Termination of employment

Dismissal

Employers who dismiss for discriminatory reasons are in breach of equality law. Employees can bring a claim for discriminatory dismissal from the first day of their employment. There is no service requirement. See Chapter 10: Dismissal.

Employees who resign rather than carry out their employer’s instructions to discriminate are also protected under the EA 10, even if they are not the target of the discrimination, for example if they are not black but are instructed to discriminate against a black applicant.

The ending of a fixed-term contract can be indirect discrimination, if there is statistical evidence to show that the impact of the decision falls more heavily on a group with a protected characteristic, such as women, black workers, the disabled or employees in a particular age group. In Whiffen v Milham Ford Girls School [2001] IRLR 468, the Court of Appeal held that a policy of making temporary workers redundant first was indirectly discriminatory since it resulted in significantly more female than male workers losing their jobs.

Indirect discrimination can be justified if the employer can produce good evidence that the policy is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.