Awareness raising

Discrimination at work.  It's so over.

What is this new law?

Changes in the law now mean that people don’t have to suffer at work because of their sexual orientation. With these laws, there are now three sorts of unfair treatment that people don’t have to put up with:

1. Direct discrimination: anything that’s OK for straight employees is now OK for gay, lesbian and bisexual employees. If straight employees are allowed to hold hands at work, for example, so are gay couples. Obviously, if straight employees aren’t allowed to do it, that also applies to gay staff.

2. Indirect discrimination: this means employers can’t hand out goodies, perks, promotions to straight employees that gay, lesbian and bisexual staff can’t benefit from. If straight people’s partners are invited to a work do, the same applies to gay, lesbian and bisexual staff.

3. Harassment: employers or colleagues who think they can make someone’s life hell by generally creating an atmosphere no lesbian, gay man or bisexual would want to be in, have got another thing coming.

Stonewall launches guide to help small businesses protect gay staff and access the £70bn 'pink pound'

Similar to other Stonewall guides supported by the DTI, Gay People, Your Business: What small employers need to know, provides plain English advice on the 2003 Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations and is also endorsed by The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and Acas.

The first of its kind, this punchy A5-sized guide explains to managers and owners of smaller businesses how the legislation impacts them and gives tips on how they can go beyond compliance and instead be competitive in today’s market by using case studies from actual small businesses.

Stonewall produced this guide as many smaller employers have yet to completely integrate the legislation into their practices and even fewer are capitalising on the pink pound, estimated to be worth £70 billion. To read more, download the guide here or request a hard copy by emailing workplace@stonewall.org.uk or calling 020 7593 1850.

How does it work with enforcement?

If the worst comes to the worst there is a tribunal with powers to give the victims cash from employers as compensation.  Lesbians, gay men and bisexuals who have been discriminated against because of their sexual orientation can submit a complaint to an employment tribunal.

The burden of proof lies on the employer. This means that rather than the employee proving there has been discrimination, the employer has to demonstrate that they have not violated the law.

Find out more:

I'm an employee and I want to know more.  Click here to read our Employee Toolkit. 

I'm an employer and I want to know more.  Click here to read our Sexual Orientation Employer Handbook.  Click here for the Welsh language insert. 

The Employee Toolkit is also available in 12 languages and the Guidelines for Employers is also available in Welsh. Click here to see the non english language versions of these guides.

If you’d like to learn more about The Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003, please click here.