What you need to know about the Equality Act

After more than five years in the making the Equality Act 2010 finally came into force on 1 October 2010.  It impacts all UK employers, regardless of size, and will have some specific consequences for the construction and property industry.

At its heart, the Equality Act has the simple and laudable aim of bringing together and streamlining more than nine different discrimination statutes introduced over a period of 40 years.

The Act now sets out in one place the basic framework for protecting job applicants and employees against unlawful discrimination in the workplace. It also irons out many of the historic quirks and anomalies across the different discrimination strands.

The result should be greater clarity and consistency. The law should be easier to understand and apply in practice.

However, a number of measures will take some employers by surprise. For example, employers can no longer carry out pre-employment health checks, other than in limited circumstances, a practice which is commonly adopted by construction employers. 

the duty to use procurement to drive equality will also come into force in 2011

Employers will still be entitled to screen applicants about health after making a job offer (or after including the applicant in a pool of short-listed applicants). As such, employers will probably need to amend documentation or procedures in their recruitment process in order to comply with the new requirements.

Also the Act seeks to encourage general pay transparency by restricting the circumstances in which an employer can discipline an employee for disclosing salary and other pay details to their colleagues.

In the event of a successful discrimination claim, the Employment Tribunal can now make broad recommendations in relation to the employer’s practices and procedures with a view to benefiting the entire workforce (and not just the individual who has been subject to the discriminatory conduct in question).  

Further changes down the line will have a major impact on the construction sector, especially those who work in the public sector. First, in April 2011, we’ll see the introduction of the single equality duty, which places positive responsibilities on public bodies to encourage and promote equality and eliminate discrimination in many areas. Public sector employers will contractually pass on that duty to their builders, facilities managers and so on.

Secondly, the duty to use procurement to drive equality will also come into force in 2011. This will be an opportunity for those with strong equality records to score better in contract award assessments. Construction businesses would be wise to get ready for these changes now.

The “real world” impact of the Act on employers has been largely misreported in the popular press, where the focus has been the former government’s political correctness and the financial costs of dealing with a predicted surge in claims in challenging economic times.  

Contrary to the headlines, the Act does not mark any significant expansion of existing discrimination protection, in terms of either the protected characteristics, or the actions in the workplace, which could give rise to a claim.  Whilst there may be a small rise in claims in the short term as the boundaries of the Act are tested, the Act itself is unlikely to cause a surge in claims.  

Nick Chronias  is a partner in the employment and pensions group at law firm Beachcroft LLP