A comprehensive examination of Britain’s equality and human rights landscape over the past five years has been published by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).
The Equality and Human Rights Monitor report assesses the status of equality and human rights across Britain, with a particular focus on the nine protected characteristics safeguarded by the Equality Act 2010.
The report is intended to be a reference document for the legal, political and social changes impacting each protected characteristic and the analysis provides an extensive overview of the progress and challenges in areas such as education, health, justice, and work.
It is produced for Parliament every five years by the EHRC, which is the regulator of equality laws in Britain and the human rights watchdog for England and Wales.
The Equality and Human Rights Monitor makes several recommendations to governments and other organisations to tackle the issues identified in the report, including mandatory reporting on recruitment, retention, progression and pay of disabled workers, ensuring that the data is split by type of impairment. Employers should be required to publish action plans to address any disparities identified.
Over the past decade the poverty gap between and men and women has opened up despite a narrowing pay gap for less educated women, who are typically lower paid. This may mean factors other than low earnings from employment are affecting poverty for some women, such as income from benefits, housing costs or household structure.
This provides summary information and comment on the subject areas covered. Where employment tribunal and appellate court cases are reported, the information does not set out all of the facts, the legal arguments presented and the judgments made in every aspect of the case. Employment law is subject to constant change either by statute or by interpretation by the courts. While every care has been taken in compiling this information, we cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions. Specialist legal advice must be taken on any legal issues that may arise before embarking upon any formal course of action.