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Coalition Government agrees to continue with timetable for the Equality Act 2010.
Despite the opposition of Conservative and Liberal Democrat MP’s to certain elements of the Equality Act 2010, prior to receiving Royal Assent, the Government Equalities Office (‘GEO’) confirmed over the weekend that the timetable for implementing the main provisions of the Equality Act 2010 (‘the Act’), ass proposed by the former Labour Government, will go ahead as planned on 1 October 2010. The Act simplifies the current laws and puts them altogether in one piece of legislation.
According to the GEO’s website the provisions of the Act will come into force at different times “to allow for the people and organisations affected by the new laws to prepare for them”. It is understood that the consolidation of numerous pieces of existing discrimination and equal pay legislation into one Act will be in place from October. However it is still uncertain whether the Government will implement the provisions regarding gender pay reporting.
Gender Pay Reporting
Gender pay reporting is one of the most controversial provisions of the Act. The Conservatives have always been publicly opposed to gender pay gap reporting. The Act as it currently stands will make it possible for the Government to require all employers with more than 250 staff to report their gender pay gap from 2013 (i.e. the difference between men and women’s pay), if sufficient progress on reporting has not already been made voluntarily.
Secrecy Clauses
Theresa May, the Home Secretary and Minister for Equality, has confirmed that the Government will go ahead with a ban on secrecy clauses that prevent employees from discussing pay.
Disability Discrimination
The law has been made stronger in the area of disability discrimination. There will be a slightly different test of what “disability” means. When the new law comes in it will be easier for someone to show that they have difficulty carrying out day-to-day activities and therefore they come under the definition of a “disabled” person and are protected under the Act.The Act also protects disabled persons against “indirect discrimination” for the first time. When the Act comes in it will be easier to make a claim for discrimination that happens because of something connected to a persons disability.
Protected Characteristics
The Act does not introduce any new “Protected Characteristics”, which is how the various aspects of the current discrimination legislation are defined, and as such UK law will continue to protect against discrimination based on:
Consultation
At present the GEO have launched a four week consultation period to consider the new forms and guidance under the Act. The consultation closes on 13 July 2010.
More information on this subject can be found in the attached guidance issued by the Government Equalities Office in conjunction with the Citizens Advice Bureau and the Equality and Diversity Forum.
If you would like to discuss how the Act will affect you please contact Jamie Berry on 020 7228 2020.
In a decision that will have far reaching implications, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled (Coleman v. Attridge Law) that a woman with a disabled child is entitled to protection from discrimination at work on the grounds of her child’s disability. The case concerned the interpretation of the EC Equal Treatment Framework Directive and its impact on disability discrimination legislation in the UK.
Sharon Coleman brought a claim of disability discrimination and construction dismissal against her ex-employer on the grounds that she had been discriminated against because of her son’s disability.
The wording of the Disability Discrimination Act 1999 (DDA) does not appear to afford protection to an employee who is discriminated against because he or she cars for a disabled person. Ms. Coleman argued that the Equal Treatment Framework Directive does give protection from unfair treatment that arises out of association with a disabled person. The Employment Tribunal (ET) referred the question to the ECJ in order to establish whether the UK law properly implements the Directive.
The ECJ ruled that the purpose of the Directive, as regards employment, is to eliminate all forms of discrimination relating to disability and would provide insufficient protection and be rendered less effective if it were restricted only to those who are themselves disabled. In the Court’s view an employee who is the primary carer of a disabled child is protected from direct discrimination and harassment that is related to the disability of their child.
The case will now return to the Employment Tribunal to decide whether the DDA can be interpreted in a way that complies with the Directive as clarified by the ECJ’s ruling
Employers are advised to take care when considering requests for flexible working arrangements from employees who have caring responsibilities for disabled or elderly people and to check their recruitment and equal opportunities policies in the light of this decision.
A waitress who was sacked via a text message after she claimed that the manager of the restaurant where she worked had sexually harassed her has been awarded almost £60,000 in compensation.
Jane Price brought a claim against the Steak House and Omelette bar in Plymouth for unfair dismissal, sexual discrimination and harassment and also claimed sexual discrimination against the manager who has since been sacked form his job. She told the Exeter Employment Tribunal (ET) that she had suffered post-traumatic stress disorder and agoraphobia as a result of the bullying and harassment she had been subjected to whilst working at the restaurant.
The ET upheld her claims and the restaurant owner was given six months to pay compensation made up of £23,741 for harassment and £30,216 for the ‘discriminatory dismissal’. In addition, the ex-manager was ordered to pay Mrs Price £5,256 because he was considered partly liable. If you are considering dismissing staff, contact us for advice before you act.
Employers are reminded that from 1st October 2008 the adult National Minimum Wage (NMW) rose from £5.52 to £5.73 an hour. The minimum rate for 18 -21 year olds increased from £4.60 to £4.77 an hour and for 16 to 17 year olds the rate is now £3.53 an hour instead of £3.40
-------------------------------------------------Back to the top---------------------------------------------------The owners of a Sheffield butchers shop have been ordered to pay more than £11,000 to two former employees because they failed to pay them the National Minimum Wage (NMW). This is the forth successful NMW prosecution to date but it is the first in which the employers have faced criminal prosecution for deliberate non-payment of the NMW.
-------------------------------------------------Back to the top---------------------------------------------------From 6 April 2008 the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 have applied to all workplaces where live music is played or where recorded music is played in a restaurant, bar, public house, discotheque or nightclub, or alongside live music or a live dramatic or dance performance. A ‘Sound Advice’ website (http://soundadvice.info/) has now been launched providing practical guidance on controlling noise at work in the music and entertainment sectors
-------------------------------------------------Back to the top---------------------------------------------------Under the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006, the enforced retirement of an employee who is below the mandatory retirement age of 65 is generally unlawful, unless it can be objectively justified. In Plewes v. Adams Pork Produce Ltd. The employer’s failure to comply precisely with the Regulations proved to be costly. An employee who was retired on the day before his 65th birthday, which was the company’s normal retirement age, won compensation of over £36,000.
-------------------------------------------------Back to the top---------------------------------------------------If a suitable alternative post is available and an employer does not offer it to an employee selected for redundancy, the redundancy may well be unfair dismissal.
If an employer does offer alternative employment that is clearly suitable and the employee unreasonably refuses to accept it, he or she will not be paid a Statutory Redundancy Payment. Employers should take care in such circumstances however. In Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection v Ward, the Employment Appeal Tribunal held that the decision as to whether or not an employee’s refusal of suitable alternative employment is reasonable is a subjective one.
The employee’s actions must be looked at in relation to the way the facts appeared, or ought reasonably to have appeared, to them when the decision was made. An employee can reasonably refuse an objectively suitable offer based on their own perceptions. It is for the Tribunal to reach a judgment based on the facts in each case.
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