Over the past year employment law solicitors have witnessed the surge in Employment Tribunal cases. There have been around 50% more cases and many experts are laying the blame firmly with the recession. Many employment law solicitors believe that the financial crisis has meant that employers have had to try to cut costs everywhere they can, prompting high numbers of redundancies.

Unfortunately, claims abound that women are disproportionately on the receiving end of these redundancies, prompting a sharp rise in women consulting employment law solicitors about sex discrimination. Interestingly, most legal professionals appear to believe they are entirely justified in doing so.

Often, women who take advantage of their legal right to maternity leave and pay find themselves first in the line of fire when redundancies become necessary. When redundancies have to be made, it is sometimes the case that the very criteria an employer might use to decide who to let go could be fundamentally discriminatory. For example, employers might consider

the number of hours worked or how willing an employee is to entertain potential clients in the evening. Both of these factors are affected if a woman has children and therefore these criteria might be considered fundamentally discriminatory.

Employment law solicitors are keen to make women aware that they are not obliged to tell a potential employer if they are pregnant. Equally, employers are not legally allowed to ask a candidate if she is pregnant, or to deny her employment on the grounds that she is. Employment law solicitors also say that it could be considered dangerous for an employer to enquire about a women’s future plans for a family.

Women who believe they have been made redundant as a result of discrimination are advised by employment law solicitors to compile as much evidence as possible. This can include copies of e-mails and internal communications. They also advise asking questions of an employer using the statutory discrimination questionnaire. Employers have eight weeks to complete it and failure to respond, or falsification of answers reflect very badly in Employment Tribunal cases.

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