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02/07/2008
The Government has confirmed which pieces of existing discrimination legislation will be replaced by the forthcoming Equality Bill. The Equality Bill will replace:
The Equal Pay Act 1970.
The Sex Discrimination Act 1975.
The Race Relations Act 1976.
The Disability Discrimination Act 1995.
The Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003 (employment-related discrimination on grounds of religion or belief).
Part 2 of Equality Act 2006 (discrimination on grounds of religion or belief in the provision of goods, facilities and services, education, the use and disposal of premises and the exercise of public functions).
The Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003 (employment-related discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation).
The Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007 (discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation in the provision of goods, facilities and services, education, disposal and management of premises and the exercise of public functions).
The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006.
In addition, the Government Equalities Office has published ‘Framework for a Fairer Future – The Equality Bill’, which outlines further details of the content of the Equality Bill. The Government has indicated that it will be written in plain English to increase understanding of the rights and responsibilities it creates. As well as consolidating the legislation referred to above, the Bill will also:
Extend positive action so that employers can take under-representation into account when selecting between two equally qualified candidates. Accordingly, managers of white, male dominated workforces will be able to address this issue by giving preference to female or ethnic minority candidates so long as they are equally suitable.
Outlaw pay secrecy clauses in employment contracts and make it unlawful to prevent employees from discussing their pay, in an attempt to reduce the gender pay gap.
Introduce wider powers for employment tribunals to make recommendations in unlawful discrimination claims, so that recommendations can apply to the whole workforce and not just the successful claimant. Such recommendations might include implementing an equal opportunities policy or reviewing pay policies. Failure to comply with such recommendations could be taken into account in any further claims against the employer.
Create a single, streamlined equality duty on public sector employers. This will include duties in relation to gender reassignment, age, sexual orientation and religion or belief, in addition to the current duties in respect of race, disability and sex.
Outlaw age discrimination for adults aged 18 and over in the provision of goods and services.
A further paper will be published shortly setting out additional detail on the Equality Bill’s content.
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