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The Equality Bill will come into effect in October 2010
Added: 2010-07-08 15:41:38.0After many months of uncertainty, and a general election in the middle, the government have finally confirmed that the Equality Bill will be implemented in October. Although this had been widely expected, the general election and change of government had cast some doubt as to whether the Equality Bill would indeed be put into practice.
The Equality Bill combines 9 current pieces of legislation to create one Act that will simplify the law related to discrimination issues and should thereby make it easier for businesses to comply. For more on the specifics of the Bill, read our post on the Equality Bill from earlier this year.
The first steps towards the implementation of the Bill will go ahead in October and amongst others, will create the much lauded provisions to protect disabled people from discrimination.
Commenting on the Bill, Theresa May, Home Secretary and minister for women and equalities said “By making the law easier to understand, the Equality Act will help business treat staff fairly and meet the needs of a diverse customer base. The law will be easier to understand and better able to protect people from discrimination.
Implementing the Equality Act to the planned timetable makes clear our commitment to equality. A successful economy needs the full participation of all its citizens and we are committed to implementing the Act in the best way for business.
Along with these legislative measures the GEO will also look at ways of achieving our equality aims without new legislation.”
Although the Bill will most likely make it much easier for businesses to understand the discrimination laws, the government has come in for some criticism based on its tackling of the gender pay gap. CBI Director of HR Policy, Katja Hall commented that “the Government has missed an opportunity to say it will remove mandatory gender pay reporting from the legislation.
Forcing companies to publish average salary figures for men and women could mislead people into thinking that women are paid less than men in the same role, which is rightly illegal, when differences will actually reflect the proportions of men and women in higher-paid jobs.
The policy is also likely to backfire. Companies that have too few women in higher paid roles, and are trying to attract more, would be forced to publish a statistic that could deter female applicants and compound the problem."
Whilst many may feel that forcing businesses to publish figures on their staff salaries will help battle the gender pay gap, some may share the feelings above and feel that it is in fact counterproductive and will create more problems.
As ever, we’ll keep you posted on any developments and of course, the Cleardocs standard employment contract and staff handbooks will be updated when it comes to the implementation in October.
How do you feel about the Equality Bill? Do you think it’s a step in the right direction? How do you feel about the lack of amendment to reporting the salaries of high earners in relation to the gender pay gap? Do you agree with the thoughts above or do you think it will improve things? Let us know by commenting below.
The content of this blog is not legal advice and should not be relied on as such, or used instead of seeking legal advice.
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