So, October 2010 harboured the first round of ‘Equality Act’ implementation…..but what does this ultimately mean for businesses?
The Equality & Human Rights Commission, politicians, NGO’s, and academics have worked tirelessly on the 238 pages and 218 sections of the Act for many years. Their goal was to achieve a comprehensive piece of equality legislation, bringing cohesion to the numerous strands of anti-discrimination laws that had accrued since the 1970’s. So were they successful?
It has already been judiciously recognised that the Equality Act does indeed provide uniformity of the law and commitment to such uniformity has become, essentially, a policy driver. We have, it seems, finally reached agreement on the development of equality law. For example, no longer do we face contentious arguments as to the merits of interference with the market for labour in order to assist women to overcome prejudice. Instead, we disagree on the best method of closing the gender pay gap.
However, this shift to a focus on ‘detail’ rather than ‘aim’ does not remove controversy or uncertainty. Changes to and the use of equality law is driven as much by economics as it is by what it aims to achieve and as we are all more than aware, economics are unfortunately far from stable. As Government priorities are forced to remain variable in a global recession, so too will the implementation of the remainder of the Act. Will a more radical approach become necessary?
Keep an eye on forthcoming blogs for the answers to all of these questions.
[The information and commentary contained in this blog does not, and is not intended to, amount to legal advice and does not form the professional advice or opinion of any Solicitor or Law Firm]
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