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SUMMARY OF TRANSGENDER RIGHTS
Page 37
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Employer obligations
There are three pieces of legislation that employers should know about: the Gender Reassignment Regulations 1999, inserted into the Sex Discrimination Act 1975; the Gender Recognition Act 2004; and the Data Protection Act 1998.
Discrimination
• It is unlawful for employers to discriminate against employees, job applicants or contractors on the grounds of their sex or gender reassignment.
• The rules ban discrimination in the areas of recruitment, transfer, training and promotion; access to work-related benefits, facilities and services; and dismissal.
• Pressure to discriminate is also unlawful eg employees who threaten not to work unless their employer dismisses someone who has undergone gender reassignment.
Gender recognition
• The Gender Recognition Act 200.4 gives legal recognition to transsexuals in their acquired gender. This gives the transsexual all the rights and responsibilities of his/her acquired gender.
• Transsexuals MI receive a new birth certificate and other official documents confirming their acquired gender. They will also be entitled to state pensions at the age for the acquired gender, ie 60 for women and 65 for men.
Data protection
• It is never appropriate for an employer to tell colleagues, clients and the public that an individual has undergone gender reassignment without the individual's permission.
• It is unlawful for an employer to disclose an individual's sex change if that person had a gender recognition certificate. This may be a criminal act punishable by a fine of up to £5,000.
• Employers must update their records and certificates to show the individual's new name and sex, so as not to risk disclosing protected information.
Human resources
• Employers should not ask whether an individual has undergone gender reassignment at the interview stage.
• If asked to give a reference for a transsexual person, it must be provided without hinting that the person has undergone gender reassignment.