Equality and Diversity Legislation
A round-up of all the equality and diversity legislation that public bodies must be aware of,plus external links to the full legal texts.
Civil Partnerships Act 2004:
Provides legal
recognition and parity of treatment for same-sex couples and married
couples,
including employment benefits and pension rights.
Access
the Civil Partnerships Act 2004 at the website of the Office of
Public Sector Information
Disability Discrimination Act 1995
Outlaws the
discrimination of disabled people in employment, the provision of goods,
facilities and services or the administration or management of
premises.
Access
the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 at the Office of Public
Sector Information (OPSI) website
Disability Discrimination Amendment Act 2005
Introduces
a positive duty on public bodies to promote equality for disabled
people.
Access
the Disability Discrimination Act 2005 at the OPSI website
Employment Equality (Age) Regulation 2006
Protects
against discrimination on grounds of age in employment and vocational
training.
Prohibits direct and indirect discrimination, victimisation,
harassment and instructions to discriminate.
Access
the Employment (Age) Regulation 2006 at the OPSI website
Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulation 2003
The directive protects against discrimination on the grounds of
religion and belief in employment,
vocational training, promotion and
working conditions.
Access
the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulation 2003 at the
OPSI website
The Employment Equality (Sex Discrimination) Regulations 2005
Introduces
new definitions of indirect discrimination and harassment,
explicitly
prohibits discrimination on the grounds of pregnancy or maternity leave,
sets out the extent to which it is discriminatory to pay a woman less
than she would
otherwise have been paid due to pregnancy or maternity
issues.
Access
the Employment Equality (Sex Discrimination) Regulations 2005 at
the OPSI website
Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulation 2003
The directive protects against discrimination on the grounds of
sexual orientation in employment,
vocational training, promotion, and
working conditions.
Access
the Employment Equality (sexual orientations) Regulation 2003 at
the OPSI website
Equal Pay Act 1970 (Amended)
This gives an
individual a right to the same contractual pay and benefits as a person
of the
opposite sex in the same employment, where the man and the woman
are doing: like work;
work rated as equivalent under an analytical job
evaluation study; or work that is proved to be of equal value.
Access
the Equal Pay Act (Amendment) 1970 at the OPSI website
Equality Act 2006
Establishes a single Commission
for Equality and Human Rights by 2007 that replaces the
three existing
commissions. Introduces a positive duty on public sector bodies to
promote
equality of opportunity between women and men and eliminate sex
discrimination.
Protects access discrimination on the grounds of
religion or belief in terms of access to good facilities and services.
Access
the Equality Act 2006 at the OPSI website
Further information at
the Women and
Equality Unit website
Gender Recognition Act 2004
The purpose of the
Act is to provide transsexual people with legal recognition in their
acquired gender.
Legal recognition follows from the issue of a full
gender recognition certificate by a gender recognition panel.
Access
the Gender Recognition Act 2004 at the OPSI website
Race Relations Act 1976
The Act prohibits
discrimination on racial grounds in the areas of employment, education,
and the provision of goods, facilities, services and premises.
Further
information at the Equality
and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) website.
Race Relations Amendment Act 2000
Places a
statutory duty on all public bodies to promote equal opportunity,
eliminate racial discrimination and promote good relations between
different racial groups.
Access the Race Relations
Amendment Act 2000 at the OPSI website
Race Relations Act 1976 (Amendment) Regulation 2003
Introduced
new definitions of indirect discrimination and harassment, new burden
of proof requirements,
continuing protection after employment ceases,
new exemption for a determinate job requirement and
the removal of
certain other exemptions.
Access
the Race Relations Act 1976 (Amendment) 2003 at the OPSI website
Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006
The Act
seeks to stop people from intentionally using threatening words or
behaviour
to stir up hatred against somebody because of what they
believe.
Access
the Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006 at the OPSI website
Sex Discrimination Act 1975
The Act makes it
unlawful to discriminate on the grounds of sex.
Sex discrimination is
unlawful in employment, education, advertising or when providing
housing,
goods, services or facilities. It is unlawful to discriminate
because someone is married,
in employment or advertisements for jobs.
Access
the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 at the Press for Change website
The Act seeks to prevent sex discrimination relating to gender reassignment.
It clarified the law for transsexual people in relation to equal pay and treatment in employment and training.
Access the Sex Discrimination (Gender Reassignment) Regulations 1999 at the Press for Change website