Equality at Work

Only 20% of today’s United Kingdom workforce is white, able-bodied, male and under 45 - by 2020, 40% of the working population will be aged over 50.

Diversity is no longer a minority issue - it is a key component of competitive advantage. Positive action is required to prepare for the environment and challenges ahead.

While many organisations, public and private, embrace diversity and inclusion, unlawful discrimination persists in many areas, although often unintentional.

The reasons are often complex and differ between organisations and departments, the result is often the same: unlawful discrimination with its attendant risks, which include:

• Reputational risk
• Financial risks through Employment Tribunal awards and the costs of defending and/or settling a claim
• Damaged team morale, through poor employment relations
• Sub-optimal performance of individuals and teams and organisations
• The opportunity costs of failing to harness the capability of a diverse workforce

Equality Bill Passed by House of Commons

The Equality Bill was passed by the House of Commons on 6 April 2010 and will enter the statute book as the Equality Act 2010.

The majority of the provisions within the Act will come into force in October 2010, with some being staggered to allow organisations time to prepare.

It is envisaged that the Act will come into force as follows:

• October 2010: Main provisions: prohibiting discrimination in the workplace and in the provision of goods, liabilities and services, replacing existing discrimination legislation.
• April 2011: The integrated public sector Equality Duty, the Socio-economic Duty and dual discrimination protection.
• 2012: The ban on age discrimination in provision of goods, facilities, services and public functions.
• 2013: Private and voluntary sector gender pay transparency regulations (if required).

Key issues of the Act are:

• Harmonisation and extension of discrimination law
• Public bodies to use public procurement to drive equality
• Public sector single equality duty
• Extension of the ban on age discrimination to the provision of services and public functions
• Discrimination by association or based on perception
• Dual discrimination - discrimination on the basis of two (and no more) protected groups
• Public sector socio–economic duty
• Prohibition of pre-employment health questionnaires
• Enhancing powers of Tribunals
• Positive action in recruitment and promotion
• Allowing pay discussions with colleagues
• Equal pay transparency for employers with 250 employees or more to publish their pay statistics to demonstrate how they are tackling the gender pay gap
• Prohibiting caste discrimination

The Conservative Party has stated they would not implement the Public Sector Equality Duty or the Equal Pay transparency regulations. The Bill has been drafted in such a way that these two provisions would be omitted should the Conservative Party be elected to form the next Government.