More than 41,000 complaints of unlawful discrimination by employers were made to the employment tribunals in the 12 months to April 2007.
THE RISK OF FACING DISCRIMINATION CLAIMS
More than 41,000 complaints of unlawful discrimination by employers were made to the employment tribunals in the 12 months to April 2007, the last year for which figures are available. This represents a 100% increase over the previous two years.
The average awards for the three main areas were £10,052 to victims of sexual discrimination and harassment, £14,049 to victims of race discrimination, and £15,059 to those who had undergone disability discrimination. Unlike other areas of employment law, there are no upper limits on discrimination and harassment awards.
Some of these awards were made against the employing business alone, while others were split between the company and a named individual - almost always a colleague, and often a member of the management team.
If one of your employees makes racist comments to or sexually harasses a colleague, it is not enough to deal effectively with the aftermath. Only action taken beforehand can enable you to successfully defend a claim. Law At Work can give you the tools to control and eliminate these risks, avoid most claims altogether, and mount an effective defence in the event of a claim being made.
MANAGING AND REDUCING THE RISK
Our straightforward Discrimination Protection package includes everything necessary to protect companies from discrimination and harassment claims. When implemented, it will go a long way towards convincing an employment tribunal that the company has taken all the appropriate steps to prevent discrimination and harassment in the workplace. The package will also provide all employees, including managers, with much greater protection from personal liability.
It includes the following elements:
1 A thorough audit of the employer’s policies, procedures, and actual practices in all areas of discrimination law. 2 A complete overhaul of your documentation. 3 A training programme for senior management, line managers, and all employees to ensure they understand the company’s policies in this area. 4 A paper trail which the company can produce to show what has been done, and who has been trained in the event that a claim of discrimination or harassment is made by an aggrieved employee. 5 Certification for all staff who complete the training course.
WHAT TO DO TO GET PROTECTED
The price of the package starts at £1,500 plus VAT, and includes two days auditing, consultancy and training. This is a fraction of the cost of a single successful average complaint against a company. Larger companies may require more than two days for delivery, and the price will depend on the size of the workforce, and the scale of the work required to implement the package fully.
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