NEW Equality Act 2010 - 16 April 2010

The much anticipated Equality Act 2010 received Royal Assent on 8 April 2010. The provisions of this Act will be phased in from October 2010 onwards, although the implementation of some of the provisions, particularly those relating to positive discrimination, will depend upon the outcome of the forthcoming election and employers should keep an eye on the progress of such provisions in this regard.

The Act replaces a host of discrimination legislation and includes some new discrimination elements as well. The main provisions include:

• the outlaw of discrimination by association and perception, which will protect people who associate with people with specified characteristics and protects people who are wrongly perceived to have those characteristics.
• a ban on secrecy clauses which currently prevent staff from talking about their wages. This will enable work colleagues to compare their wages and could lead to a rise in equal pay claims where women find out they are being unlawfully paid less than men for the same work, work of equal value or work rated as equivalent.
• a requirement for employers with 250 or more employees to publish their gender pay gap information.
• allowing positive discrimination in favour of disadvantaged groups, particularly during recruitment and promotion.
• making it easier for disabled job-applicants to bring discrimination claims if prospective employers reject their applications following a pre-employment health enquiry. This provision could signal the end for pre-employment health questionnaires.

Although the publication of gender pay gap information is limited to employers of 250 employees or more initially, it is intended that this requirement will be phased in for smaller employers over time.

As a result of the Act, employers will need to revisit their employment contracts and policies in view of the new discrimination and gender pay gap provisions.

For further information contact Lianne Payne