Equality Act 2010

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The UK government’s long awaited response to its 2018 consultation on sexual harassment in the workplace has now been published. In this update, we look at the findings made and what may be coming down the line for employers as a result.

  1. Introduction

The 2018 Women and Equalities Select Committee (WESC) report on sexual harassment in the workplace revealed clearly that it was a persistent and important issue, despite the existence of current legal protections. As a result, the government committed to consult on the issue and have produced an official response to the 2018 report.

The government undertook a consultation from 11 July to 2 October 2019, on sexual harassment in the workplace. This consultation took a two-part form, consisting of: 1) a technical consultation with employers on the functionality of the legal framework designed to prevent sexual harassment, and 2) a public questionnaire aimed at gathering insight into the experiences of individuals.

The consultation was designed to explore:

  1. The evidence for the introduction of a mandatory duty on employers to protect workers from harassment and victimization in the workplace
  2. How best to strengthen and clarify the laws in relation to third-party harassment
  3. Whether interns are adequately protected by the Equality Act 2010 (the Act) and the evidence for extending the protections of the Act to volunteers
  4. The views of stakeholders on extending employment tribunal time limits in the Act from 3 months.

Continue Reading Overview of the governments’ ‘Consultation on sexual harassment in the workplace: government response’

This week the Government confirmed it will issue regulations requiring employers who have 250 or more employees to publish gender pay information. This blog explores the impact for employers.

The Government has now confirmed its intention to legislate under section 78 of the Equality Act 2010 which gives the Government power to issue regulations requiring…

This post was written by David Ashmore and Amy Treppass.

In Metroline Travel v Stoute, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (“EAT”) decided that employees with type 2 diabetes controlled by diet (rather than medication) are not automatically protected by disability discrimination legislation.

The Facts

Mr Stoute was employed by Metroline and worked for them as…

As is generally the case each year, 1 October brings a number of changes to employment law.

The key changes taking effect 1 October 2014 are as follows:

National Minimum Wage Increase

The annual increase to national minimum wage rates for all workers will take effect, such that from 1 October:

  • Workers aged 21 and

…

The Equality Act 2010 makes it unlawful to subject an employee to detriment because they have raised (or are threatening to raise) a complaint about discrimination – so-called “victimisation.”

Over the last year or so there have been conflicting judgments from the Employment Appeal Tribunal on the issue of ex-employees and whether they are protected from victimisation.

Today the Court of Appeal handed down its judgment in Jessemey –v- Rowstock Limited [2014] EWCA Civ 185 and confirmed that ex-employees are protected from victimisation by their former employer. The judgment is not, at the time of writing, available online but please contact us if you would like a copy.Continue Reading Victimisation under the Equality Act 2010 – ex-employees are now protected (again!)

The application of UK employment law to employees working outside the UK is a big issue for multi-national companies and employers in the shipping industry. If you have an employee who works for you outside the UK, can you be sure that they are not entitled to UK employment rights?

Not always – and there has been a great deal of case law over the last few years which indicates just that. Some employees working outside the UK may have UK employment rights – international employers should remain aware of that risk to avoid surprise claims.

But which employees will have such rights? A new case this week in the Employment Appeal Tribunal ("EAT") might provide some help in answering that question, at least in relation to employment protection derived from EU law, such as discrimination claims. We take a look at Hasan v Shell International Shipping Services (PTE) Ltd, and consider if this case takes us any further in defining the true scope of UK employment law.Continue Reading “European” employment law applies in Europe only

Last month, we looked at when employer might be deemed to have knowledge of an employee’s disability, discussing (among other cases) the EAT’s decision Gallop v Newport County Council. At that time we noted that the appeal had already been heard in the Court of Appeal but judgment had been reserved. 

The Court of Appeal has this week handed down its decision, urging caution to employers tempted to simply rely on an Occupational Health report to argue that they did not know (and could not reasonably have been expected to know) about an employee’s disability. 

We look at the impact of this judgment, and consider three ‘golden rules’ for employers when seeking opinions on whether an employee is disabled.Continue Reading Three ‘golden rules’ when considering whether an employee is disabled

This post was also written by Michaela L. Mc Cormack.

On November 2, Nicolas C. Sauvage gave a seminar at top French business school HEC as part of the new specialized executive Masters programme for international Human Resources Directors, “Human Resources Management & Sustainable Development.”

Nicolas’ presentation covered the themes of diversity and discrimination, retracing…

On the day the Equality Act 2010 came into force last Friday, it became apparent that there is a significant drafting error in the Act which could affect the enforceability of compromise agreements intended to settle discrimination and equal pay claims under the Act.

In order to have a qualifying compromise agreement the complainant must…

 In this Q&A, we have attempted to cover some of your most frequently asked questions on the UK Equality Act 2010.  This is not intended to be a comprehensive guide of the new provisions, so if you would like further information, please do not hesitate to contact us.

The Equality Act 2010 has been in the press a lot recently. Should we already have taken steps to ensure that our systems are in compliance with it?

The Equality Act 2010 (“the Act”) received Royal Assent in April, just before the general election and after a period of intense discussion and debate.  The new coalition government has recently announced that most of the Act’s provisions are due to take effect, as planned, from October 2010. However, despite this, questions remain over the more controversial provisions, such as the socio economic duty, gender pay reporting and positive action.

Employers need to act now in order to prepare for the Act, and the action we recommend is set out at the end of this note.  As regards those provisions of the Act where a question mark remains, there is no need to jump the gun – keep a close eye on developments, but be prepared to act as soon as any announcements are made.

I’ve heard that the Act makes it easier for employees to show they have suffered disability discrimination. Is this true?

The Act introduces some significant changes in the law concerning disability discrimination, and the government has said that these will come into force in October.  The changes have come about because of a recent decision of the House of Lords (London Borough of Lewisham v Malcolm (2008)), which rendered the existing protections against disability-related discrimination inadequate.  The changes make it easier for people to show they are disabled and are protected by disability discrimination law.  Two new types of disability discrimination are recognised as unlawful by the Act:

  • Indirect discrimination – under Section 19 of the Act, a person will be indirectly discriminated against if the employer applies a “provision, criterion or practice” that puts people sharing that person’s specific disability, at a particular disadvantage. This means, for example, that a job applicant or an employee with dyslexia could claim that a rule that employees must be able to type at a certain speed disadvantages people with dyslexia. Unless the employer can justify this, it would be unlawful.
  • Discrimination arising from disability – under Section 15 of the Act, an employer discriminates against a person when it treats that person less favourably, not because of the disability itself, but because of something arising “in consequence of that person’s disability,” such as the need to take a period of disability-related absence. For this type of discrimination to occur, the employer must know, or reasonably be expected to know, that the disabled person has a disability. This type of discrimination will be easier for an employee to show since there will be no need to make a comparison with a person who does not have a disability (as is currently the position). It will, however, be possible for an employer to defend a claim by showing that the treatment is justified as being a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.

Some aspects of disability discrimination law are not changed by the Act. For example, the Act still requires employers to make reasonable adjustments for disabled employees and does not change the extent to which these are required. However, it may be necessary to review your organisation’s policies to ensure that they are up to date and compliant with the current interpretation of “reasonable adjustments.”  It will also be advisable to review your policies and practices to ensure that they cover the new definitions of disability discrimination referred to above.Continue Reading The UK Equality Act – Your Questions Answered