At the moment, voluntary workers are not covered by the Equality Act 2010, and nor are freelancers, unless they are described as ‘contract workers’ but that may be about to change following a court case brought recently by a volunteer.
Any employee or worker working anywhere in the European Union is entitled to work without being discriminated against in relation to certain ‘protected characteristics’, such as disability, gender or race. This principle of equality is enshrined under European law in the European Directive on Equal Treatment in Employment and Occupation, which is distilled in the UK under the Equality Act 2010.
However, in this case, Mrs X was an unpaid, voluntary legal adviser, without a formal contract, working at the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) under a Volunteer Agreement but was dismissed from the CAB after being diagnosed with HIV.
Mrs X took the CAB to court on the grounds that her work was an ‘occupation’, even though she was unpaid and that she should have had the same protection as an employee, who could have claimed for compensation on the grounds of disability-related discrimination.
Initially, her claim was turned down by an Employment Tribunal, an Employment Appeal Tribunal and the Court of Appeal, so she has now taken her case to the Supreme Court and it is likely that it will be referred to the European Court of Justice (ECJ), as Mrs X’s lawyers have argued that volunteers should also enjoy protection against discrimination under European law in certain situations.
If the ECJ upholds Mrs X’s claim then it will have a major effect on the millions of voluntary workers in the UK, including people on internships and work placements, as well as on the voluntary sector in the UK and Europe.