| Time is ticking away for
businesses to review their policies and
practices to make sure they are in line
with the new Equality Act. Most of the
Equality Act will become law on 1
October 2010, bringing together and
replacing previous discrimination
legislation. It covers a range of groups
that have protected characteristics
relating to:
- age
- disability
- gender reassignment
- race
- religion or belief
- sex
- sexual orientation
- marriage and civil partnership
- pregnancy and maternity
The new Act is designed to streamline
existing equality law and contains
elements that remain unchanged from
previous legislation, have been amended or
extended or introduced for the first time.
Changes have been made in the following
areas:
- third party harassment: employers
are potentially liable if staff are
harassed by people they don't employ,
such as external suppliers or customers
- pre-employment health checks: with
some exceptions, from October employers
should no longer send out pre-health
questionnaires with employment
application packs
- employment tribunal recommendations:
employment tribunals can require
employers found guilty of discrimination
to take steps to change their policies
and practices to prevent further
discrimination
- pay secrecy: the Equality Act will
make a clause in contracts requiring
employees to keep pay secret
unenforceable. Employers can still
require employees to keep pay rates
confidential from others outside the
workplace, such as competitors.
In the light of these changes,
businesses may need to review and change
some policies and practices.
LINKS:
Equalities Act summary guides and
Acas guide |
