The Equality Act 2010
The Equality Act 2010 introduces a new cross-cutting equality legislative framework covering employment, facilities, goods and services and education. It harmonises, simplifies and strengthens nine separate pieces of previous legislation such as the Sex Discrimination Act 1975, Race Relations Act 1976, and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 to deliver a simple, modern and accessible law which protects individuals from unfair treatment and promotes a more equal and fair society.
The Act covers the same groups that were previously protected by equality legislation, i.e.
- Age;
- Disability;
- Gender reassignment;
- Race;
- Religion or belief;
- Sex;
- Sexual orientation;
- Marriage and civil partnership and
- Pregnancy and maternity.
These are now called “protected characteristics”. It also extends some protections to characteristics that were not previously covered and strengthens particular aspects of equality law, including extending the definition of direct discrimination.
On 1 October some of the provisions relating to employment and service delivery were brought into force. Other provisions remain under consideration by the Government.
Some of the main provisions coming into force on 1 October 2010 include:
- Levelling up protection for people discriminated against because they are perceived to have, or are associated with someone who has, a protected characteristic, so providing new protection for people like carers;
- Introducing a new concept of “discrimination arising from disability”, i.e. people experiencing a detriment not because of the disability itself but because of something arising from it, or as a consequence of it;
- Changing the definition of gender reassignment, by removing the requirement for medical supervision (extending protection to cover people who have proposed, started or completed the process of changing their sex).
- Clearer protection for breastfeeding mothers;
- Extending protection from 3rd party harassment to all protected characteristics; for example harassment from contractors or customers;
- Making it more difficult for disabled people to be unfairly screened out when applying for jobs, by restricting the circumstances in which employers can ask job applicants questions about disability or health;
- Allowing claims for direct gender pay discrimination where there is no actual comparator;
- Making pay secrecy clauses unenforceable, therefore allowing employees to discuss their pay;
- Introducing new powers for employment tribunals to make recommendations which benefit the wider workforce;
- Allowing voluntary positive action schemes.
For more information about the key changes please follow the link below to guidance from the Equality Challenge Unit.
http://www.ecu.ac.uk/publications/files/Equality-act-2010-key-actions-for-october.pdf/view
What actions does the University of Bradford need to take to comply with the new Act?
As a public organisation our obligations remain largely the same. However, we will update our policies and procedures to comply with the new provisions, including:
- Ensuring the key changes are reflected in our policies and procedures.
- Assessing which training sessions and materials need to be reviewed and updated in line with the key changes, such as Recruitment and Selection;
- Revising the University’s statement of commitment to tackle all forms of discrimination to include all protected characteristics and prohibited conduct;
- Producing a plan for identifying and meeting the information needs of managers, staff and students, trade unions and students' unions in line with the key changes and
- Revising relevant university documentation (hard copy or web-based) to ensure that it covers the changes in the legislation.
In response to the General Duty, which comes into force in April 2011, the Equality and Diversity Unit is:
- Developing an Equality and Diversity Strategy and reviewing the Equal Opportunities Policy;
- Undertaking consultation with interest groups to shape equality objectives and develop an action plan to accompany the Equality and Diversity Strategy;
- Those objectives will be embedded into the fabric of the University’s business planning processes and monitored through Equality and Diversity Committee;
- Working with HR to ensure employment policies reflect the new provisions of the Equality Act;
- Continuing the programme of equality impact assessments and
- Establishing templates for the publishing of equality data relating to employment and students.
For more information about the Equality Act 2010 please contact the Equality and Diversity Team on equality@bradford.ac.uk
