GIBRALTAR Law and Practice Contributed by: Nick Cruz, Marc X Ellul, Arcelia María Hernández-Cordero and Kayleigh-Anne Revagliatte, Ellul & Cruz
8.2 Anti-Discrimination As mentioned in 7.5 Protected Categories of Employ- ee , legislation in Gibraltar (in particular, the Equal Opportunities Act 2006) forbids discrimination in the workplace on the basis of: • age or age group; • disability; • pregnancy or maternity leave; • racial or ethnic origin; • religion or belief; • sex (including marital or family status); or • sexual orientation. Discrimination may take the form of direct discrimina - tion, indirect discrimination, harassment or victimisa - tion. Almost all categories of workers are protected from discrimination including employees, contract workers, past employees or workers and those apply - ing for jobs or in the process of going through recruit - ment procedures. Any termination that can be shown to be due to a discriminatory reason will be unlawful. There is no cap on awards for discrimination or har - assment. A successful applicant may be awarded damages, including damages for injury to feelings. 8.3 Digitalisation The majority of disputes between the employees and employers are brought before the Employment Tribu - nal and the proceedings are typically held in person. However, the Employment Tribunal has the discretion to implement videoconferencing facilities (if deemed appropriate).
• they are employed by – or is acting in the matter for – the other party or a person who is connected with the other party; • in the case of a person within subsection (3)(b) or (c), the trade union or advice centre is the other party or a person who is connected with the other party; or • in the case of a person within subsection (3)(c), the complainant makes a payment for the advice received from said person. Any two persons are to be treated as connected if: • one is a company of which the other (directly or indirectly) has control; or • both are companies of which a third person (directly or indirectly) has control. 7.5 Protected Categories of Employee It is unlawful to discriminate against employees on the basis of any protected characteristic under the Equal Opportunities Act 2006. The protected characteristics are as follows: • gender; • gender reassignment; • marital or civil partnership status; • racial and ethnic origin; • pregnancy or maternity leave; • age; • disability; • sexual orientation; and • religious beliefs. For details of the various forms discrimination may take, please refer to 8.2 Anti-Discrimination .
8. Disputes 8.1 Wrongful Dismissal
9. Dispute Resolution 9.1 Litigation
Breach of a notice term, whether express or implied, and breach of a contractual disciplinary procedure are examples of grounds for a wrongful dismissal claim. The remedies available for wrongful dismissal are damages and equitable remedies (eg, a declaration). An injunction will only be granted if damages would be inadequate.
Standard forms are available on the Department of Employment website and are required to be com - pleted and sent to the Department of Employment in the event of a termination or a change to employ - ment status. The Employment Tribunal Claim Form (the “Claim Form”) is also available on the Department of Employment website.
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