The Equality Act 2010

The Equality Act 2010 (the "Act"), many provisions of which came into force with effect from 1 October 2010, is probably one of the most important pieces of employment legislation to be introduced in recent years. This newsletter seeks to answer some of the most frequently asked questions about the Act.

ABOUT THE ACT

Why has the Act been introduced?

The key aim of the Act is to harmonise and streamline existing discrimination legislation which is currently contained in a number of statutes, including the Sex Discrimination Act 1975, the Race Relations Act 1976, the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, the Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003, the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003 and the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006. These will all be repealed and replaced by the Act.

Over the years, the different strands of discrimination law have developed in different ways. This has led to subtle differences between the forms of protection. These anomalies will be removed once the Act comes into force. The Act also seeks to strengthen and extend the law to support progress on equality.

What types of discrimination does the Act cover?

The Act covers discrimination on the grounds of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation. These are known as "protected characteristics" in the Act. The Act also covers those concepts currently covered by the Equal Pay Act 1970.

What are the main changes?

The main changes in the Act are as follows:

A different definition of "disability";

Expanded protection against disability discrimination;

Prohibition on asking pre-employment health-related questions;

Extension of the concept of associative discrimination to all strands of discrimination;

Limiting pay secrecy provisions; and

Extending the remit of Employment Tribunals to make recommendations.

Whilst the above changes (and other less significant changes) will be made once the Act is implemented, it is important to remember that many of the current discrimination principles will continue to exist.

FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION

What forms of discriminatory behaviour are prohibited by the Act?

The concept of "direct discrimination" and "indirect discrimination" will remain, although it should be noted that indirect discrimination will also apply to disabled persons (this is not currently the position in the Disability Discrimination Act 1995). The concepts of "harassment" and "victimisation" will remain too. Many of these concepts will have minor tweaks made to them by the Act (for example, direct discrimination is currently defined as discrimination on the grounds of sex, race, etc but will become discrimination because of a protected characteristic instead), although the practical effects will be largely the same.

The current concept of "disability-related discrimination" (the effect of which was severely limited from a...

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