Lifelong Learning UK
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Equality Act 2010 factsheet – Gender reassignment

Lifelong Learning UK have published a a factsheet on Gender Reassignment.

The Equality Act 2010 has made it unlawful to discriminate against a person on the grounds that they have undergone, are undergoing, or intend to undergo gender reassignment.

The law defines a transsexual person as someone who has completed a process to change their gender or has proposed to change their gender. Individuals who decide to live as another gender without undergoing medical procedures are protected within the Equality Act 2010. Individuals do not need to be under medical supervision to be protected by the law.

What does the law say about protection from gender reassignment discrimination at work?

The Equality Act 2010 has replaced the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 and the Sex Discrimination (Amendment) Act 1999 and has made it unlawful to:

  • discriminate directly against anyone because they are transsexual
  • subject someone to harassment
  • victimise someone because they have made or intend to make a complaint
  • indirectly discriminate against someone because they are transsexual
  • refuse to offer someone goods or services because they are transsexual.

Employees are protected from several forms of discrimination including direct discrimination, indirect discrimination, harassment and victimisation.  For more information about these terms please refer our discrimination factsheet.

What does gender reassignment mean for organisations?

It is unlawful for an employer to discriminate against an individual in terms of:

  • recruitment and selection
  • determining pay
  • training and development
  • selection for promotion
  • discipline and grievance
  • countering bullying and harassment.

All employees who propose to or have started the process of changing his or her gender are automatically protected under current legislation.  There should be a clear process to support staff considering or undergoing gender reassignment through the use of clear statements, policy and regular training and there should be a confidential contact within human resources (HR) who can assist an individual’s transition at work.

Organisations should have polices to sensitively handle the issue of:

  • Medical appointments and absences – it is discriminatory for an individual undergoing gender reassignment to be treated less favourably if they are absent for a reason related to gender reassignment than they would be if they were absent due to illness or injury for some other reason.
  • Informing colleagues about their gender reassignment HR should be able to support staff in how they inform colleagues.
  • Changing everything into their new identity – at a point agreed with the individual the nominated HR contact should manage the process of changing email addresses, contact information on directories, staff records and work passes to reflect the person’s acquired name and gender.

How should employers handle staff objections?

Organisations have to handle the issue of gender reassignment sensitively; individuals who choose to reassign their gender with or without undergoing any surgical procedures have the full rights of their acquired gender and should be allowed to use all facilities of their acquired gender such as toilets.  Any objections raised by staff about sharing facilities should be dealt with through discussion and explanation.  Staff should be informed that failure to treat other staff members with respect can be considered as breaching organisational policy and regarded as unlawful.

The Equality Act 2010 also introduces the Public Sector Equality Duty, which is extended to fully cover gender reassignment as one of the specific protected characteristics of the duty. Public bodies must have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment and victimisation, to promote equality, and to promote good relations. The duty will come into effect 6th April 2011 and will replace all current public sector duties in the Gender Duty 2007, Disability Discrimination Act 2005, the Equality Act 2006, and the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 with a streamlined duty that covers all of the protected characteristics with the exception of marriage and civil partnership. The duty will require public bodies to consider the requirements of disadvantaged groups when designing services, policies or programmes to ensure that people can access fair services.

For more information about these terms please refer our factsheet on the Equality Act 2010.

The Gender Recognition Act

The Gender Recognition Act 2004 came into force on 4th April 2005 and provides individuals with the legal right to change gender by means of a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC).

All staff records should be changed in accordance with the Gender Recognition Act 2004, details of a person’s gender should be kept confidential irrespective of whether they have a GRC or not, and it is a criminal offence for an individual who has obtained the information in a professional capacity to disclose that a person has or has not applied for a GRC.

The GRC leads to a new birth certificate in the acquired gender with all its attendant rights and responsibilities. This includes the right to marry. Not all transsexual people will have a GRC and it is not necessary for transsexual individuals to have one in order to be protected from discrimination under the Equality Act 2010.

A transsexual person who is already married is obliged under the Act to divorce to gain a Gender Recognition Certificate. They and their partner will then be able to register a Civil Partnership to regain the legal status of their relationship.

For more information please refer to our fact sheet on the Equality Act 2010.

Please note that this fact sheet gives general guidance only and should not be treated as a complete and authoritative statement of the law.

Where can I get more information?

A range of other resources on this and other equalities areas can be found on our page of useful links.

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