The Equality Act 2010 – Extracts from the Abstract of the Dissertation “AN ANLAYSIS OF THE EQUALITY ACT 2010 IN THE EMPLOYMENT CONTEXT” by R. Knight
Anti-discrimination and equality law in the UK has been developing progressively since 1965. Apart from initiatives driven by consecutive UK governments over this period, UK’s membership of the EU has lead to a number of protections for individuals in the employment law field. UK law is obliged to be consistent with EU law and new legislation must not be incompatible with it. The ongoing refinement and extension of anti-discrimination law in the UK brought about a succession of statutes and a multiplicity of secondary legislation. Prior to the Equality Act 2010 (EQA 2010) there were nine separate pieces of legislation and in excess of one hundred statutory instruments designed to cover discrimination and equality.
As Baker states “some of these laws were inconsistent in their application and determining one's legal position in any given situation had become a complex technical matter, often shrouded in doubt and which could only be ultimately decided with certainty by an employment tribunal or court. Case law mushroomed and the law became far removed from the basic comprehension of ordinary individuals and organisations.”
As of 2005 there have been a number of plans to simplify this significant area of law. The EQA 2010 harmonises discrimination law and consolidates anti-discrimination legislation into one statute. It repeals the existing anti-discrimination legislation which has evolved over the past four decades.
The EQA 2010 gives statutory protection against workplace discrimination on different grounds and these are called protected characteristics and are listed as age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.
The outlawed behaviour in relation to the protected characteristics is called “prohibited conduct”. The prohibited conduct includes the following:
• Direct discrimination
• Combined discrimination, dual characteristics
• Discrimination arising from disability
• Gender reassignment discrimination
• Pregnancy and maternity discrimination (work)
• Indirect discrimination
• Failure to comply with a duty to make adjustments for disabled persons
• Harassment
• Victimisation
In the domestic context, the most significant progress in the area of equal pay legislation has taken place through a complex interaction between EU and domestic law.
Equal pay for women only became relevant in the UK in 1975 when the EPA was introduced along with the SDA. Statistically the pay gap has reduced over these last 40 years however men and women still do not enjoy equal pay
. However not all the provisions found in the EQA 2010 are yet enforceable and this includes the provision rendering pay secrecy terms unenforceable and the provision allowing ministers to make regulations requiring employers to publish information relating to the pay of employees for the purpose of establishing whether there are differences between men and women.
1 Baker, N. 34 CSR 13, 102 13 October 2010 Equality Act 2010, Company Secretary's Review, Tolley's Practical Business Fortnightly For Companies.
2 Bamforth, N. Malik, M. and O’Cinneide, C. Discrimination Law: Theory and Context, 1st edn (Sweet and Maxwell 2008) p. 586
3 Leaker, D. The gender pay gap in the UK. Office for National Statistics – Economic and Labour Market Review Vol 2, No. 4 April 2008 |
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