Summer 2009 Newsletter Content Pot and kettle No more stealth Pensions hit A place in the sun Ready or not... Nice motor Making allowances Good times, bad times Tax-free checkup Three square meals Funny question Dividend rules OK? Too good to be true? Pay my friend Early EIS Mind the halfpennies Just the ticket Flat rate changes Foreign Service This year, next year Partial exemption Penalties Compliance checks Under their eye Howzat? Know your rights Discipline Don't be mean Redundancy Two sorts of absence Warranties

Don't be mean Everyone knows that employees are protected from sexual and racial harassment, and employers have to make sure of this or face claims for unlawful discrimination. If an employee complains and the employer does nothing to stop the behaviour of other employees, the employer is at fault. In a recent case, an employee complained that his co-workers constantly teased him for being gay. The strange thing about the case was that he was not gay, and no-one thought he was, but they teased him about it anyway to such an extent that he found it intolerable. The employer argued in defence that he was not suffering unlawful sexual orientation discrimination because that would only apply if he really was gay. The Court of Appeal did not agree. Protection against harassment could not be limited to people who were known to be gay. Although it seems strange to include this kind of banter under the heading of sexual orientation discrimination, it is a reminder that employers have to protect their workers from unreasonable treatment by their colleagues.