Acas have published a new guide providing advice and guidance on marriage and civil partnership rights as part of the Equality Act 2010. Acas point out that the Equality Act 2010 makes it unlawful to discriminate against or treat someone unfairly because they are married or in a civil partnership. While neither marriage nor civil partnership are defined in the Act, the legislation is taken to broadly cover people who are married in a legally-recognised union or in a legally-recognised and registered civil partnership. The Acas guide ‘Marriage and civil partnership discrimination: key points for the workplace’ covers unlawful direct discrimination, indirect discrimination and victimisation. The Acas factsheet, ‘Marriage and civil partnership discrimination: top ten myths’ answers some of the most common misconceptions in the workplace.
CIPD People Management have published an article by Makbool Javaid on the employment implications of the NI CA’s decision in Lee v Ashers Baking Company Ltd that the refusal of a Christian owned bakery to provide a cake with a “Support Gay Marriage” message was discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and political opinion.
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