 Parliament of the United Kingdom |
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| Long title | An Act to make provision to require Ministers of the Crown and others when making strategic decisions about the exercise of their functions to have regard to the desirability of reducing socio-economic inequalities; to reform and harmonise equality law and restate the greater part of the enactments relating to discrimination and harassment related to certain personal characteristics; to enable certain employers to be required to publish information about the differences in pay between male and female employees; to prohibit victimisation in certain circumstances; to require the exercise of certain functions to be with regard to the need to eliminate discrimination and other prohibited conduct; to enable duties to be imposed in relation to the exercise of public procurement functions; to increase equality of opportunity; to amend the law relating to rights and responsibilities in family relationships; and for connected purposes. |
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| Chapter | 2010 c 15 |
| Territorial extent |
England and Wales; Scotland; section 82, 105 (3) and (4) and 199 also apply to Northern Ireland |
| Dates | |
| Royal Assent | 8 April 2010 |
| Commencement | 1 October 2010 |
| Status: Current legislation | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| Revised text of statute as amended | |
The Equality Act 2010[1] is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom.
The primary purpose of the Act is to codify the complicated and numerous array of Acts and Regulations, which formed the basis of anti-discrimination law in Great Britain. This was, primarily, the Equal Pay Act 1970, the Sex Discrimination Act 1975, the Race Relations Act 1976, the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and three major statutory instruments protecting discrimination in employment on grounds of religion or belief, sexual orientation and age. This legislation has the same goals as the four major EU Equal Treatment Directives, whose provisions it mirrors and implements.[2] It requires equal treatment in access to employment as well as private and public services, regardless of the protected characteristics of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation. In the case of gender, there are special protections for pregnant women. However, the Act allows transsexual people to be barred from gender-specific services if that is "a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim". [3] In the case of disability, employers and service providers are under a duty to make reasonable adjustments to their workplaces to overcome barriers experienced by disabled people. In this regard, the Equality Act 2010 did not change the law. Under s.217, with limited exceptions the Act does not apply to Northern Ireland.
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Background [edit]
The Labour Party included a commitment to an Equality Bill in its 2005 election manifesto. The Discrimination Law Review was established in 2005 to develop the legislation and was led by the Government Equalities Office. The review considered the findings of the Equalities Review Panel, chaired by Trevor Phillips, which reported in February 2007.[4] The Act is intended to simplify the law by bringing together existing anti-discrimination legislation. The Equality Act 2010 has replaced the Equal Pay Act 1970, Sex Discrimination Act 1975, Race Relations Act 1976, Disability Discrimination Act 1995, Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003, Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003[5] and the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006.
The Act extends until 2030 the exemption from sex discrimination law allowing political parties to select all women or all men candidate short-lists. The existing exemption until 2015 was created by the Sex Discrimination (Election Candidates) Act 2002.
The Parliamentary process was completed following a debate, shortly after 11pm on 6 April 2010, when amendments by the House of Lords were accepted in full.[6]
Contents [edit]
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Debate [edit]
Reform of the monarchy [edit]
In April 2008, Solicitor General Vera Baird announced that as part of the Single Equality Bill, legislation would be introduced to repeal parts of the Act of Settlement 1701 that prevent Roman Catholics or those who marry Roman Catholics from ascending to the throne, and to change the inheritance of the monarchy from cognatic primogeniture to absolute primogeniture, i.e. the first-born heir would inherit the throne regardless of his or her gender or religion.[16]
However, Attorney General The Baroness Scotland of Asthal subsequently ruled there would be no change in the law of succession in 2008, saying, "To bring about changes to the law on succession would be a complex undertaking involving amendment or repeal of a number of items of related legislation, as well as requiring the consent of legislatures of member nations of the Commonwealth".[17] The published draft bill does not contain any provisions to change succession laws.
Bishop opposition [edit]
Although the Act was never going to change the law from its existing position, or binding European Union law which covers many more Catholics than in the UK, and this position was spelled out in the High Court in R (Amicus) v Secretary of State for Trade and Industry[18] a small number of Roman Catholic Bishops of England and Wales made claims that they could be prosecuted under the Equality Act 2010 for refusing to allow married men, women, transsexual people and gay people into the priesthood.[19][20][21] The legislation has also attracted criticism from local Anglican clergy.[22] This claim has been rejected by the government. A spokesperson has said an exemption "covers ministers of religion such as Catholic priests"[19] and a document released by the Government Equalities Office states that that "the Equality Bill will not change the existing legal position regarding churches and employment".[23]
Exempt occupations [edit]
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This section does not cite any references or sources. (February 2012) |
Certain employment is exempted from the act, including:
- Priests, Monks, Nuns, Rabbis and ministers of religion.
- Actresses, actors and models in the film, television and fashion industries (they may need a British Born Chinese actress for a specific role, for instance).
