In a new survey by employment relations and arbitration body
ACAS the victims of religious and sexual orientation-related abuse
said that dispute resolution procedures tended to victimise them
even further, and usually resulted in their dismissal or
demotion.
"For a majority, dispute resolution procedures were seen to be
flawed, often exacerbating the experience of discrimination rather
than resolving it," said the report by the Institute for Employment
Studies, which carried out the survey for ACAS.
"One strong theme among both sets of claimants was the tendency
of their employers to respond to their complaint by seeing them as
the problem, rather than the victim of unfair treatment," it said.
"While religion or belief claimants were typically dismissed,
sexual orientation claimants tended to have involved disciplinary
action or demotion for work performance until they felt they had no
option but to resign."
The participants in the study said that Employment Tribunals
were a valuable way for their claims of ill treatment to receive an
objective hearing. In fact, they said, this motive outstripped a
desire for compensation, they said.
"Employment tribunal claims were generally submitted as a means
of seeking justice and to obtain an external confirmation of unfair
treatment, rather than as a way of gaining financial compensation,"
said the report.
The research tracks the progress of the Employment Equality
Regulations on sexual orientation and religion or belief, which
were made law in 2003. They made it unlawful for employers to
discriminate against employees on these grounds.
"These Employment Equality Regulations provide a further step
forward in outlawing discrimination in our workplaces," said Rita
Donaghy, chair of ACAS. "This is the first time since the new
regulations came into force that sexual orientation and religion or
belief at work has been subject to research. The findings shed new
light on these issues both from the employees' and employers'
perspective."
The research found that different groups faced different kinds
of discrimination. "Sexual orientation claims were more likely to
centre on bullying and harassment and religion or belief claims
more likely to relate to terms and conditions of work that made the
observance of religious practices impossible," said the report.
The survey also found that there was significant overlap between
the issues of race and religious belief. "Religion or belief
discrimination appears to be closely aligned with the race
discrimination: two-thirds of religion or belief discrimination
cases had race discrimination as a secondary [claim]," said the
report.
