Features

Childcare Counsel - gender reassignment, bank holiday pay

Our resident employment lawyer, Caroline Robins, principal associate solicitor at Eversheds Sutherland, answers your questions

Rumour has it that a new staff member was born as a male and had gender reassignment prior to starting work at the nursery. Some of the staff are refusing to use the toilet facilities when she is in there. How should we respond?

A person may experience unlawful harassment not only where they have undergone gender reassignment, but also where it is perceived that they have. Therefore the action of the staff members could amount to harassment.

Harassment includes non-verbal conduct that has the purpose or effect of violating a person’s dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile or degrading environment for them. This includes ostracising a member of staff or refusing to use shared facilities. The nursery must show it has taken reasonable steps to prevent this.

Register now to continue reading

Thank you for visiting Nursery World and making use of our archive of more than 35,000 expert features, subject guides, case studies and policy updates. Why not register today and enjoy the following great benefits:

What's included

  • Free access to 4 subscriber-only articles per month

  • Unlimited access to news and opinion

  • Email newsletter providing activity ideas, best practice and breaking news

Register

Already have an account? Sign in here