People who are looking after someone who is elderly or disabled are now protected against direct discrimination or harrassment because of their caring responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010. This is because they are counted as being ‘associated’ with someone who is protected by the law because of their age or disability.

The Equality Act 2010 replaced the existing anti-discrimination laws with a single Act – it not only simplified the law, removing inconsistencies, but it also strengthened it in key ways to tackle discrimination and inequality.

Employers in the UK must therefore now ensure they do not discriminate against the three million carers in the workforce by treating them differently to other workers, or subjecting them to harassment. For example by:

• not offering someone a job because of their caring responsibilities
• not offering an employee a promotion because of their caring responsibilities

The Government Equalities Office, in partnership with the British Chambers of Commerce, Citizens Advice, ACAS and the Equality and Diversity Forum, published a series of summary and “quick start” guides on the key changes in the law to support the implementation of the Act.

To help employers and managers get to grips with the law on equality, ACAS published three free guides offering a wide range of practical advice in the workplace: Equality and discrimination: understand the basics; Prevent discrimination: support equality; and Discrimination: what to do if it happens.

ACAS, also produced a guide (Dec 2015) to help employers and managers identify, tackle and prevent disability discrimination in the workplace. This guide ‘Disability discrimination: key points for the workplace’ helps employers get to grips with what disability means, how it can happen and how to prevent and manage complaints in the workplace.

There are two parts of the guide of particular interest to Employers for Carers members. Firstly is the section covering direct discrimination by association and uses an example of an employee caring for her husband who finds that on returning to work after taking some time off to care, her fixed-term contract is not renewed because the employer feels her role as a carer makes her unreliable in her job. This cannot be justified and is unlawful. 

The second area of key interest is the section on disability stereoptypes. This explains that: “employers and employees should not make assumptions about colleagues or job applicants who care outside of the workplace for a disabled person – maybe a child, someone else in the family or a partner. For example, this might include assumptions about how much of their job an employee may/may not get through when they also have caring responsibilities outside of work. Whether intended or not, stereotyping often has negative connotations and repercussions.”

Background to the Equality Act: The Sharon Coleman case

The rights gained by the Equality Act in 2010 are based on a landmark case taken by Sharon Coleman, who cares for her son who has a serious health condition.

In November 2008 the Employment Tribunal in London ruled that protection for carers against discrimination “by association with disability” can be given under existing UK law, paving the way for carers to make immediate tribunal claims against their employers if they are treated unfairly.

This follows the ruling of the European Court of Justice in July 2008 in the case of Sharon Coleman, a carer who claimed that she was discriminated against and harassed because she had a disabled son and was treated less favourably than employees whose children weren’t disabled. The Court ruled that the laws which protect disabled people against discrimination not only apply to the person themselves, but also to their carer.

The Employment Tribunal needed to decide if new legislation was required to effect this change, which would have meant that protection was only available from the future point at which the new law was brought into force. By ruling that protection can be offered under existing law, all current claims such as Sharon’s can proceed to a full hearing.