Marriage and Civil Partnership Discrimination

It’s unlawful to discriminate against, treat someone unfairly or differently because they are married or in a civil partnership under the Equality Act 2010.

How is ‘marriage’ defined?

You’re legally married if your union is recognised as a marriage under UK law, even if you didn’t get married in the UK. section 7 of the Equality Act 2010. The definition states that a person is disabled if

1. they have a physical or mental impairment; which
2. has a substantially adverse and long-term effect;
3. on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.

How ‘civil partnership’ defined?

A civil partnership means a registered civil partnership under the Civil Partnership Act 2004. This also includes civil partnerships registered outside the UK.

Are you protected if you’re engaged or separated?

Only people who are married or in a civil partnership are protected against discrimination on the basis of marriage and civil partnership.

You’re not protected if you’re:

• single
• engaged to be married
• divorced or your civil partnership has been dissolved
• living with someone as a couple
• widowed
• someone thinks you’re married or in a civil partnership even though you’re not.

However, if you’re separated you’re still protected, as your marriage or civil partnership has not been legally dissolved.

What is protected by the Equality Act?

The law is designed to protect employees and workers who are married or in a civil partnership from discrimination in the workplace in all aspects of employment, including:-

• dismissal
• employment terms and conditions
• pay and benefits
• promotion and transfer opportunities
• training
• recruitment
• redundancy

Key Points

• Marriage & civil partnership can be difficult to pin down and prove in the workplace
• Common law couples are not protected
• You are not covered if you are engaged but not married

Types of discrimination

There are four main types of marriage and civil partnership discrimination.

1. Direct discrimination
2. Indirect discrimination
3. Harassment
4. Victimisation

What is direct discrimination?

This happens when someone treats you less favourably than another person in a similar situation because of you are married or in a civil partnership. For example an employer chooses not to offer a married female employee a job promotion on the assumption that she may decide to have children in the future and take time off work for maternity leave. The promotion is given to a single colleague.

What is indirect discrimination?

Indirect discrimination happens when an employer has a particular rule, policy or way of working that applies to everyone but which puts people who are married or in a civil partnership at a disadvantage.

Harassment

When unwanted conduct because an employee is married or in a civil partnership, which causes a distressing, humiliating or offensive environment for that person.

Harassment can never be justified. However, if an organisation or employer can show it did everything it could to prevent people who work for it from behaving like that, you will not be able to make a claim for harassment against it, although you could make a claim against the person who committed the harassment.

Victimisation

This is when you are treated badly because you have made a complaint of discrimination under the Equality Act. It can also occur if you are supporting someone who has made a complaint of marriage or civil partnership discrimination.

What should you do if you feel you have been discriminated against?

What action you take will depend on how much time you have available to you before the 3-month time limit to bring a tribunal claim is due to expire. The following should be considered to place you in the best position to secure an exit package or a successful tribunal claim: -

1. Speak to your line Manger. You should raise your concerns with management so your employer is aware at the earliest opportunity of the issues you are having.

2. Lodge an official grievance. If you do not receive a satisfactory response from our manager you should submit a grievance. You should always follow your employer’s grievance policy if they have one. If there is no internal policy you can find guidance on the ACAS website.

3. Gather evidence and keep records. If you strongly feel that you have been discriminated against, and you have not received a satisfactory response from your employer, you should start to gather evidence to support a potential tribunal claim.

4. Enter a without prejudice discussion. This can be done by submitting a ‘without prejudice’ letter to requesting a ‘without prejudice’ meeting. This will give you the opportunity to have an off the record discussion with your employer to air out your concerns and seek a resolution such as compensation or an exit package. It is important that you tread carefully and seek the guidance from our experienced solicitors before engaging with your employer.

5. Lodge an Employment Tribunal claim. If all other options have been exhausted and you still feel aggrieved or you have been dismissed because of your age, you can submit a tribunal claim. If you are still employed this will be for age discrimination. If you have been dismissed this will be for both unfair dismissal and age discrimination. Any claim should be issued within 3 months of the date of dismissal or alleged discriminatory act. It is now mandatory to go through ACAS’s early conciliation scheme before you can submit a claim to the tribunal.