There are laws in place to protect you from discrimination at work. The Equality Act 2010 set out nine protected characteristics such as age, gender, race and religion. If you’ve been discriminated against at work because of one of these characteristics, our employment law solicitors may be able to help you make a complaint and claim compensation. Discrimination occurs when you’re treated unfairly because of your: Age Disability Gender reassignment Marriage and civil partnership Pregnancy and maternity Race Religion and belief Sex Sexual orientation. We have years of experience in helping people who have been discriminated against at work. Whether you need help raising a complaint, going through your internal grievance process or you want to take your employer to court or the Employment Tribunal, you can rely on us to put your best interests first and fight your corner. What Services Do We Offer? You can contact us for advice about your rights and we’ll give you our expert view. If you then decide you want to take things further, we’ll help you. We can: Support you when making an informal complaint or going through your employer’s grievance process Negotiate with your employer to help you reach an amicable settlement or severance package Issue proceedings and represent you at the: Employment Tribunal Employment Appeal Tribunal Court of Appeal Supreme Court County Court or High Court. Who Can We Help? We have years of experience in helping senior executives and professionals who have been discriminated against at work. Discrimination can be direct or indirect. Direct discrimination is when you alone have suffered discrimination relating to one of the protected characteristics such as race or gender. Indirect discrimination is when an organisation-wide practice affects you because of one of these characteristics and your employer cannot justify the practice. It doesn’t matter whether you’re being discriminated against directly or indirectly. We have the expertise needed to help you achieve justice. Discrimination claims can be more complex if you’re a senior professional, executive or director. Our team specialises in these cases. We know that it’s important to protect your reputation as well as help you seek compensation. It doesn’t matter how big or small your employer is. We’ll help you fight for the right result. Our team has helped people from a range of sectors and industries, including financial services, legal and healthcare. Why Choose Us? Discrimination is often motivated by a desire to push you out of the workplace and force you to leave. This can be a stressful and frightening experience. With our experienced solicitors in your corner, you’ll feel empowered to assert your rights and get a satisfactory resolution. We are experts in discrimination cases. The leading independent guides to the legal profession, Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners, recognise us as specialists in this field. You can rely on us to put your best interests first at every stage of the process. We’ve been through many discrimination cases in the past, so we know what to expect and we’ll keep you updated in plain English so you feel comfortable with what’s happening. Contact Us Call us free on 0207 650 3999 to speak to one of our team about your discrimination claim. Large, experienced team of solicitors Specialists in representing senior professionals Advice in plain English Offices around the UK Call one of our experts on 0207 650 3999 Contact us today To talk about your situation Call us on 0207 650 3999 Prefer not to call? Use our form Your name* Your email* Your phone number* How can we help?* Enquiry type Employment Discrimination Solicitors Employment Law Solicitors Employment Contract Solicitors Employment Disputes Harassment & Bullying At Work Solicitors Parental & Family Friendly Employment Rights Professional Discipline Solicitors Recruitment & Promotion Redundancy Solicitors Senior Executives and Professionals Settlement Agreement Solicitors Unfair Dismissal Solicitors Whistleblowing Solicitors This data will only be used by Irwin Mitchell for processing your query and for no other purpose. Shah Qureshi Partner Meet Our Team
Employment Discrimination - More Information What is the process for making a discrimination claim? Your first step should usually be to raise your concerns directly with your employer and give them the chance to resolve the issue internally. If this doesn’t lead to a conclusion that you’re happy with, you can start the formal grievance process. If the formal process still doesn’t satisfy you, it’s time to consider going to the Employment Tribunal. The first step towards this is to start the ACAS early conciliation process. ACAS helps you and your employer to try and settle the dispute out of court. This process can take a month and can be extended by two extra weeks if you and your employer agree. When the ACAS early conciliation process ends, you’ll be given an ACAS certificate. If your dispute is still unresolved at this point you can issue a claim in the Employment Tribunal. Your employer will get a copy of your claim and they have 30 days to send their defence. The Tribunal will then set a date for a full hearing in six to nine months. We’ll work with you to prepare your case during this period. Going through the full Employment Tribunal process may feel long and stressful. We’ve been through it many times before so will support and guide you through each step. Time limits It’s important to contact us as soon as possible. You have three months minus one day to from the last act of discrimination to start the ACAS early conciliation process. These time limits can come up very quickly, so you need to move fast. What redress can you seek from an employer if they have discriminated against you? If your claim goes to the Employment Tribunal or to court, the outcomes could be: Compensation Declaration of your rights Recommendation to your employer to stop the discrimination from happening again. If we settle your claim through negotiation, we may be able to get a reference and an apology for you, as well as a confidentiality agreement and terms which protect your reputation. Reaching a settlement this way can be less stressful than going to court or the Employment Tribunal. In our experience it’s also likely that you’ll receive a more favourable compensation settlement through negotiation. What Payment Options Are Available? There are a number of ways you can pay for your legal work: Hourly rate – this is how most of our cases are funded. You only pay for the time you use. Agreed fixed fees – in more complex cases it might be more cost effective for us to agree a fixed fee for your work. Legal expenses insurance – this is legal cover that’s often a bolt-on to home insurance. It’s worth seeing if you have this as it may cover some or all of your legal fees. Trade union membership – if you’re a member of a union, they might have something in place that pays your legal fees if you have an employment dispute. Your employer – in some instances your employer may pay some of your costs (this can be the case if you are negotiating a settlement agreement). Third party funding – this is where someone who isn’t directly involved in your case agrees to pay your costs. Crowd funding – it may be possible to crowd fund your case using the CrowdJustice website (particularly if it’s of public interest). We can review your options in an initial meeting and let you know how to best pay for your case. It’s best to have any relevant membership/insurance documents to hand, as they will help us to understand any cover you already have. Where Are We Based? Our employment lawyers are based in major cities across the country, so we can help wherever you are. We offer an initial consultation, either over the phone or in person, where we can discuss your case. Call us on 0207 650 3999 or contact us online today to find out how we can help you. Shah Qureshi is highly esteemed for his work, pursuing the cause of discriminated professionals against large corporate entities." Chambers & Partners, 2019
Impressive, practical and pragmatic Sources describe the team as "impressive, practical and pragmatic."