New equality rights in workplace come into force

[4me2]

New equality rights in workplace come into force



"Everyone is protected by the new law," says the Equality and Human Rights Commission
New rules aimed at banning discrimination by employers, covering areas such as age, disability and pay, have come into force.
The Equality Act covers many workplace areas and draws nine separate pieces of legislation into a single Act.
Equalities Minister Theresa May says it will now be easier for firms to comply with anti-discrimination rules.
However, some business groups argued the new legislation will impose a heavy burden on employers.


'Challenging times'

The new law restricts the circumstances in which employers can ask job applicants questions about disability or health prior to offering them a position, making it more difficult for disabled people to be unfairly screened out.
"In these challenging economic times it's more important than ever for employers to make the most of all the talent available," said Ms May.
There are also new powers for employment tribunals.
The Act will also stop employers using pay secrecy clauses to prevent employees discussing their own pay, which means men and women can compare pay.
But the Act will not make employers reveal how much they pay men compared with women, as had been planned by the Labour government.
Some campaigners argued that this revision undermined the new legislation.



"Rowing back on the requirement for big business to publish and take action on any differences in pay between men and women employees is tantamount to endorsing the shocking gender pay gap," said Ceri Goddard, chief executive of the Fawcett Society, which campaigns for gender equality.
Employees will also now be able to file discrimination claims on two grounds, rather than one. For example, under the previous rules, a woman from an ethnic minority could not file a claim on counts of both gender and race discrimination - an employment tribunal would have to consider the claims separately.
Under the new rules, an employee can file claims on two counts, but no more.


Business cost

The Equality and Human Rights Commission said: "Everyone is protected by the new law.
"It [the Act] covers age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion and belief, sex (meaning gender) and sexual orientation.
"Under the act people are not allowed to discriminate, harass or victimise another person because they belong to a group that the Act protects, they are thought to belong to one of those groups or are associated with someone who does."
But some business groups argued that the new rules place an extra burden on companies at a time when they are still trying to recover from the recession.
"Businesses are really concerned," Abigail Morris from the British Chambers of Commerce told the BBC.
"The government's own impact assessment shows that this is going to cost £190m just for businesses to understand the legislation, and this at a time when we really need them to be concentrating on creating private sector jobs and driving economic recovery."
During the summer there were some concerns about the new rules expressed by shipping companies.
Some claimed the laws could force them to quit the UK because they would have to pay UK rates to foreign-based seafarers who do not have the burden of British living costs.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11446650

[GTI]

You can have all the equality legislation you like, but that won't stop biased recruiting (it just gets more minorities at the first stage of interview). The only sure fire method of getting more balanced employment is to impose quotas.. which are an unecessery evil in themselves.

We need to accept the fact that most humans are bigoted in some way, shape or form... and all the legislation in the world won't change that, only education and experience will.

[CzarJunkie]

You can have all the equality legislation you like, but that won't stop biased recruiting. The only sure fire method of getting more balanced employment is to impose quotas.. which are an unecessery evil in themselves.

We need to accept the fact that most humans are bigoted in some way, shape or form... and all the legislation in the world won't change that, only education and experience will.

I agree. Now for something completely different. I watched a documentary about the life of that bloke in your avatar this morning made by some of his closest friends and family. It's from 2009 but I'd never seen it before. It gives a great insight into his life and I learned quite a few things about him I didn't know. It actually made me see him in a slightly different light.

[burner1]

It's hard enough for anyone getting a job in the current climate but this is just another hurdle Companies will get around. In an ideal world, this kind of sentiment would fit in with the market, but it's far from ideal and the less 'liabilty' someone can offer a potential employer, the more likely that's the sort of person will get the job.

[BBK]

Do none of you think then that minority or disabled people, who have been kept out of the work place, need some level of help? I personally think any form of positive discrimination is disgusting, but then, when I hire people I genuinely don't give a shit. Same cannot be said for every employer, and we also have to accept that many employers aren't doing what I do, which means people just need to have a brain and the ability to use a computer Although that in itself does discriminate against the majority of brain dead morons in this country ;-)