Single Equality Bill

See the latest recommendations from the EHRC  here :  EHRC Recommendations Feb 2010.

Published today April 24 2009,  the Single Equality bill has been developed from the June 2007 intial Equality Impact Assessment on which the Government consulted.

The basic objectives of the bill are to

• Strengthen the law .
• Streamline the law.
• Support wider work to promote equality.
  
  

Below are the main points of the bill relevant to Opportunity Now members and links to Government web sites to provide further information.

• Bring in pay gap reporting ( clause 73) . This will apply to the public sector first. The private sector will follow in 2013 if insufficient voluntary progress is made in the meantime. The Bill will also ban secrecy clauses that prevent employees discussing their pay with colleagues. 
  
   
• Use  public procurement to improve equality. For example, a Government department contracting out its recruitment services requires that all jobs must be advertised on a part-time basis or with flexible working unless there is a business reason why this is not possible. This will help to ensure that its work is available to all groups of people, in particular women.
  
  
• Extend the use of positive action in the workplace. Employers can choose to make their workforce more diverse when selecting between two job candidates who are equally suitable. 
  
  
• Extend the power of employment tribunals. The Bill will ensure that employment tribunals can make recommendations that benefit the whole workforce and not just the individual who brought the claim, who often ends up leaving the company.
  
  
• Implement new Equality Duty on public bodies. The Duty will mean public bodies need to think about the needs of everyone who uses their services or works for them, whatever their gender. This will specifically apply to pregnant women and new mothers.
  
• Extend the permission to use women-only shortlists to 2030. This will help to increase the proportion of women in Parliament.
  
  
• Protect carers from discrimination. The Equality Bill will protect women (and men) who are, for example, caring for a disabled child or an older relative. They will be protected by virtue of their link to that person.
  
  
• Protect breastfeeding mothers. The Equality Bill will make it clear that it is unlawful to force breastfeeding mothers and their babies out of places like coffee shops, public galleries and restaurants.
  
  
• Ensuring private members’ clubs do not discriminate against women. Women will have to be treated equally if they belong to clubs with over 25 members.

Your comments

There are currently no comments on this page.