Archive for the ‘equality’ Category
By Sarah - Tuesday, August 24th, 2010
In my second in a series of blogs about the new Equality Act, I tackle the subject of direct discrimination. Prior to the Equality Act 2010, direct discrimination was defined in the various acts in differing ways. The new singular definition is that “A person (A) discriminates against another (B) if, because of a protected characteristic, A treats B less favourably than A treats or would treat another. ”
Age discrimination as a protected characteristic can be justified in the same way as before if A can show that it is a propoertionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. There is no direct discrimination if A treats disabled people more favourably and men cannot claim privileges for women connected with pregnancy or childbirth. There is also a new protection for those with dual protected characteristics in direct discrimination cases. The only exception is that the protected characteristics of marriage and civil partnerships, or maternity or pregnancy cannot be used in combination with another protected characteristic to get home under the new dual discrimination.
Disability again does not sit as well with the other protected characteristics and I will cover this separately.
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By Sarah - Monday, August 23rd, 2010
The Equality Act 2010 comes into force on 1st October 2010. A key aim of the new Act is to harmonise discrimination law. In the first of a series of blogs, I will be bringing you the key points of the Act. Under the new Act there are 9 protected characteristics. These are:
- age
- disability
- gender reassignment
- marriage and civil partnership
- pregnancy and maternity
- race
- religion or belief
- sex
- sexual orientation
The Act then goes on to talk about prohibited conduct namely discrimination, failure to comply with a duty to make reasonable adjustments, harassment and victimisation on the grounds of a protected characteristic.
We are currently putting together a seminar on the subject to be held within the next 6 weeks so watch this space.
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By Sarah - Friday, July 2nd, 2010
Lesbian and homosexual staff at Google in the US are to be paid more to compensate them for the higher taxes they have to pay. Under US Laws where health insurance is offered to an employee’s partner it is tax free for hetrosexual couples but taxable for gay couples. Google will make up the pay difference for its gay staff which could be as much as £650 per annum back dated to the start of the year. Google employs over 20,000 staff and it is thought as many as 700 could benefit from this decision.
Google has been known to be a leader in workforce benefits as they get free food, free laundry and 5 months full pay for those on maternity leave. The Daily Mail has the full story.
Posted in Sex/Race Discrimination, equality | No comments »
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By Olivia - Thursday, June 17th, 2010
Just as we are all bracing ourselves for the coming into force of the Equality Act (or provisions of) in October it’s all up in the air again. The Government Equalities Office has removed the October 2010 date for implementation from its website. We have speculated as to the stance the Coalition would take in relation to the Act which was pushed through before dissolution of the old government. Maybe this is indicative of a reluctance to embrace the new provisions (speculation only !)
This is akin to being given your delivery date for your first child, only to discover it’s due some weeks later. Maybe an exaggeration, but there is no denying that the Equality Act will completely change the way we plead, argue and handle discrimination claims and how employers conduct themselves. An uncertain implementation date is of concern when employers (and laywers alike) need to prepare themselves for the changes ahead.
Posted in Sex/Race Discrimination, Uncategorized, equality | No comments »
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By Nicky - Tuesday, September 8th, 2009
This article may come as no surprise for some of our readers. Women in the city are reported to work longer hours for less pay and are reported to receive substantially less bonuses - often one fifth that of their male counterparts.
It is reported that women are often excluded from networking events as clients are routinely entertained at lap-dancing clubs or hostess bars.
What are your experiences? Have you been paid less than your male counterpart? Or have you been the male receiving more than your female counterpart? I would be interested to hear your views on this subject.
Posted in Equal Pay, equality | No comments »
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By Philip - Friday, July 3rd, 2009
The Government are consulting on the Equality Bill until the end of September. The Bill will impact on everyone, particularly employers,so use the response form available here to have your say. Consultation can make a difference so if you feel you would like your views heard and ideas adopted, act now.
I will be reviewing the 9 parts of the Bill over a series of 9 posts. In part one there is a duty on public bodies to consider reducing social economic inequalities. This duty will operate at a strategic level rather than an operational level, eg: Public bodies could set a strategy to ensure that children from less well off areas have a chance of going to the “best” schools by ensuring that parents in those areas have access to resources to help navigate their way through complex admission arrangements.
This section appears to me an admission that in prioritising sex/sexual orientation and race equality, the government have overlooked class inequality. Overall this section’s impact on employers is minimal but I can see that it could be controversial.
In particular in considering say socio economic deprivation of children, which child is more deprived?:
Child A who is from a one income household earning below the national average whose parent or parents take a great interest in the child and attend school activities regularly and encourage participation in sport and other interests.
Child B who is from a dual, high income family, whose parents do not get in from work, after a long commute from London, until 8.00pm and who have little or no time to see their children in the week.
Most people would say Child B is more deprived, but local authorities and other public bodies will consider targeting resources at Child A.
Posted in Equality Bill, Sex/Race Discrimination, equality | No comments »
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By Emma - Monday, April 27th, 2009
The Equality Bill has been published and you can read it here.
According to the Office of the Leader of the House of Commons it covers (amongst other things):
- Banning age discrimination in the provision of goods, facilities or services and public functions. Things that benefit older people, such as free bus passes, will still be allowed.
- Increasing transparency in the workplace. If inequality remains hidden, we can’t measure it and make progress;
- Making Britain fairer through a single equality duty, which will require public bodies to consider the diverse needs and requirements of their workforce, and the communities they serve, when developing employment policies and when planning services;
- Extending positive action measures to allow employers to make their organisation or business more representative;
- Allowing political parties to use all-women shortlists beyond 2015;
- Reducing nine major pieces of legislation, and around 100 statutory instruments into a single Act, making the law more accessible and easier to understand, so that everyone can be clear on their rights and responsibilities.
Remember it is only a Bill at this stage and has got to pass through the two Houses of Parliament before it hits the statute books so it could be quite different by that time. We’ll keep you posted…
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By Emma - Monday, February 23rd, 2009
It looks as though various changes to maternity and equality legislation expected soon may be scrapped (or put on hold) to reduce financial pressure on businesses. See more here.
Those of you on our Employment Law Update last month will remember me talking about the proposed Equality Bill announced in the Queen’s speech in December 2008 so this is a fast turn around and one that seems to be causing some consternation in the Cabinet. The maternity changes have been on the cards for longer and we did not expect them to come into force until 2010 at the earliest.
However, don’t forget that Peter Mandelson wanted to ditch the changes to flexible working which are coming in soon and changed his mind so nothing is written in stone yet…
Posted in Maternity, equality | 1 comment »
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