If you think the newspapers are already full of stories of people taking their employers to court, you may be in for a shock in the future. Figures show that the number of applications to employment tribunals has risen by 17% during the last year alone.
Neill Thomas, partner at employment law specialists, Thomas Mansfield LLP, says: ìPeople are becoming increasingly aware of their rights. They read about companies like Merrill Lynch being sued for 7million or the recent case of a trainee sales executive in Sevenoaks winning almost 180,000 for sexual harassment and they start to think about whether it could apply to them.
ìA recent snapshot survey we carried out across 100 companies showed that fifty six per cent of them do not actively train their staff in their companyís equal opportunities or diversity policy. This could leave them liable to huge payouts if employees make a successful claimî.Although 16% of the companies surveyed had received complaints against discrimination in the last five years, 17% of their equal opportunities policies did not cover discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and 12% did not cover discrimination on the grounds of religious belief. Employment legislation is the driving force behind training in the workplace. New laws are being introduced by the European Commission that will make it illegal for an employer to discriminate on the grounds of race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, religion or (by 2006) age.
Many companies are unaware that they are liable for any discriminatory acts committed by their employees or, that in order to provide a statutory defence against such claims, they would need to demonstrate that they had taken ìall reasonable and practicable stepsî to train their staff. Many smaller firms and companies would be unlikely to survive a large compensation payment or to have insurance against it.But doesnít this just encourage employees to make claims unnecessarily. Neill Thomas doesnít think so.ìWe are certainly not encouraging people to make claims unnecessarily. Weíve recently produced an in-house training package which employers can use to train employees on their equal opportunities/diversity policy and to discourage the sort of behaviour that can lead to accusations of harassment,î he says. However if all else fails, we also have a follow up package which will train employees and employees in their rights and responsibilities if they are involved in an internal disciplinary process.
The new regulations, which came into force on 1 October, impose a new 13 step procedure which must be followed or employers will automatically lose at employment tribunals.
Both video/DVD training packages are available to buy or to hire from Thomas Mansfield LLP on 0208 681 8140 or from info@thomasmansfield.com.
Harassment Claims: are you covered?
Survey reveals fifty six percent of companies could be liable for discrimination payouts
