The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) has a statutory function to conciliate in claims made to the Employment Tribunal (ET) in order, where possible, to seek resolution of the case before it proceeds to a full ET hearing.
In 2006/07, ACAS carried out a programme of research aimed at providing a detailed understanding of the nature of ET claims brought under the Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003 and the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003. The research involved:
- a study of the experiences of ET claimants;
- an analysis of the characteristics of ET claims;
- an analysis of information from the ET claim forms of claimants and employers where the main jurisdiction was either sexual orientation or religion or belief;
- an examination of calls to the ACAS helpline; and
- an examination of the experiences of ACAS conciliators.
The study found that two-thirds of both sexual orientation claimants and religion or belief claimants were men. This equates with claims for unfair dismissal and race discrimination claims. Religion or belief discrimination appears to be closely aligned with race discrimination as two-thirds of claims of religion or belief discrimination had race discrimination as a secondary jurisdiction. Approximately half of the ET1 forms relating to religion or belief said that the claimant was Muslim. Claims of sexual orientation discrimination had no particular other jurisdiction with a third of cases having no secondary jurisdictions.
Bullying and harassment were common features of both types of claim, including allegations of verbal abuse. Also prominent in sexual orientation claims were allegations of less favourable treatment by managers, including denying claimants informal benefits, subjecting them to extra scrutiny and giving them menial tasks. A prominent feature of religion or belief claims was difficulty over working hours, including time off or leave to follow religious practices. One strong theme among both sets of claimants was the tendency of their employers to see them as the problem, rather than as the victim of unfair treatment.
With regard to the ACAS helpline, the proportion of calls from employees and employers regarding discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief was similar. Only a very small proportion of the total calls regarding sexual orientation discrimination were made by employers. Four out of ten calls from employees concerning religion or belief discrimination were related to Christianity whereas three quarters of the calls from employers were regarding Islam, predominantly to do with working hours, time off and leave.
Surprisingly, given the media attention the issue receives, there were very few calls regarding workplace dress codes, including wearing the veil at work.
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