Jurisdiction: Great Britain
Commencement: This Act comes into force on 26th November 2023 but will only apply from 26th November 2024
Amends: The Equality Act 2010 (ch.15) and associated orders
The Equality Act 2010 is the primary legislation in England, Wales and Scotland concerning equality and non-discrimination. The Act has two main purposes – to harmonise discrimination law and to strengthen the law to support the progress of equality.
The Act repeals, revokes and consolidated many previous Acts and regulations, including:
- Equal Pay Act 1970;
- Sex Discrimination Acts 1975 and 1986;
- Race Relations Act 1976;
- Disability and Discrimination Act 2005 and the Disability and Discrimination Act 1995 insofar as it applies to England, Wales and Scotland;
- the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003;
- the Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003;
- the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006;
- the Equality Act 2006, Part 2; and
- the Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007
The Act creates defined “protected characteristics”, against which there are various duties not to discriminate. The protected characteristics are:
- Age;
- Disability;
- Gender reassignment;
- Marriage and civil partnership;
- Pregnancy and maternity;
- Race;
- Religion or belief;
- Sex; and
- Sexual orientation.
Note that the Equality Act has only very limited application in Northern Ireland – primarily in relation to off-shore work. Note that the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 is still the primary disability discrimination legislation in Northern Ireland.
Various duties apply.
This Act comes into force on 26th November 2023 but will only apply from 26th November 2024. It amends the Equality Act 2010 and extends to Great Britain.
Employer duty to prevent sexual harassment of employees
Employers must take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of employees during their employment.
Compensation uplift
Sexual harassment is outside the jurisdiction of an employment tribunal. However, in employee harassment cases, the tribunal can determine an employer`s failure under Section 40A(1) and apply a compensation uplift. The compensation uplift must reflect the extent of the failure, but cannot be more than 25% of the amount initially awarded for the harassment claim.
The Equality Act 2006 is consequently amended.
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