Two recent cases from the Employment Appeal Tribunal illustrate some potential pitfalls when women with childcare responsibilities are asked to move away from fixed working hours.
In order to establish a claim for indirect sex discrimination in these circumstances, the claimant needs to establish two things:
- That the employer has applied a “provision, criterion or practice” (PCP) to a number of staff members, including the claimant; and
- That the PCP puts the claimant and other women at a “particular disadvantage” when compared to male workers
If the claimant passes both these tests, the employer is required to justify the imposition of the PCP by showing that it is “a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim”.
To find out more about these two cases, head over to our sister blog, hrlawlive to read the full post here.