Equality at work

This section details the main legislation in relation to equality at work.

Discrimination legislation on the Isle of Man provides wide protection where the unlawful treatment is on the grounds of sex or marital status. Other grounds are covered in a more limited manner as laid out below. However, the Department is consulting on introducing wider protection via the Employment Equality Bill – see Open Consultations.

There is a clear business case for treating people fairly and having a workforce which includes people with a variety of characteristics. Organisations with a diverse workforce are best placed to understand and respond to the needs of the widest possible customer base and are drawing on the talents of all of the community.

Sex Discrimination

Employment (Sex Discrimination) Act 2000 - It is unlawful to discriminate in employment on the grounds of sex or marital status. Discrimination may occur at recruitment, promotion, training, dismissal or post employment stages.

The Equal Pay provisions in the legislation require employers to treat men and women the same for purposes of pay and other terms of their contracts of employment where the woman is doing:

the same or broadly similar work to that of a male colleague; or
a job which has been graded equivalent to that of a male colleague under a job evaluation scheme.

Rights for Working Parents

Flexible Working

Employees who meet certain criteria as to length of service are entitled to request to work flexibly, for example part time or term time, in order to care for a dependant. ‘Dependant’ is defined in the Employment Act 2006. The right is detailed in the Flexible Working Regulations 2007. There are procedures that must be followed by the employer and employee.
In addition the Employment (Sex Discrimination) Act 2000 enables workers to challenge a refusal to allow them to work family friendly hours which would enable them to manage family responsibilities. More information is available here.

Maternity and Paternity Rights

For information on rights for working parents please see here.

Less favourable treatment of a woman for a reason relating to pregnancy or maternity may constitute sex discrimination.

Religion or Belief Discrimination

It is unlawful to dismiss an employee on the grounds that he or she

professes or does not profess a particular religious belief,
is or is not a member of a particular religious denomination, or
attends or does not attend religious worship of a particular kind.

The Act contains some exceptions and the dismissal may be lawful if the employer can show it was justifiable. Other aspects of the employment relationship, that is recruitment or less favourable treatment during employment, are not covered by this legislation.

Employment Act 2006 s. 126

Race Discrimination

It is unlawful to dismiss an employee on the ground of his or her race on the ground of racial discrimination. This covers the following two circumstances:

direct discrimination: where the employer treats the employee less favourably than if he or she had been of another racial group;
indirect discrimination: where the employer applies a standard which, although applied to all employees, can be met only by a considerably lower proportion of the employee's racial group, cannot be justified irrespective of the colour, race, nationality or ethnic or national origins of the person to whom it is applied, and cannot be met by the employee.

Employment Act 2006 s. 125

Sexual Orientation Discrimination

It is unlawful to dismiss an employee on the ground of his or her sexual orientation. Sexual orientation is defined as an orientation towards

persons of the same sex
persons of the opposite sex, or
persons of the same sex and of the opposite sex.

The legislation does not make any provision for exceptions to the principle on non-discrimination.

Employment Act 2006 s.127

Part Time Workers

Part-time workers have the right not to be less favourably treated than comparable full-time workers, unless the difference in treatment can be objectively justified.

Protection from Harassment Act 2000

Bullying involving violence may amount to criminal assault. In addition, there are criminal sanctions against harassment in both the Public Order Act 1998 and the Protection from Harassment Act 2000.

The latter Act also permits a victim or potential victim of harassment to bring civil proceedings, including application for an injunction against the harasser. An employer can be liable for the consequences of any harassment committed by an employee in the course of his or her employment in breach of the Act. An offending course of conduct under the Act must involve conduct on at least 2 occasions. Some forms of harassment could be a criminal offence under this legislation.

Copies of the legislation are available from the Tynwald Library Tel: 685520. Email: enquiries@tynwald.org.im.

Disability and Age Discrimination in Employment

Discrimination in employment on the grounds of age and disability are not explicitly covered by employment legislation. See below for the Department's proposals in these areas.

The DTI's Disability Employment Service provides support for disabled people who are already in the workplace or who are looking for work.

The Disability Access Office can help with any access issues from Disability Awareness Training to Building Audits. Telephone 619937 or email accessoffice@manx.net .

Access information for a number of organisations and businesses on the Isle of Man is provided via DisabledGo.

Goods and Services Discrimination

The DTI has responsibility for introducing legislation about how people are treated in employment.

There are two pieces of legislation that are not yet in force which will prohibit discrimination in the provision of goods and services. Goods and services includes such areas as how a customer is treated by a shop or a bank, or a person's access to education or healthcare.

Race Relations Act 2004
This Act will make it unlawful to discriminate in the provision of goods and services on the grounds of race. For example refusing to rent a car or to provide healthcare to a person because of their race, nationality or ethnic or national origins. This Act does not cover discrimination in employment. It is not yet in force.

Disability Discrimination Act 2006
This legislation is concerned with discrimination against disabled people in the provision of goods and services, education and access to buildings. This is a DHSS sponsored Act. It is not yet in force.

Employment Equality Bill - Proposed Equal Opportunities Related Legislation

The Department is currently consulting on proposals for an Employment Equality Bill. The proposals aim to strengthen the protection afforded to employees (and workers) who believe they have received less favourable treatment due to their

race;
religion;
sexual orientation;
age; or
disability.

The consultation document is available from the Open Consultation link.

Human Rights

The Human Rights Act 2001 is not aimed at employment in particular, but may impact on rights at work. More information on the Act is available here.

Further Information

For further information please contact the Equality Adviser on emplaw@gov.im Tel: 01624 682372.

The following website provides useful guidance on good practice in the application of equality. Please be aware that Isle of Man legislation is different from that in the UK so some of the legislation will not apply or the remedies may be different.

http://www.cehr.org.uk

Page updated April 2008

Downloadable Documents