Your Rights to Equality at Work: When You Apply for a Job

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Your Rights to Equality at Work: When You Apply for a Job GUIDANCE Your Rights to Equality at Work: When You Apply for a Job Equality Act 2010 Guidance for Employees Volume 1 of 6 Equality and Human Rights Commission www.equalityhumanrights.com Your Rights to Equality at Work: When You Apply for a Job Contents Introduction .............................................................................................................. 4 Other guides and alternative formats ................................................................... 4 The legal status of this guidance.......................................................................... 5 What’s in this guide .............................................................................................. 5 What else is in this guide ..................................................................................... 6 1 | Your rights not to be discriminated against at work: what this means for how an employer must behave towards you ................................................... 7 Are you a worker or a job applicant? .................................................................... 7 Protected characteristics ...................................................................................... 7 What is unlawful discrimination? .......................................................................... 8 Questions about health or disability ................................................................... 11 Situations where equality law is different ........................................................... 14 What’s next in this guide .................................................................................... 18 Job adverts ........................................................................................................ 18 Information about what the job involves and what skills, qualities and experience a person will need to do it ........................................... 20 Application forms and CVs ................................................................................. 22 The shortlisting process ..................................................................................... 25 Interviews, meetings and tests ........................................................................... 26 Your rights if you are pregnant or on maternity leave ........................................ 31 Monitoring forms ................................................................................................ 32 Positive action and recruitment .......................................................................... 34 Public sector equality duty and human rights ..................................................... 38 2 | When your employer is responsible for what other people do .................... 39 When the employer can be held legally responsible for someone else’s unlawful discrimination, harassment or victimisation ............................... 39 How the employer can reduce the risk that they will be held legally responsible ............................................................................................. 41 When the employer’s workers or agents may be personally liable..................... 41 What happens if the discrimination is done by a person who is not a worker of your employer or their agent .......................................... 42 Equality and Human Rights Commission · www.equalityhumanrights.com 2 Updated May 2014 Your Rights to Equality at Work: When You Apply for a Job What happens if a person instructs someone else to do something that is against equality law ................................................................ 43 What happens if a person helps someone else to do something that is against equality law ................................................................ 43 What happens if an employer tries to stop equality law applying to a situation .. 44 3 | The employer’s duty to make reasonable adjustments to remove barriers for disabled people .......................................................................................... 45 Which disabled people does the duty apply to? ................................................. 47 How can the employer find out if you are a disabled person? ............................ 47 The three requirements of the duty .................................................................... 48 Are you at a substantial disadvantage as a disabled person? ........................... 49 Changes to policies and the way an organisation usually does things ............... 50 Dealing with physical barriers ............................................................................ 51 Providing extra equipment or aids ...................................................................... 51 Making sure an adjustment is effective .............................................................. 52 Who pays for reasonable adjustments ? ............................................................ 52 What is meant by ‘reasonable’ ........................................................................... 53 Reasonable adjustments in practice .................................................................. 55 Specific situations .............................................................................................. 60 4 | What to do if you believe you’ve been discriminated against ..................... 62 Your choices ...................................................................................................... 63 Was what happened against equality law? ........................................................ 64 Asking for feedback ........................................................................................... 65 Making a complaint ............................................................................................ 65 Monitoring the outcome ..................................................................................... 65 The questions procedure ................................................................................... 66 Key points about discrimination cases in a work situation ................................. 67 Where claims are brought .................................................................................. 67 Time limits for bringing a claim........................................................................... 69 The standard and burden of proof ...................................................................... 70 What the Employment Tribunal can order the employer to do ........................... 71 Settling a dispute ............................................................................................... 72 Where to find out more about making a tribunal claim ....................................... 74 5 | Further sources of information and advice ................................................... 75 Glossary .................................................................................................................. 84 Contacts ................................................................................................................ 102 Equality and Human Rights Commission · www.equalityhumanrights.com 3 Updated May 2014 Your Rights to Equality at Work: When You Apply for a Job Introduction This guide is one of a series written by the Equality and Human Rights Commission to explain your rights under equality law. These guides support the introduction of the Equality Act 2010. This Act brings together lots of different equality laws, many of which we have had for a long time. By doing this, the Act makes equality law simpler and easier to understand. There are six guides giving advice on your rights under equality law when you are at work, whether you are an employee or in another legal relationship to the person or organisation you are working for. The guides look at the following work situations: 1. When you apply for a job 2. Working hours and time off 3. Pay and benefits 4. Promotion, transfer, training and development 5. When you are being managed 6. Dismissal, redundancy, retirement and after you’ve left Other guides and alternative formats We have also produced: • A separate series of guides which explain your rights in relation to people and organisations providing services, carrying out public functions or running an association. • Different guides explaining the responsibilities people and organisations have if they are employing people to work for them or if they are providing services, carrying out public functions or running an association. If you require this guide in an alternative format and/or language please contact us to discuss your needs. Contact details are available at the end of the publication. Equality and Human Rights Commission · www.equalityhumanrights.com 4 Updated May 2014 Your Rights to Equality at Work: When You Apply for a Job The legal status of this guidance This guidance applies to England, Scotland and Wales. It has been aligned with the Codes of Practice on Employment and on Equal Pay. Following this guidance should have the same effect as following the Codes and may help employers and others to avoid an adverse decision by a tribunal in proceedings brought under the Equality Act 2010. This guide is based on equality law as it is at 6 April 2014. Any future changes in the law will be reflected in further editions. This guide was last updated in May 2014. You should check with the Equality and Human Rights Commission if it has been replaced by a more recent version. What’s in this
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