Discrimination - your rights and what to do

By Hanna Davies , Solicitor at Hugh James .

You should never feel as if you are at a detriment during your employment due to your sex and there are a number of legal rights in place to prevent this.

Increasing numbers of young women are being discriminated against at work with racially minoritised young women facing discrimination on multiple levels.

An employer must not discriminate against a person during their employment (such as offering promotions, training or benefits) but also in any recruitment or dismissal processes. Employees, job applicants and former employees are all protected against experiencing discrimination by their employer, a potential employer, or former employer.

An overview of the main types of discrimination and your legal protections can be found at this link.

Practical tips for young women dealing with discrimination at work

Here is a list of tips including how to handle discrimination at work, protecting yourself against workplace discrimination and how to prove you are being discriminated against.

• Keep records – please ensure that you keep written records of all instances which you consider to be discriminatory. This can also include you making a note of meetings and conversations.
• Gather Evidence – such as written records, correspondence, policies and procedures etc. You should also consider making a Data Subject Access Request which will require your employer to provide you with any data that they have in relation to you including emails between other employees.
• Raise the issue informally – you should firstly consider dealing with the matter informally by raising the issue with your employer.
• Raise a grievance – if your employer has not reacted to your complaint in a satisfactory manner, if the discriminatory behaviour continues or if the instance of discrimination is particularly bad, you should consider raising a formal grievance. Please ensure that you raise the grievance in line with your employer’s grievance procedure.
• Contact Acas – before lodging a claim at tribunal, you will be required to contact Acas to start the early conciliation process, which allows you to solve the issue with a conciliator. If you have not reached a satisfactory outcome, such as a settlement or changed behaviour, Acas will provide you with a certificate which will allow you to lodge a claim at tribunal. Please ensure that you contact Acas within three months less than one day from the date of the act of discrimination.
• Tribunal claims – if you have been unable to resolve the issue informally or through the grievance procedure, you may need to consider lodging a tribunal claim. Please be aware that a tribunal cannot change the way in which you have been treated but can provide the following remedies:
• Compensation – financial compensation for the way in which you have been treated.
• A declaration – confirmation from the tribunal that you have been treated in a discriminatory manner.
• A recommendation – on the steps of reducing the effect of the discriminatory treatment.

Legal support

It can be a difficult process for young women to seek legal advice but we recommend to always seek support. Legal professionals are there to advise you on how to deal with acts of discrimination, even before it reaches the tribunal. This can be in dealing with a complaint informally, negotiating with your employer to reach a settlement or assisting with a tribunal claim.

Legal advice can be costly but both Acas and the Citizen’s Advice Bureau are a good starting point.

If you would like more detailed legal advice, you can contact the Law Society, who can point you in the right direction of law firms in your area.

You can also explore support from specialist employment law solicitors for tailored legal advice on your situation.

Additional employment rights

• Your right to equal pay: Men and women should receive equal pay for equal work i.e. work which is of the same value. Always consider whether you are being paid equally for the work that you are undertaking and contact Acas if you have any concerns.

• Sexual harassment: A new act will come into force in October which introduces a legal obligation on employers to take reasonable steps to protect their workers from sexual harassment.

• Pregnancy and maternity discrimination: There are specific protections in place for women who are pregnant, on maternity leave or returning from maternity leave.

There are a number of legal protections in place to prevent discrimination in the workplace. If you ever have any concerns, you do not need to put up with such behaviour. Please reach out to your line manager, HR department, trade union, legal representative or friends and family who are there to help you.