What happens if you break the equality act

See all Drink Driving Victoria. Drink Driving Australian Capital Territory. Drink Driving South Australia. See all Drink Driving South Australia.

Drink Driving Tasmania. See all Drink Driving Tasmania. Drink Driving Western Australia. See all Drink Driving Western Australia. Drink Driving Northern Territory. See all Drink Driving Northern Territory. See all Traffic Law. Topics Offences Hoon Laws in Australia. Traffic Law Queensland. See all Traffic Law Queensland. Traffic Law New South Wales.

Traffic Law Victoria. See all Traffic Law Victoria. Traffic Law Australian Capital Territory. Traffic Law Tasmania. See all Traffic Law Tasmania. Traffic Law South Australia. See all Traffic Law South Australia. Traffic Law Western Australia. See all Traffic Law Western Australia. Traffic Law Northern Territory. See all Traffic Law Northern Territory.

See all Immigration. See all Compensation. Compensation Queensland. See all Compensation Queensland. Compensation New South Wales. See all Compensation New South Wales. Compensation Victoria. See all Compensation Victoria. Compensation Australian Capital Territory.

See all Compensation Australian Capital Territory. Compensation South Australia. The regulations also state that if you have a tendency to do any of the following things, these are not classed a disability:. The way your workplace is set up may make it harder for you to work than people without your mental health condition.

This could also be true of a service you use. If this is because of your disability, the service or employer may have to make reasonable adjustments.

This is when a service or employer makes changes to a service or job to make things easier for you. In all cases the reasonable adjustment must reduce the disadvantage that you have compared to people without a disability. What is reasonable for one organisation to offer may not be reasonable for another. Reasonable adjustments at work Employers should make reasonable adjustments for disabled people who would otherwise find it hard to work or apply for jobs. But you can only expect an employer to make adjustments if they know, or should reasonably be expected to know, about your condition.

There is no set list of what reasonable adjustments can be. You could also ask for some reasonable adjustments for your interview. They could include changing the room or the way the interviewer asks the questions. You can read more about suggested reasonable adjustments for people with mental health conditions by clicking on the link below. Talk to your employer about how your condition affects you.

You can discuss what would help you to overcome any problems. Your employer may refuse to make an adjustment that you think is reasonable. In this case you could consider taking action. See further down this page for further information on this. Billy works for a large supermarket chain. He has to drive to work every day. In the winter, he does not finish work until it is dark. He finds it very difficult to drive home in the dark. This is because he gets bad flashbacks of things that have happened in his past.

Billy tells his manager, who knows about his mental health condition. His manager refuses to change his working hours in the winter. This would allow him to drive home while it is still light outside. The supermarket is large, and it would be easy for his manager to arrange an earlier shift.

This could be a failure to provide reasonable adjustments. The employer could change his hours and it would help Billy. This is where someone treats you worse than others because of your disability.

It can be hard to prove direct discrimination. Louise has had bipolar disorder for all her adult life. She tries to get a loan from a loan company. She tells them that she has a mental health condition.

This may be direct discrimination. This is where there is a rule, criteria or practice that applies to everyone, but this rule means people with a disability are at a disadvantage. This will be discrimination unless the employer or service provider can justify it. We explain this in the next section. Erica has anxiety and irritable bowel syndrome.

This means that she needs toilet breaks more often than her colleagues. Her employer has a policy that staff are only allowed a total of three toilet breaks a day. This policy applies to all staff. But it has a bigger effect on some disabled staff including Erica. This policy may discriminate against Erica unless her employer can justify it.

To do this they need to show why they need this policy to run the service. This is where an employer or service provider treats you unfavourably because of something relating to your disability. You would need to show that you were treated unfavourably compared to someone without your particular disability and the difficulties that come with it. We have explained this in the next section. Roger has severe depression.

He takes antidepressants which make him tired and he sometimes comes into work late. He explains this to his employer. His employer thinks that this is unacceptable and dismisses Roger. This is unless the employer can give good reasons for the discrimination. It is a form of discrimination not to make reasonable adjustments.

We explained reasonable adjustments in the first section on this page. If someone does this to you because of your disability this is harassment.

Malia has paranoid schizophrenia and works in an office. Malia tells her employer about this, who ignores the situation. If you complain, or take other action under the Equality Act, and people mistreat you this is victimisation. The Equality Act protects people who make a discrimination complaint.

Indirect discrimination and discrimination arising from a disability can affect a disabled person. We explain this sentence below. Legitimate means valid. Something is likely to be a valid aim if it is fair and reasonable. When a service or employer is thinking about their aims, they should make sure they are fair. They should try to reach their aim in a way that discriminates the least.

Rosa works for an organisation where all employees must work from 9am to 5pm. Rosa takes medication for depression which makes her sleepy. This makes it difficult for Rosa to get to work on time and she is sometimes late and gets told off. Rosa asks for different working hours, from 10am to 6pm, so that she can start and leave work later. Her employer says no. This could be indirect discrimination. They also say that the business needs Rosa to be at work from 9am to 5pm. They say there would be no work for her to do after 5pm.

However, the law says that these rules are fair and legal. This may affect you when you apply for a job or try to use a service. The person you are dealing with is unlikely to know that you have a disability. This means they may not know that you might need reasonable adjustments. You may not want to tell anyone about your mental illness when you are using services such as shops. But you may have more problems than others because of your mental illness.

You can tell services about your condition. If you tell them, the Equality Act may protect you from discrimination. These powers include helping individual people with their legal cases; and taking regulatory action against organisations that appear to have broken the law.

A: There is advice and guidance on this website, but it is up to a court to decide if a particular set of circumstances break the law. If you are considering legal action we suggest you find a solicitor or lawyer to help you with your case.

In a few instances the Commission may help people with their cases if it is an area of equality that is unclear or if it is a set of circumstances where a clear win would help to improve the lives of many by setting a new precedent in case law. A: Further information on the Act can be found on our Equality Act page. The Equality Act and explanatory notes are on the Home Office website. This government department has also produced a number of quick start guides.

What is the purpose of the Equality Act ? Who is protected by the Act? What behaviour is unlawful? In Macy v. Altitude Express, Inc. In Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins , U. The Court reasoned that employment decisions that punished an employee for not conforming to traditional cultural stereotypes constituted an employment decision made on the basis of sex. The Court then expanded the scope of its logical framework in Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services, Inc. It found unlawful sex discrimination under Title VII where a male employee was severely sexually harassed for his perceived femininity by other male employees and male superiors.

A federal jury found that the University had unlawfully discriminated against Tudor based on her sex by punishing her non-conformance to gender stereotypes. Harris Funeral Homes Inc.