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Mental health discrimination in the workplace is the act of an individual receiving discriminatory treatment as a direct result of a mental health condition that they would not otherwise receive without the condition.
Mental health discrimination in the workplace is illegal under the Equality Act of 2010, which gives employees the right to defend themselves against discrimination based on disability. This covers mental health conditions, as well as physical disabilities.
Under the Equality Act of 2010, discrimination in the workplace can involve:
Although the experiences detailed above can be extremely distressing, they do not legally constitute mental health discrimination if your employer was not aware that you had a mental health condition.
Therefore, the first thing to do is to ensure that your employer is aware of your mental health condition.
This does not have to be made public in your workplace – you need only speak to the human resources department and they can often remedy the situation without disclosing your confidential information to your supervisor or other colleagues.
If your HR department does not accept that you are facing discrimination because they do not believe you suffer from a mental health condition, you should provide a doctor’s note that includes the following information:
If your employer fails to acknowledge or properly address matters after being provided with a doctor’s note regarding your mental health, it is reasonable to suggest you are facing mental health discrimination in the workplace. In this instance, you should consider seeking legal advice.
In order to prove mental health discrimination in the workplace you must first provide evidence that you have received discriminatory treatment as a result of a mental health condition.
The Equality Act of 2010 defines a disability as:
‘A physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long term adverse effect on the ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities..’
Having already secured evidence of your mental health condition from a GP, these three criteria should be relatively simple to establish in an employment tribunal.
If you have faced discrimination in the workplace due to a mental health condition or have been otherwise harassed, we can help you.
With branches across Essex, the expert legal team at Kew Law can provide you with advice and legal support in your employment dispute from the initial stages of your claim right up to your employment tribunal and beyond.
We will use our expertise to guide you through the process of defending your rights as an employee to secure the most favourable outcome in your case. We also provide no-obligation quotes for all our legal services.
Get in touch via our online contact form or call us on 0800 987 8156 to arrange an initial appointment. We will do our utmost to respond to urgent enquiries within a single working day.
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