New Equality Act – Ignore it at Your Peril
The core provisions of the Equality Act 2010 came into force on 1 October 2010. Andrew Egan, an employment lawyer with Thames Valley firm, Charles Lucas & Marshall, sums up the key points.
The Act replaces a number of major pieces of discrimination legislation and other measures which have been introduced over previous years to protect people from: unfairness and discrimination on the grounds of age; disability; gender reassignment; marriage and civil partnership; pregnancy and maternity; race, religion or religious belief; sex and sexual orientation.
These are now called ‘protected characteristics’. The Act covers the same areas safeguarded by existing law but also extends legislation to areas not included before – while introducing changes to current law.
The scope of the Act covers not just employment law but also laws governing the provision of goods and services and beyond. It harmonises current equality laws and extends some protection to areas that were not previously covered eg, associative discrimination, where a person is treated differently because a peer or colleague is someone covered by a protected characteristic, which applied only to three groups previously but has now been extended to seven.
Some employers already fear a fresh waive of discrimination and harassment claims and a rise in trivial claims and associated costs, potentially resulting in greater disruptive impact for small business and employers.
Under the legislation, workers can claim discrimination by association, and Employment Tribunals have been given wider powers to order changes in the workplace eg ordering management to undergo equality and diversity training.
Employers are barred from asking questions about a prospective employee’s health. As well as limiting the questions employers can ask, the new legislation shifts the burden of proof on to the employer. It also covers a number of other areas including gender pay discrepancies, pay secrecy and protection for breastfeeding mothers.
The legislation is aimed at creating one uniform concept across different types of legislation.
As with the application of all new employment legislation, it is the large percentage of small and medium sized businesses which make up the business community who may be less able to cope and have fewer financial and other resources to adapt to the changes. If the legislation adds to the cost of employing people, then this will greatly impact upon small businesses, which are already fighting to adapt to difficult economic times and move to some economic recovery.
Smaller businesses are less likely to have comprehensive anti-discrimination and harassment policies already in place and are more likely to be affected. They do not have a large human resources departments, if at all, and will find it difficult to keep up with the changes, especially as a recent survey showed that a substantial percentage of HR managers do not fully understand the new legislation. As a result, employers will need to review and update their employment practices and should ensure their equal opportunity and recruitment policies are legally compliant.
Employers should not treat the legislation as requiring a bit of adjusting of the odd policy and then carrying on as normal. HR will need to revise policies and practices, provide training and ensure all levels of line management appreciate the standards expected of them to minimise risk and maximise opportunities – and to get the best out of the workforce and avoid extensive and expensive litigation.
As we have seen with previous legislation, time will tell for age discrimination for example, where the predicted outbreak of claims did not materialise initially and an increase in claims took some time to filter through.
There has already been a substantial increase in Tribunal claims of over 50 per cent in the last 12-18 months so the Tribunal system will be heavily stretched if an increase in claims follows.
The Act provides a single piece of legislation which will deliver consistency in a way that has been lacking and which should iron out the real anomalies which have arisen because of the different approaches there have been to different types of discrimination. This has been confusing and has generated litigation.
While it may mean extra work for employers, it should ensure that both employers and employees benefit from a fairer and more transparent workplace.
For further information please contact Andrew Egan on 01635 521212 or andrew.egan@clmlaw.co.uk
Last 5 posts by Andrew Egan
- Employment Newsletter February 2012 - January 18th, 2012
- New agency worker regulations – what should employers be doing? - July 6th, 2011
- Agency Workers Directive - Seminar 13th July 2011 - 9:30 - 11:30 a.m. - July 1st, 2011
- Don’t Let Restrictive Covenants Stifle Your Business Start-Up - March 10th, 2011
- New Retirement Age Could Spell Trouble for Employers - January 21st, 2011
