Equality Act

Understanding the Equality Act

 

Introduction

 
The Equality Act 2010 was introduced in October 2010, bringing together pre-existing legislation on discrimination and equality and introducing some new provisions to address outstanding discrimination issues and promote equality.
 
The Act repealed and replaced all existing equality legislation, including:
    • The Equal Pay Act 1970
    • The Sex Discrimination Act 1975
    • The Race Relations Act 1976
    • The Disability Discrimination Act 1995
    • The Employment Equality (Religion and Belief) Regulations 2003
    • The Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003
    • The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006
    • The Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007
 
 

Key concepts

 
The Act defines the characteristics of nine protected groups including age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion and belief, gender and sexual orientation.
 
It defines discrimination by reference to direct and indirect discrimination, discrimination arising from disability, failure to comply with the duty to make reasonable adjustments (applicable in relation to disability only), harassment and victimisation.
 
Watch UKCAE Chief Executive talk about the key concepts of discrimination
 

Key changes

  • Using public purchasing power to promote and improve equality by including equality provisions in tender documents or requiring suppliers to show that they operate an inclusive workplace.

  • Extending positive action so that employers can take into account, when selecting between two equally qualified candidates for recruitment or promotion, under-representation of disadvantaged groups.

  • Extending the protection from harassment by third parties that currently applies to sexual harassment to the other protected groups.

  • Introducing a requirement for private sector employers with more than 250 staff to report on the pay gap between male and female employees. The Government has made a commitment not to use these before 2013 and only then if insufficient progress has been made on voluntary reporting in the meantime.

  • Banning secrecy clauses which prevent people from discussing their pay with colleagues.

  • Banning unjustifiable age discrimination in the provision of goods, facilities and services.

  • Protecting against discrimination by association, for example making it unlawful to discriminate against someone because they care for an elderly relative.

  • Strengthening and extending the powers of Employment Tribunals by allowing them to make wide recommendations that would benefit the whole workforce and not just limited to the person who brought the claim.

  • Strengthening protection from discrimination for disabled people.

  • Clarifying vicarious liability – that is the liability of employers and principals in relation to the conduct of their employees or agents.

  • Extending use of women-only short lists to 2030. There are no proposals on ethnic minority short lists.
 

How it will affect you

 
Depending on your business, the impact of the Act will differ. If you are an employer, you need to be sure that the HR processes you use are fully non-discriminatory; not just for race, gender and disability. And you should be aware that the Act makes it possible to bring discrimination claims for experiencing two types of direct discrimination at one time.
 
Watch UKCAE Chief Executive Les Venus talk about equality in the employment cycle
 
If you supply goods or services, including websites, you need to be sure you provide equal access and that no one is unreasonably excluded. There are two areas to note:

Supply chain
 
Public spending will soon account for almost half of the UK economy. To encourage equality, most public bodies will be required to include equality provisions in their purchasing process. If you do business with local authorities, government departments, NHS and other publically funded bodies, or even supply those businesses that do, you will have to prove that you do not discriminate and that you have processes in place to prevent it.
 
Employment
 
Recruiting, selecting and managing your employees are all areas where discrimination can arise. The Equality Act extends protection in the areas of:

Gender re-assignment
Disability
Age
Marriage and civil partnerships
Pregnancy and maternity
Race
Religion and belief
Sexual orientation
Gender
 
You need to be sure that the processes you use are inclusive. Remember, if you use a recruitment agency, you are still liable for the actions they take on your behalf.
 
 

The United Kingdom Council for Access and Equality (UKCAE) Pathway

 
The Forum of Private Business is a Founder Member of UKCAE, a not-for-profit organisation founded by the private sector to help businesses in the area of equality and diversity. As a driving force within UKCAE, we have been working with other businesses, business organisations, the TUC, Acas and charities, to produce a pathway anyone can follow, from an individual to a large multinational, to show that they are inclusive. It will be delivered online, easy to follow, and the results can be measured and are auditable.
 
The Pathway is unique in that it applies to everyone within an organisation: it is not simply a checklist or best practice benchmark - it is an informative learning process targeted to actively build skills and knowledge at all levels. It is not a prescriptive process, and each user, regardless of sector or size, can formulate its own solutions within the framework referring to the resources provided.
 
The Pathway will commence upon registration of UKCAE membership and its inbuilt audit trail and requirement for publication ensures transparency and accountability. Each of the three Steps has to be successfully completed before the awarding of the UKCAE Mark. And it will all be delivered at a low cost through the Forum.
 
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This information was provided by the United Kingdom Council for Access and Equality (UKCAE). For more information visit www.ukcae.com.