Law and Policy

The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) was passed in 1995 to end the discrimination that many disabled people face in employment and other areas. Since 1999 service providers (e.g. businesses and organisations) have had to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people, such as providing extra help or making changes to the way they provide their services.  From 2004 employers have to make reasonable adjustments to the physical features of their premises to overcome physical barriers to access.    

Disability Discrimination Act Amendment in 2003 introduced a new definition of "discrimination" and "harassment" and ended the exemption for small businesses (less than 15 employees) from the DDA and brought police officers, fire-fighters, prison officers, barristers and partners in partnerships within the scope of the Act's employment provisions.

Disability Discrimination Act 2005.  In general this Act is not concerned with employees or workers as such - they are already protected by the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. Rather it is designed to implement mainly non-employment related proposals such as changes affecting public sector responsibilities to the general public, transport, renting of premises and a provision for membership of larger private clubs - 25 or more members - to be covered by the DDA 1995. The Act introduces the Disability Equality Duty (DED) aimed at promoting disability equality across the public sector. The DED, also referred to as the general duty, sets out what public authorities must have due regard to in order to promote equality of opportunity.

The Act does includes some changes relevant to the employment field such as a change to the rules about discriminatory job advertisements and a widening of the definition of disability to benefit those with Aids, cancer or multiple sclerosis and provides for people with mental illnesses to be protected in the same way as anyone else by removing the requirement that their condition be clinically well-recognised.

Employment Act 2002 (Flexible Working) Regulations makes changes to maternity, paternity and adoption rights in the Employment Rights Act 1996. From April 2003, the Act introduced a new right for employees to request flexible working.

Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 make employment decisions based upon a person’s age unlawful. Age discrimination is unlawful in both employment and vocational training, in both the public and private sectors, and this covers both young and older work members. The regulations apply to both direct[1] and indirect[2] age discrimination. Employers may not “recruit, train, promote or retire people on the basis of age, unless it can be objectively justified”.

Upper age limits for unfair dismissal no longer apply, and compulsory retirement before the new upper default age limit of 65 is unlawful (unless objectively justified). Employees have a ‘right to request’ to continue beyond 65 (or the justified retirement age set by employers), and employers must follow a ‘duty to consider’ procedure to address requests.

Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations came into force in December 2003. They apply to discrimination on grounds of religion, religious belief or similar philosophical belief. They cover discrimination on grounds of perceived as well as actual religion or belief (i.e. assuming - correctly or incorrectly - that someone has a particular religion or belief). The Regulations also cover association, i.e. being discriminated against on grounds of the religion or belief of those with whom you associate.

Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations came into force in December 2003.  They apply to discrimination on grounds of orientation towards persons of the same sex (lesbians and gays), the opposite sex (heterosexuals) and the same and opposite sex (bisexuals). They cover discrimination on grounds of perceived as well as actual sexual orientation (i.e. assuming - correctly or incorrectly - that someone is lesbian, gay, heterosexual or bisexual). The Regulations also cover association, i.e. being discriminated against on grounds of the sexual orientation of those with whom you associate (for example, friends and/or family).

Equal Pay Act 1970 (EPA) 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; or work rated as equivalent under an analytical job evaluation study; or work that is proved to be of equal value.

Equality Act 2006. Its main purposes are:-

1. to establish a Single Equality Commission (the "Commission for Equality and Human Rights" or CEHR). This single body is to replace the Equal Opportunities Commission, the Commission for Racial Equality, and the Disability Rights Commission. In addition it will be responsible for enforcing anti-discrimination rules in the areas of sexual orientation, religion or belief, and age. Finally, it will have general responsibility for promotion of human rights

2. to make unlawful discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief in the provision of goods, facilities and services, premises, education, and the exercise of public functions;

3. to create a duty on public authorities to promote equality of opportunity between women and men ('the Gender Duty'), and to prohibit sex discrimination in the exercise of public functions.

4. to allow regulations to be made prohibiting discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation in the provision of goods, facilities and services.

It is intended that the new Commission for Equality and Human Rights will start operations from October 2007. Separately, there are Scottish proposals to set up a Scottish Human Rights Commission (SHRC).

Fixed-term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2002 ensure that Since 1 October 2002, employees on fixed term contracts have had the right to be paid the same rate as similar permanent employees working for the same employer and in general terms should not be treated less favourably than comparable permanent employees.

Human Rights Act 1998 aimed to create domestic legal remedies for breaches by public authorities on the European Convention on Human rights.  The act also gives people a clear legal statement of their basic rights and freedoms.  These include respect for private and family life, home and correspondence; freedom of thought, conscience and religion; freedom of expression; freedom of peaceful assembly and association, including the right to join a trade union.

Maternity and Parental Leave  (Amendment) Regulations 2006.  These regulations amend provisions in the laws relating to statutory maternity leave and adoption leave.  They apply to an employee whose expected week of childbirth is on or after 1st April 2007. The provisions effectively make all women entitled to 12 months maternity leave.  They amend the provisions regarding length of notice to be given by an employee who wishes to return early from or extend their maternity or adoption leave from 28 days to 8 weeks.

 Part-Time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000 ensure that part-time workers cannot be treated less favourably in their contractual terms and conditions than comparable full-time workers.

Race Relations Act 1976 as amended by the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000, makes it unlawful to discriminate against anyone on grounds of race, colour, nationality (including citizenship), or ethnic or national origin. The amended Act also imposes general duties on many public authorities to promote racial equality.

Race Relations Act 1976 (Amendment) Regulations 2003, incorporate EU directives and “cover discrimination on the grounds of ethnic, racial or national group, but exclude discrimination on the grounds of nationality and colour”.

Sex Discrimination Act 1975 (SDA) prohibits sex discrimination against individuals in the areas of employment, education and the provision of goods, facilities and services and in the disposal or management of premises. Victimisation because someone has tried to exercise their rights under the SDA or Equal Pay Act is prohibited.

Work and Families Act 2006 applies to parents whose babies are born on or after 1st April 2007.  It introduces changes under the Maternity and Parental Leave (Amendment) Regulations 2006 (see above).  It is an act under which the government is given the power to make  various changes to maternity and adoption pay and leave, paternity and parental leave, flexible working, working time regulations,  and unfair dismissal and redundancy compensation

The Act's main purposes are to:

• extend the maximum period that may be prescribed in regulations as the period for which statutory maternity pay, maternity allowance and statutory adoption pay are payable from 26 weeks to 52 weeks;
• introduce a new scheme that will provide certain employees (generally fathers) with a new entitlement to take leave to care for a child and a new entitlement to receive pay while they are on leave, if certain conditions are met;
• widen the scope of the existing law on flexible working to enable more people with caring responsibilities to request to work flexibly;
• provide a new power to increase on one occasion the maximum amount of a week's pay which may be taken into account in the calculation of certain payments (for example, redundancy payments);
• provide a new power to make provision about annual leave