Gibraltar Employment Lawyers
Gibraltar has extensive legislation in place to ensure that an employee is able to work without fear of discrimination, harassment or dismissal on unfair, wrongful or constructive grounds. There can be nothing more disheartening than feeling that you have no voice in the place where you spend most of your waking hours.
Discrimination
The Equal Opportunities Act is in place to prevent any form of discrimination in the work place. The law requires employers to treat all employees equally regardless of age, gender, race, disability, religion, pregnancy or sexual orientation. Examples of discrimination include (but are not limited to) being overlooked for promotion, being singled out repeatedly to perform tasks that are not within your job description, being selected for redundancy and being dismissed.
Harassment
Harassment, in general terms is unwanted conduct affecting the dignity of men and women in the workplace. It may be related to age, sex, race, disability, religion, sexual orientation, nationality or any personal characteristic of the individual, and may be persistent or an isolated incident. The key is that the actions or comments are viewed as demeaning and unacceptable to the recipient. Bullying may be characterised as offensive, intimidating, malicious or insulting behaviour, an abuse or misuse of power through means intended to undermine, humiliate, denigrate or injure the recipient. Whatever form it takes, it is unwarranted and unwelcome to the individual. Bullying and harassment are not necessarily face to face. They may also occur in written communications, email, phone, and automatic supervision methods such as computer recording of downtime from work or the number of calls handled if these are not applied to all workers. Bullying and harassment make someone feel anxious and humiliated. Feelings of anger and frustration at being unable to cope may be triggered. Some people may try to retaliate in some way. Others may become frightened and demotivated. Stress, loss of self-confidence and self-esteem caused by harassment or bullying can lead to job insecurity, illness, absence from work, and even resignation. Almost always job performance is affected and relations in the workplace suffer.
Dismissal
In certain situations, you may be able to take legal action if you are dismissed.
Wrongful/Unfair dismissal
Your dismissal could be unfair if your employer doesn’t have a good reason for dismissing you or fails to follow the company’s formal disciplinary or dismissal process. Situations when your dismissal is likely to be unfair include dismissal as a result of: asking for flexible working; refusing to give up your working time rights - eg. taking rest breaks; resigning and giving the correct notice period; joining a trade union and taking part in legal industrial action that lasts 12 weeks or less; needing time off for jury service; applying for maternity, paternity and adoption leave; being on any maternity, paternity and adoption leave. Examples of wrongful dismissal are being dismissed as a result of exposing wrongdoing in the workplace (whistleblowing) and being forced to retire (known as ‘compulsory retirement’).
Constructive dismissal
Constructive dismissal is when you are forced to leave your job against your will because of your employer’s conduct. The reasons you leave your job must be serious, for example: failure to pay you; sudden demotion for no reason; making unreasonable changes to how you work - eg. telling you to work night shifts when your contract is only for day work; allowing other employees to harass or bully you. Your employer’s breach of contract may be one serious incident or a series of incidents that are serious when taken together.
If you feel that you are suffering any of the above in your workplace do not hesitate to contact us and discuss your rights and options with our specialist and experienced legal advisors. All matters discussed are strictly confidential and we aim to give practical sensible advice with a view to initially resolving any employment problems amicably and sensibly.