These articles gives a general overview only and the legal position at the time of writing them. It cannot be relied upon in any particular case. Specific legal advice must always be considered to include consideration as to whether the legal position contained in this article has changed since going to print.
Equality Act 2010 comes in to force
A new piece of legislation came in to force on 1st October 2010 in relation to discrimination in the workplace. Whilst it is not anticipated to bring about big changes for employers and HR advisors, the Act repeals the nine current pieces of legislation relating to equal opportunities and discrimination, and consolidates them in to a single Act. Hopefully the consolidation will make it easier for businesses to comply with the anti-discrimination rules.
The Act is structured around 9 protected characteristics – age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation. Whilst it has been unlawful for a number of years to discriminate against someone because of one of the protected characteristics making the Act mainly a streamlining vehicle, the Act also introduces a number of new and improved rights that will affect businesses.
Perceived and associative discrimination will now be unlawful in respect of all of the protected characteristics, except marriage and civil partnership. This means that it will be unlawful to discriminate against an individual who is thought to have had a protected characteristic even if they do not actually have the characteristic. The definition of disability has also been widened making claims by employees and job applicants easier, because the individual will no longer have to show that an impairment adversely affects one of a list of specific day to day activities.
Employers will also be well advised to review their recruitment polices as the new Act prevents employers asking job applicants questions about their health before making a job offer (unless the job falls into one of the five exceptions). Any pre-offer inquiries about health will now be presumptively discriminatory.
In relation to Equal Pay, whilst the government is still considering a requirement on private sector employers to publish gender pay gap information, the Act stops employers relying on pay secrecy clauses to prohibit employees discussing pay. This means that whilst provisions preventing staff from discussing pay can still exist, an employer will not be allowed to rely on or enforce the provision where an employee is seeking or making disclosure about pay for the purposes of establishing discrimination.
The last main change is the addition of dual discrimination claims. Whilst current legislation allows multiple discrimination claims, each separate discrimination claim will be looked at on its own. Employees will now be able to file claims on two grounds/characteristics rather than one. This means that an ethnic minority woman passed over for promotion can claim discrimination on account of both gender and race.
So what can employers do to ensure that they are complying with the new legislation? In most cases, the Act will not have a significant impact and employers will simply need to update their workplace policies and procedures. Employers should also consider additional training for HR advisors and managers to ensure that their equal opportunities knowledge is up to date. The Act does include many provisions that significantly extend UK discrimination law, and the full affect will no doubt be seen over the next few months when the new provisions are tested by the courts and tribunals.
October 2010
As readers may appreciate, it is important to seek legal advice on preventing discrimination in the workplace. This article is only a brief overview and does not constitute advice and should not be relied upon on any particular case. The Employment Law Team at Lemon&Co Solicitors specialise in this kind of work. For further information and a quote contact Lauren Harkin or one of the Employment Law Team on 01793 527141
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<p><strong><a href="http://www.lemon-co.co.uk/article_equality-act-2010.php">Equality Act 2010 comes in to force</a></strong><br />
A new piece of legislation came in to force on 1st October 2010 in relation to discrimination in the workplace...</p>
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