Summary 

It is never possible for an employer to be completely litigation proof. But it is feasible for every employer to manage its staff in a way in which the risk of litigation is kept to a minimum.

This whitepaper has been prepared by Barry Phillips, Chairman of Legal-Island and former practicing employment lawyer who specialised in advancing and winning claims for harassment and discrimination against employers. In his experience it was often just too easy to pin liability on an employer for an equality related issue, sometimes embarrassingly easy.

In many of the cases Barry came across the defendant employers presented litigants with open goals almost goading employees actual or former “to have a go”. With sizeable awards hitting the headlines so often many individuals didn’t lack the motivation indeed “to have a go” and sizeable HR resources had to be directed to beat them off.

This whitepaper will show you how to minimise the risk of litigation relating to equality issues in the workplace. They won’t make you feel bullet proof if you work in HR or as a business leader but they will bring you considerable peace of mind.  It will be the peace of mind to know that you’ve minimised the risks of litigation and, if you do end up going to law, that you have plenty of evidence to show that you took all reasonable steps to comply with equality legislation and best practice.

In the Appendix to this Whitepaper I’ve set out ten questions to help you understand the types of questions you need to be asking yourself to identify where the weaknesses in your defences may be. But first let’s take a look at what you need to be doing right now to make sure your defence strategy is as robust as it can be.