Government introduces Equality Bill into Parliament

The Equality Bill, which was formally introduced into the House of Commons on 24 April 2009, has now been published. The Bill, is accompanied by ‘A Fairer Future – The Equality Bill and other action to make equality a reality’, which explains the twelve main elements which the Government believe will strengthen equality law:

1. Bringing together and re-stating the nine current pieces of anti-discrimination legislation, harmonising existing provisions to give a single approach where appropriate.
2. Placing a new duty on Government Ministers, departments and key public bodies such as local authorities and NHS bodies, to consider what action they can take to reduce the socio-economic inequalities people face.
3. Creating a new single public sector Equality Duty which will continue to cover matters regarding race, gender, and disability, but will be extended to cover age, sexual orientation, religion or belief (or lack of either), pregnancy and maternity explicitly, and gender-reassignment in full.
4. Enabling Ministers to set out how public bodies should go about using public procurement to improve equality.
5. Banning age discrimination in the provision of goods, facilities and public functions to anyone aged 18 and over.
6. Providing a power to require reporting on the gender pay gap by employers with 250 or more employees and banning pay secrecy or ‘gagging’ clauses which stop employees discussing their pay with their colleagues.
7. Allowing positive action so that employers can pick someone for a job from an under-represented group when they have the choice between two or more candidates who are equally suitable.
8. Allowing employment tribunals to make recommendations in discrimination cases which benefit the whole workforce and not just the individual who won the claim.
9. Protecting people from discrimination when they are associated with someone who is protected themselves, for example, as their primary carer.
10. Making it unlawful to force breastfeeding mothers and their babies out of places like coffee shops, public galleries and restaurants.
11. Making it unlawful for associations, including private members’ clubs, to discriminate against members, or guests of members invited to a club.
12. Removing the requirement to be able to justify direct disability-related discrimination and introducing the concept of indirect disability discrimination, where justification as a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim would have to include why it was not reasonable to make a reasonable adjustment where a disabled person was placed at a substantial disadvantage.

The Bill is expected to reach the House of Lords at the beginning of the new parliamentary session. Subject to the approval of both Houses, the Government hopes the Bill will receive Royal Assent in Spring 2010.