are detailed below:

• Age: This refers to a person’s age or age group.
• Disability: This covers physical or mental impairments that have a substantial and long-term negative effect on a person’s ability to do normal daily activities. A long-term condition is generally considered as anything over 12 months and the interpretation of disability is often subjective and can be up to an Employment Tribunal to determine.
• Gender reassignment: This protects people who are transitioning or have transitioned from one gender to another. This extends to those at any stage of the transition process, even before medical intervention
• Marriage and civil partnership: This protects people who are married or in a civil partnership.
• Pregnancy and maternity: This protects women who are pregnant or on maternity leave. This is extended to employees who have suffered a miscarriage.
• Race: This includes a person’s skin colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin.
• Religion or belief: This protects people who have a religion or philosophical belief.
• Sex: This refers to whether a person is biologically male or female.
• Sexual orientation: This protects members of the LQBTQ+ community i.e. who are lesbian, gay, bisexual etc.
• There is also something called associative discrimination, also known as discrimination by association. This occurs when someone is treated unfairly or negatively because of their connection to another person with a protected characteristic.

Employers have a duty to ensure that their employees are not discriminated against because of any of these protected characteristics.

This can be relevant to you as an employer where you are formally managing, or even dismissing, an employee particularly in an occasion where legal risk may appear to seem low, such as a probation period.

An employee can make a claim in an employment tribunal if they believe they have been discriminated against, harassed, or victimised because of a protected characteristic, regardless of their length of service.

Similarly, whistleblowing can add legal risk to what may seem a “safe” process or termination of employment.  Whistleblowing is when an employee reports suspected wrongdoing at work.  This can include illegal activities, unethical practices, or risks to health and safety.

An employee can whistleblow by reporting their concerns to their employer, a regulator, or another prescribed person or body. The disclosure must be made in the public interest, meaning it affects others beyond the whistle-blower.

It is important to have a trusted source to advise on these matters as they are often more complex and have nuances than they may first appear and talking a situation through with a trusted  professional can significantly reduce risk. That’s why the HR Team at Advo are here to take these complex matters and provide practical and commercial advice with supporting documentation to keep employers the right side of employment law.

Please speak to your Advo contact if you would like to know more about how we can support you with your HR needs