- Special employment training programmes aimed at ethnic minorities, ex-offenders, young adults, the long tem unemployed, or people with physical or learning disabilities.
- Employment where there are cultural sensitivities (such as a documentary where male victims of domestic violence need to be interviewed by a male researcher, or a gay men's domestic violence helpline).
- Where safety or operational efficiency could be jeopardised.
- Political parties who run all women or all gay shortlists.
- Local support staff who work in Embassies and high commissions, by virtue of diplomatic immunity.
See also [edit]
Notes [edit]
- ^ "Equality Act 2010". The National Archives. Retrieved Mar 2013.
- ^ see EU Directive 2000/78/EC, 2000/43/EC, 2006/54/EC
- ^ Equality Act sch.3, part 7, para 28
- ^ "Discrimination Law Review (DLR)". Government Equalities Office.
- ^ See also, Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations
- ^ See the debate in Hansard HC vol 508 cols 927-942 (6 April 2010)
- ^ "Socio-economic duty". Government Equalities Office. Retrieved 16 January 2011.
- ^ age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation
- ^ s 13 direct discrimination, s 14 discrimination arising from disability, s 15 gender reassignment discrimination: cases of absence from work, s 16 pregnancy and maternity discrimination: non-work cases, s 17 pregnancy and maternity discrimination: work cases, s 18 indirect discrimination; Adjustments for disabled persons: s 19 duty to make adjustments, s 20 failure to comply with duty, s 21 regulations, s 22 comparison by reference to circumstances, s 23 references to particular strands of discrimination, s 24 harassment, s 25 victimisation
- ^ Employees: s 36 Employees and applicants, s 37 Employees and applicants: harassment, s 38 contract workers; Police officers: s 39 identity of employer, s 40 interpretation; Partners: s 41, partnerships, s 42 limited liability partnerships, s 43 interpretation; The Bar: s 44 barristers, s 45 advocates; Office holders: s 46 personal offices, s 47 public offices: appointments, etc, s 48 public offices: recommendations for appointments, etc., s 49 interpretation and exceptions; Qualifications: s 50 qualification bodies, s 51 interpretation; Employment services: s 52 employment service providers, s 53 interpretation; Trade organisations: s 54 trade organisations; Local authority members: s 55 official business of members, s 56 interpretation
- ^ s 57 Non-discrimination rule, s 58 Communications
- ^ Sex equality: s 59 Relevant types of work, s 60 Equal work, s 61 Sex equality clause, s 62 Sex equality rule, s 63 Sex equality rule: consequential alteration of schemes, s 64 Defence of material factor, s 65 Exclusion of sex discrimination provisions, s 66 Sex discrimination in relation to contractual pay; Pregnancy and maternity equality: s 67 Relevant types of work, s 68 Maternity equality clause, s 69 Maternity equality clause: pay, s 70 Maternity equality rule, s 71 Exclusion of pregnancy and maternity discrimination provisions; Disclosure of information: s 72 Discussions with colleagues, s 73 Gender pay gap information; Supplementary: s 74 Colleagues, s 75 Interpretation and exceptions
- ^ s 76 Ships and hovercraft, s 77 Offshore work, s 78 Interpretation and exceptions
- ^ s 182, reasonable adjustments; s 183 improvements to let dwelling houses
- ^ statutory provisions, national security, charities, sport, general, age
- ^ "Move to change succession laws". bbc.co.uk. 2008-04-20. Retrieved 2008-04-21.
- ^ Andrew Pierce (29 April 2008). "U-turn on royal succession law change". London: The Telegraph.
- ^ [2004] EWHC 860 (Admin)
- ^ a b English, Welsh bishops say Equality Bill redefines who can be priest
- ^ "Equality Bill redefines who can be priest: UK Bishops". Cathnews.com. 2009-12-10. Retrieved 2010-06-03.
- ^ Kirsty Walker (2009-11-18). "Christmas could be killed off by Harman's Equality Bill, bishops warn". London: Dailymail.co.uk. Retrieved 2010-06-03.
- ^ UK Government attacked over Equality Bil
- ^ "Myth-Busting: the Equality Bill and Religion" (PDF). Government Equalities Office. Archived from the original on 2010-01-10. Retrieved 2010-01-10.In the case of Ministers of Religion and other jobs which exist to promote and represent religion, the Bill recognises that a church may need to impose requirements regarding sexual orientation, sex, marriage and civil partnership or gender reassignment if it is necessary to comply with its teachings or the strongly held beliefs of followers. However, it would not be right to permit such requirements across all jobs within organised religions, such as administrators and accountants, and the Equality Bill makes this clear.
References [edit]
External links [edit]
- Framework For a Fairer Future - Government Equalities Office
- "Proposals for a Single Equality Bill for Great Britain". Communities and Local Government website.
- Parliament page for the progress of the Bill
- Government Equalities Office page on the Equality Bill
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