Gender Reassisgnment
Advice
What is Gender Reassignment Discrimination?
Gender discrimination is when a person is treated less favourably than another in the workplace by your employer or other employees due to your gender, in a commercial society that values and appreciates the diversity of its employees, the workplace must reflect a group that does not discriminate against their own.
Overview of Gender Reassignment Discrimination
The Equality Act 2010 prohibits discrimination against gender reassignment. In this kind of discrimination, employers are biased against you because you changed the sex you were born with. This legislation also covers gender transitions that have not taken place under medical supervision. Non-binary individuals (those who identify as neither male nor female) are also protected by the legislation if they are thought to be considering or going through gender reassignment.
How does Gender discrimination happen?
You can be classified as having suffered discrimination based on your gender if someone in the workplace treats you differently because you were absent during your working hours to attend therapy sessions or if you are sick because you are recuperating from the transition. You may also be discriminated against based on your reassignment. This may take the form of insults to your status as a transgender or gender-fluid individual or may even escalate to physical abuse.
What the Employer can do to avoid gender discrimination at work?
A ‘transgender or non-binary person is not required to tell their employer about their gender identity if they do not wish to do so. However, the employer should consider each situation and examine any required amendments that may be needed to placate the individual concerned.
This is a contentious issue as many staff may feel extremely uncomfortable, for instance, female gym users who are forced to share a changing room with a man who has yet to have their penis removed. The male may have told management about their “planned identity change” just to get access to a female changing room, if denied access they may claim discrimination. Because of such instances, employers need to be extremely careful not to accidentally cause a discrimination claim. Using toilets in the workplace is another similar concern.
If the employer had not been alerted to the planned or potential change then it would be impossible for them to make such arrangements, therefore it would be unfair for an employer to face a claim of discrimination if they were not made aware of the planned change.
Using a protected characteristic to their advantage
There have been instances where a transgender has clearly and deliberately sought employment wih the intention to abuse the Equality Act. They would initially join a union, then wait until employed for a short while before informing the empoyer of their planned gender identity change. The employer has to take such notice seriously even , regardless of whether the employee has any real intent to go through with the change.
They would then seek to:-
- Take substantial time off for counselling and to deal with stress and anxiety;
- If they go through with the physical aspects of the change then they will take a substantial absence to allow for recovery time (both physically and mentally) after surgery;
- Insist on using toilets or changing rooms for their chosen gender, this can cause great upset when a man who identifies as female insists on using the ladies toilets or changing rooms. Ladies using these room would, in most cases, would feel "uncomfortable" seeing a person with male genitalia in these areas.
- There have been cases where the situation aboive has been used by individuals to gain access to such areas for sexual gratification.
- This tactic again puts the employer in an impossible situation as any potential soultion can be used to start another employemt discrimination claim..
If the employer does not bow down to every reqest then they can expect the employee to get their unions legal department to file for substantial time off while the matter is investigated, during this time they will seek to receive full pay. If they do eventually return to work (in all likelihood after being awarded compensation for stress) then it would not matter how well they performed or abused their position the employer would be scared to sack them in case then did they used their protected status again at an employment tribunal.
At this time there is copious legislation to protect transgenders from abuse, granting them employment protection that is not afforded to persons who are happy with their born gender. The "positive discrimination" created by the Equality Act is abused and puts the employer in an impossible situation, knowing that the employee will play the discrimination card at any opportunity. Whilst there is copious legislation to protect trangender employees in the workplace there is no legislation protecting employers from these tactics.
Time off for medical procedures
Whilst employers should note that the person may have counselling or medical appointments the employee should also be fair in return and book such appointments in their own time. It would be unfair for an employee to expect to be paid for time off to have other elective procedures (those not medically needed but done through personal choice, such as having a tattoo done, having a haircut, have their nails done etc) done on company time.
How we can help
To gain our assistance you need to open a case, this is done by taking advantage of our free consultation service, activated by the link at the top of the page, should you wish to start a case the caseworker will send you the suitable payment link.
Please note your caseworker can only give generic advice, their role is to prepare your details for handling by our legal team and to act as your point of contact, they will also issue you with your Password and PIN, these will be needed to log onto your client dashboard. From your dashboard you will be able to manage and view every aspect of your case, upload documents, images, files etc.