Sex (gender) is a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010 and applies equally to men and women.
Please note that this a different protected characteristic to:
which are all protected characteristics in their own right.
Treating an employee less favourably because of their sex, how their sex is perceived or the sex of someone they are associated with.
Provisions and criterion are applied equally to all employee, but disadvantage employees of a certain sex.
Unwanted conduct (of a sexual nature), which leads to less favourable treatment of an employee because they have rejected sexual harassment or been the victim of it.
The unwanted conduct must have the purpose or effect of violating a person’s dignity or creating an intimidating and humiliating environment for that individual.
Sexual harassment can include (but is not limited to):
As an employer, you should make sure all employees are aware of and understand what sort of behaviour would be considered sexual harassment. You should deal with any complaints of sexual harassment sensitively and compassionately, as employees may be very distressed and upset.
Where an employee suffers detrimental treatment due to the fact they have made a complaint or supported a complaint of discrimination or harassment.
There are six common areas in the workplace, where sex discrimination can occur:
When recruiting new staff, it is best to avoid stereotyping and make sure advertisements are open to all, avoiding references to any particular sex. You should bear in mind:
As an employer, you should be vigilant that there are no terms and conditions that disadvantage or exclude people because of their sex.
Employees should not be overlooked for promotion because of their sex. It would be discriminatory to only provide details of the promotion to one sex, discourage an employee from applying because of their sex, or refuse to promote an employee because they have previously raised a grievance about discrimination.
As an employer, you should be mindful that many women struggle to get promoted due to a lack of flexibility when they have caring responsibilities or being discouraged whether openly or privately from applying for promotions.
Training opportunities should be available to everyone – withholding training from certain sexes would be discriminatory. Employers should be mindful that training is also available for those inflexible or part-time working.
It is unlawful to dismiss someone because of their sex.
An employee cannot be selected for redundancy based on sex. You must be mindful that the redundancy selection criteria does not discriminate, paying extra attention to:
In exceptionally rare circumstances, it may be lawful for you to specify that job applicants must be of a certain sex. If this is the case, any such requirement must:
All of the criteria must be satisfied to meet the occupational requirement threshold. Specialist legal advice should be sought before claiming occupational requirement, as the criterion can be difficult to satisfy.
If, as an employer, you believe that a sex is underrepresented in your organisation, or applicants are disadvantaged or have specific needs related to their sex, you can take positive action.
Positive action does not mean that you treat one sex more favourably than the other. It means that you can remove barriers or disadvantages that may have been created in the workplace, as well as provide training and support for the underrepresented sex.