Workplace discrimination
Workplace discrimination falls into two categories direct and
indirect. Direct workplace discrimination occurs if you have been
dismissed, demoted, disadvantaged or treated badly at work because
of your:
- race
- sex
- age
- disability or impairment
- pregnancy
- family or carer's responsibilities
- marital status
- union or industrial activity
- religion
- sexual orientation
- political belief or activity
- personal association with someone who has, or is assumed to
have, one of the above characteristics, or
- making a complaint or inquiry about your employment.
Indirect discrimination occurs where a condition, requirement or
practice is imposed that you and a higher proportion of people with
your attribute cannot be comply with and a higher proportion of
people without the attribute can or do comply with. The
condition, requirement or practice must also be unreasonable.
For example, requirement that you regularly attend staff meetings
outside of school hours could amount to indirect
discrimination.
To prove workplace discrimination it is not enough that you are
being treated unfairly or differently from your colleagues.
You must also show that the treatment is linked to one of the above
attributes.
Types of conduct that might constitute less favorable treatment
include:
Reasonable adjustments/ Accommodations
In some circumstances your employer may have a
positive obligation to accommodate you. For
example your employer might have an obligation to accommodate you
if you have a disability, impairment or injury in order to assist
you to do your job. These obligations can extend to employers
having to accommodate flexible working arrangements to accommodate
carer's responsibilities. For example, if you are a parent or
carer your employer might have an obligation to allow you to work
from home on particular days. Failure to do so could amount
to workplace discrimination.
Victimisation
If you have made a complaint, brought proceedings or acted as a
witness in someone else's claim for workplace discrimination it is
unlawful for any person including your employer to treat you badly
or take any other adverse action against you. If you believe you
have been victimised for making a complaint about workplace
discrimination contact us on 1800 810 856 to
arrange an appointment.
What are my rights in relation to workplace
discrimination?
Workplace discrimination is addressed by different State and
Federal laws including:
- the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth)
- the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth)
- the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth)
- the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth)
- the Equal Opportunity Act 1995 (Vic)
- the Anti-discrimination Act 1977 (NSW)
- the Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 (Qld)
Our team of discrimination lawyers can advise you whether you
have a discrimination or victimisation claim under State or Federal
Discrimination laws. Under discrimination laws, it may be
possible to seek compensation, reinstatement or injunctions against
your employer or ex-employer.
In a discrimination claim, you can seek compensation for lost
wages, pain, suffering, hurt and distress. In some cases, you
may be able to seek penalties and injunctions. The
overwhelming number of workplace discrimination cases resolve prior
to trial.
Click here for details on how we successfully obtained orders from VCAT against a company that
illegally discriminated against one of its workers in breach of the
Equal Opportunity Act.
Click here for details on how we obtained a
record penalty against the Commonwealth Bank for breach of the
Workplace Relations Act 1996.
What can I do about workplace discrimination?
In addition to seeking legal advice, you can also do a number of
simple things which may assist. They include:
- Keep a diary. Take notes of all the workplace
bullying and harassment that happens to you, when it happens and
who the perpetrator is.
- Be informed. Make sure you have a copy
of your contract of employment, enterprise agreement and workplace
policies and procedures that deal with occupational health and
safety and/or bullying and harassment.
- If you are a union member contact your
union. Many unions are experienced in dealing with
workplace bullying and harassment. If the workplace bullying
and harassment is affecting a number of employees there are
advantages to addressing it collectively.
- Speak to your occupational health and safety
representative. Your occupational health and safety
representative should be able to give you advice and information
about occupational health and safety including workplace bullying
and harassment.
- Address the situation early. Employees
who are subject to workplace bullying and harassment often put the
issue to one side and wait before it gets really bad before
addressing it. By this time the employee may have already
suffered a work related stress injury or continuing in employment
might not be a realistic option.
- Make a complaint. Employees who make a
complaint or inquiry in relation to their employment are protected
from adverse action. It is better if the complaint is in
writing as this will be easier to use as evidence should the need
arise. When writing a complaint stick to the key points and
keep the complaint concise. Ten well thought out points can
often be more effective that ten pages of writing.
- Take care of your health. Your mental
and physical health is very important. If workplace bullying
and harassment is affecting you make sure you see your doctor about
it.
- Seek advice. Working out which legal or
practical decisions to make can be difficult with workplace
bullying and harassment cases.
Remember, time limits apply in making applications so get advice
as soon as you can.
Want to know more?
Our team of experts have taken a number of workplace
discrimination cases against small and large companies. Most cases
are settled on a confidential basis before they reach court.
It is important that you seek legal advice prior to making any
decisions. Our team of experienced employment lawyers have
acted in many workplace discrimination claims, and we can advise
you in your decision.