27 February 2006

The Equality Act 2006, received Royal Assent on 16 February 2006, and is due to come into force on 6th April 2007.

The main feature of the new Act is the establishment of the statutory basis for a single Commission for Equality and Human Rights (CEHR). The new Commission will bring together the work of the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE), the Disability Rights Commission (DRC) and the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC).

The new Commission will be established in October 2007, although it will not take over the functions of the CRE until April 2009. It will promote equality and human rights through its general powers of giving advice, undertaking research and publishing Codes of Practices on any of the discrimination strands within its remit. The CEHR will also have power to investigate whether a person has committed an unlawful act contrary to the existing anti-discrimination legislation (e.g. the Sex Discrimination Act) and issue notices recommending action to be taken.

As well as establishing the CEHR, the Act will make unlawful discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief in the provision of goods, facilities, services, premises, education and the exercise of public functions (subject to certain exemptions). It will clarify existing law to make clear that absence of a particular religion or belief is also protected.

The Act will also grant the Secretary of State power to make regulations that prohibit sexual orientation discrimination (including harassment) in the provision of goods, facilities and services, and in the execution of public functions.

In addition, the Act will create a positive duty on public authorities to promote equality of opportunity between men and women and to eliminate sex discrimination in the exercise of public functions. The introduction of this Gender Equality Duty will bring sex equality law in line with the current Race Relations Amendment Act and the December 2006 changes to the Disability Discrimination Act. This duty will affect all of public sector bodies’ activities.

As employers, public authorities will need to identify gender equality goals, and explicitly show what steps they will take to achieve these aims. This will involve collecting a wide range of information about the grades of men and women and the different areas where men and women work, along with their salaries. This detail will need to be published, monitored and reviewed every three years.

Consequently, public authorities will need to ensure that they take active steps to eliminate sources of discrimination in their own employment practices. They should review all aspects of their employment practices and processes from recruitment, to access to promotions and training, terms and conditions and dismissal. Policies should also be checked to make sure that they are up to date.

The effects of this legislation are likely to be far reaching, as although this Act does not impose a direct duty on private sector employers they are still likely to be affected by it. This will almost certainly be the case for private sector employers that supply goods or services to public bodies. In order to comply with this Gender Equality Duty (GED), public bodies may make gender equality a significant matter in tender specifications. For example, they may specify that all contractors are paid in accordance with the equal pay laws, and request an equal pay audit to be carried out.

The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) hopes that the GED, if implemented properly, will open up an ever-broader base of skills and expertise to all public sector bodies. As a result, there will also be wider benefits to the public from improved services and value for money, and more action to help close the pay gap.

The EOC is currently conducting online guidance on a Code of Practice, which will offer some guidance on this legislation. Consultation ends on 15 May 2006. Helpfully, the EOC is also holding some events in the coming months to offer advice about this legislation and its expected impact.