Equality, diversity and human rights

New and updated

• Date:

  4 October 2021

  Type:

  Commentary and insights

  Understanding and accommodating non-binary identities within the workplace

  What does non-binary mean? The term, which has been more widely used in recent years, is used to refer to the identity of individuals whose gender identity falls outside the socially normalised male/female gender binary. This identity is often misunderstood. Georgie Williams explains what it means to describe oneself as non-binary, and the changes that employers can implement to accommodate this variation from the socially encouraged gender binary.

• Type:

  Employment law cases

  Sex discrimination: Mishandling of flexible working request leads to £184,961 award

  In Thompson v Scancrown Ltd (t/a as Manors), the employment tribunal awarded £184,961 for indirect sex discrimination to an estate agent who resigned following the mishandling of her request for flexible working on her return from maternity leave.

• Date:

  16 September 2021

  Type:

  Commentary and insights

  Could long COVID meet the definition of disability?

  While not formally recognised as a disability, the effect long COVID may have on a person's ability to work may mean it should be considered as such. Hollie Ryan, senior associate at Stevens & Bolton LLP, looks at the support employers may need to offer staff with persistent symptoms to avoid legal claims.

• Type:

  Employment law cases

  Requirement for role to be office based was indirect disability discrimination by association

  In Follows v Nationwide Building Society, the employment tribunal held that requiring the senior manager, who is the primary carer for her disabled mother, to be office based amounted to indirect disability discrimination by association.

• Type:

  Employment law guide

  Human rights

  This resource is kept under review and updated in line with developments.

• Type:

  Employment law cases

  Reasonable adjustments in the workplace: Employment tribunal round-up

  We look at four recent tribunal decisions where employers were found to have breached the duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled workers under the Equality Act 2010.

• Type:

  Employment law cases

  Sex discrimination: Male directors dismissed to improve gender pay gap

  In Bayfield and another v Wunderman Thompson (UK) Ltd and others, an employment tribunal upheld the sex discrimination and unfair dismissal claims of two male directors who were dismissed after the advertising agency vowed to "obliterate" its reputation as a "Knightsbridge boys club".

• Date:

  27 July 2021

  Type:

  Commentary and insights

  Unconscious bias training: Make your strategy and workshops a success

  In his second article on unconscious bias training, Gareth Buchanan sets out the practical steps that you can take to make your unconscious bias training a success and to maximise the impact it has on your organisation's diversity and inclusion strategy.

• Date:

  22 July 2021

  Type:

  Podcasts and webinars

  Webinar: Diversity and inclusion - closing the gap between rhetoric and action

  Committing to a more diverse and inclusive workplace is one thing. Achieving it is another. In this webinar, you will learn how to bridge the gap between your organisation's good intentions and meaningful action - without fear of getting things wrong.

• Date:

  20 July 2021

  Type:

  Commentary and insights

  Six steps to embedding a diversity and inclusion strategy

  Having a diverse and inclusive workplace is important not only ethically but also for improving employee morale, boosting innovation and enhancing business success. We set out six practical steps that employers can take to embed diversity and inclusion in the workplace.