Equality Bill - things to think about....
The Equality Bill continues its passage through Parliament – even the Pope has had something to say about it ! Whilst it is currently only a Bill, all the indications are that it will become an Act ready for implementation in October 2010. There is a steely determination that the Bill is signed off by Parliament before it breaks for the General Election.
For most HR professionals the consolidation of equality legislation into one Act will be welcomed. Where once we had to think about specifics such as race, colour, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, marital status etc. etc., we shall only have to consider defining characteristics.
The Equality Bill incorporates much of the case law which has evolved over the many years we have had discrimination legislation. Part of that consolidation of case law is the insertion of the word prevent in the Bill so organisations will have to consider what they do to actually prevent discrimination and, in particular, harassment. Having an Equality & Diversity Policy and a Bullying & Harassment Policy is not likely to be sufficient. Training your staff and being able to prove that you have trained your staff is going to become even more important than it has been previously.
Of course, being able to actually prove that you have trained staff has been important for a very long time; it reduces the liability on the organisation if a particular individual does harass or discriminate against a colleague.
Applicants to Employment Tribunals citing discrimination and/or harassment have always been able to name both the organisation and the allegedly harassing individual as respondents and if the organisation is able to show it did everything possible/practical to train its staff, the onus can shift onto the individual thereby reducing the compensation payable by the organisation if the case is successful. We continue to strongly recommend that organisations keep records of Equality & Diversity and Bullying & Harassment training events and get delegates to sign a register which can be filed away and retrieved should the need for proof arises.
The ‘Duties’ on public sector organisations to promote equality are extended by the Bill. To date they have covered race, gender and disability but once the Bill becomes an Act, public sector organisations will have a duty to promote equality in terms of religion or belief, sexual orientation and age. In addition, there is the new Socio-Economic strand which is exercising many a local authority imagination !
If you work for a private sector organisation you may think that these public duties do not affect you – but if you are a goods or service provider to the public sector they may have a considerable impact. The public sector will need to ensure that those with whom it contracts for goods or services reflect their duties - this cascade effect is what is intended by the legislation - and so many private sector organisations will be pulled under the umbrella.
If you provide goods or services to government, local authorities or NGOs then appending your policies and procedures to your Tender will not be sufficient. You should be able to show that you have equality impact assessed your policies and procedures, that your goods and services are assessable to all whatever their defining characteristics and, if they are not, that it is proportionate for that to be the case.
This legislation goes beyond HR and its largely internal focus. Colleagues in quality assurance, marketing, sales and credit control to name but a few will also need to understand the requirements on your organisation.
You have 7 months to prepare !
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