Sexual discrimination at work place for a man.

1984ReturnsForReal_2

zzzLazyDaisy wrote: »

If the tasks fall within his contract/job description (which seems likely as you say his terms and conditions include additional tasks) then this is unlikely to be viewed as unlawful discrimination.
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I would put money on the fact it says that in everyones' contract at that employer.

zzzLazyDaisy

I agree that safety issues should be addressed.

But OP isn't saying that he feels that he is being asked to work to unsafe practices when doing manual work.

He is saying that he thinks it is unfair and discriminatory that he is being asked to do more lifting/fetching/carrying than the female staff. However if these tasks are part of his contract/job description as the maintenance person, then it is difficult to see how this could amount to unlawful discrimination.

jimbms

Now what would be unfortunate is if he somehow had to go to the doctor with a bad back and work then tried to force him to lift stuff above a certain weigh, that is assuming that the company did comply with HSE rules and give him training and a written policy on safe lifting of weights.

skintdragon

zzzLazyDaisy wrote: »

I agree that safety issues should be addressed.

But OP isn't saying that he feels that he is being asked to work to unsafe practices when doing manual work.

He is saying that he thinks it is unfair and discriminatory that he is being asked to do more lifting/fetching/carrying than the female staff. However if these tasks are part of his contract/job description as the maintenance person, then it is difficult to see how this could amount to unlawful discrimination.

I understand.

I guess I didn't make my point very clear; I was trying to say that manual work is not exclusively for men, hence why I addressed the HSE guidelines. It is unsafe if he is expected to do manual handling of excessive loads alone, on a regular basis. It's a disaster waiting to happen. Set aside the sex discriminatory aspect, irrespective of gender, if, as OP says, he is carrying or handling heavy stuff with no assistance or aids/ equipment, the employer may have breached their duty of care in this instance?

Sorry, maybe I am getting carried away by taking this from a different angle! Typical of me... :A

lucylucky

There will of course be risk assessments for all the work he is carrying out, as is required.;)

He can ask to see these should he wish

zzzLazyDaisy

diesel_dog wrote: »

T

ACAS? What could they do about it?

ACAS gives free impartial information on employment law and employees' rights.

Owain_Moneysaver

It sounds like it could be discrimination to me. He's being asked to do more of a certain type of work than other workers, and the only reason he is being asked to do this is because he's male.

If it was the other way around and the only female worker was expected to always wash the tea mugs because she's a girl, then that would be discrimination.

AFAIK manual handling regulations make no difference for sex, so if something's too heavy for a woman to lift it's too heavy for a man to lift. If the job requires a level of physical fitness then that should be the same for both sexes.

lucylucky

Owain_Moneysaver wrote: »

It sounds like it could be discrimination to me. He's being asked to do more of a certain type of work than other workers, and the only reason he is being asked to do this is because he's male.

If it was the other way around and the only female worker was expected to always wash the tea mugs because she's a girl, then that would be discrimination.

AFAIK manual handling regulations make no difference for sex, so if something's too heavy for a woman to lift it's too heavy for a man to lift. If the job requires a level of physical fitness then that should be the same for both sexes.

There are obviously allowances made for pregnant workers, which of course will be detailed in the risk assessments.
He cannot be around to do everything all the time so there must be a way for other members of staff (including females) to safely move and lift stuff.

CupOfChai

It might not be sexual discrimination IMO. According to the manual handling training I was given, the maximum weight it is safe for a woman to lift is 16kg, for a man it is 20kg. This is based upon biological differences between sexes and is what is set out by health and safety regulations or guidelines, I forget which exactly.

Where I worked, there were certain things that sometimes had to be lifted which fell between these 2 weights and up to the 20kg limit. The women were once told that strictly they should not be lifting those items and they should ask the men to do that.

However the women do their fair share in regards other lifting and carrying of weights they can safely manage, is the man concerned asked to do all of the lifting or only of items that the women cannot manage but he can?

anamenottaken

CupOfChai wrote: »

It might not be sexual discrimination IMO. According to the manual handling training I was given, the maximum weight it is safe for a woman to lift is 16kg, for a man it is 20kg. This is based upon biological differences between sexes and is what is set out by health and safety regulations or guidelines, I forget which exactly.

Where I worked, there were certain things that sometimes had to be lifted which fell between these 2 weights and up to the 20kg limit. The women were once told that strictly they should not be lifting those items and they should ask the men to do that.

However the women do their fair share in regards other lifting and carrying of weights they can safely manage, is the man concerned asked to do all of the lifting or only of items that the women cannot manage but he can?

The difference is between guideline maxima of 16kg for women and 25kg for men. That is what is described in HSE document (page 10 of http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg143.pdf). However the diagram has the man as clearly taller than the woman - as though no woman was ever the same height or taller than any man.