Most provisions of the 2010 Equality Act took effect on 1 October, making the law simpler by combining nine pieces of legislation under one Act. If you haven’t yet considered how this affects you and your business – then you should! Check below for the Acts covered, and for further sources of information.
The Act is intended to make it easier for organisations to comply with discrimination law by streamlining the quality laws, reducing the administrative burden, and providing more protection to disabled people.
Amongst the provisions is the removal of the clauses that stop people discussing their pay with colleagues, allowing both women and men to find out if they are being paid fairly – or unfairly.
The nine pieces of legislation being brought together under the 2010 Equality Act are:
- Equal Pay Act (1970)
- Sex Discrimination Act (1975)
- Race Relations Act (1976)
- Disability Discrimination Act (1995)
- Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations (2003)
- Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations (2003)
- Employment Equality (Age) Regulations (2006)
- Equality Act (2006)
- Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations (2007)
Key changes to the law being introduced include:
- Extra protection for disabled people. The new law restricts the circumstances in which employers can ask job applicants questions about disability or health prior to offering them a position, making it more difficult for disabled people to be unfairly screened out.
- New powers for employment tribunals. Where an employment tribunal finds that an employer has discriminated against an employee, the tribunal will be allowed to make recommendations that could affect the whole workforce – for example, calling for harassment policies to be more effectively implemented – instead of being restricted to measures that will benefit the employee who brought the action.
- Extending protection from third party harassment to all protected characteristics, meaning employers have a responsibility to protect their staff, where possible, from harassment by customers.
For a full list, visit http://www.equalities.gov.uk/equality_act_2010.aspx
Frequently asked questions about the Act are answered at:
http://www.equalities.gov.uk/equality_act_2010/faqs_on_commencement_of_the_eq.aspx
Guides explaining what the Equality Act means for employers, employees and the general public can be found at:
http://www.equalities.gov.uk/equality_act_2010/equality_act_2010_what_do_i_n.aspx
This article was provided by einsidetrack.com