Competing workplace rights

Government initiatives, legal disputes, media coverage and public debate have established gender identity and transgender rights as a hot topic for the 2020s and, as always, where there is scope for different viewpoints, those differences can lead to conflict in the workplace.

For several years, employers have been managing workplace disputes on topics which polarise opinion and where discrimination risks can arise. Probably the most common area for dispute so far has resulted from religious beliefs about sexual orientation. Friction has also arisen from different political viewpoints. Although support for a political party is not in itself a philosophical belief, belief in a political doctrine can qualify and employment tribunals have held that, for example, beliefs in national independence are protected. In early 2024, a tribunal decided that anti-Zionist beliefs could qualify as a philosophical belief.

Most recently, however, gender identity has become the topic demanding employers’ attention as the debate intensifies between individuals who are transgender, or who hold gender identity beliefs, and those whose religious beliefs or gender critical beliefs are in direct conflict. People have become used to expressing their views on such topics frankly, including on social media, and even where colleagues are not the intended audience, ramifications frequently materialise at work leaving the employer with a delicate balance to strike between conflicting opinions. The protection available under the Equality Act 2010 applies equally to each of the protected characteristics, so no characteristic ranks more highly or attracts more protection than another. This is where the challenge lies for employers, who can be faced with having to balance the equal, but competing, rights of different individuals.

Examples of situations which might require employers to carry out this balancing act might include where an employee:

• Refuses to provide services to same-sex couples based on religious belief.
• Expresses or promotes negative views of homosexuality based on religious belief.
• Expresses or promotes negative views of transgender identity or gender identity belief based on either religious or gender critical beliefs.
• Refuses to use an individual's preferred pronouns or deadnames them based on either religious or gender critical beliefs.