Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps her department is taking to improve the protection for people who have experienced (a) bullying, (b) harassment and (c) disability discrimination at work.

The Equality Act 2010 provides strong protection by prohibiting direct and indirect discrimination by an employer against a disabled employee because of disability. The Act also prohibits harassment of an employee by their employer for reasons related to their disability.

The 2010 Act additionally places a reasonable adjustment duty on employers that could be relevant, for example, to how duties are allocated or to how a promotion exercise is conducted. For example, ensuring internal job application forms are accessible to visually impaired employees and job interviews are accessible to the deaf or hard of hearing.

Although bullying is not expressly prohibited in legislation, this unacceptable behaviour can manifest as unlawful harassment. Additionally, employees are protected from constructive dismissal in the employment rights legislation, where bullying can feature in the lead up to dismissal.

Where disabled employees, as defined under the 2010 Act, feel that they have been unfairly treated, they may discuss their concerns with the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas), which provides authoritative and impartial advice free to employees or employers in relation to employment discrimination issues via their website (http://www.acas.org.uk) and telephone helpline 0300 123 1100 or text relay service 18001 0300 123 1100. Acas also provides employees and employers with Early Conciliation to help them resolve/settle their workplace dispute without going to court.