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SmallBusiness.co.uk investigates what the Equality Act means for employers.

Employers tend to groan when they hear that the HR burden has been weighed down with yet another piece of legislation. But it has happened again, and the Equality Act, passed at the beginning of October, does have some juicy implications for employers.

Under the Act, age, disability, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity are now to be known as ‘protected characteristics’, and there are seven types of discrimination that could act as pitfalls for employers.

John Davies, head of business law at the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, says there are positives: ‘This Act is helpful in that it creates one stand-alone piece of law rather than having the Disability Act, the Discrimination Act and other equality laws separate.’

For every up, however, there is unfortunately a down. Davies continues, ‘Problematically for employers, there is a substantial widening of the range of circumstances that could be deemed discrimination, and this could bring about an increase in tribunal claims.’

The seven types of discrimination listed in the Act are direct discrimination, associative discrimination, indirect discrimination, harassment, harassment by a third party, victimisation and discrimination by perception.

Associative discrimination covers instances where employers discriminate against someone because they are associated with another person with a protected characteristic. Sharokh Koussari, employment partner at law firm Howard Kennedy, says, ‘Businesses need to be aware of such tenets. For example, you cannot treat someone less favourably if they are perceived to be homosexual even if they’re not.’

Employers must also tread carefully around the issue of disability. ‘Managers must remember when recruiting that Section 60 says employers cannot make enquiries about health or disabilities until that person has been offered a job,’ adds Koussari.

Daniel Priestley, owner of promotional company Triumphant Events, says, ‘While I agree with the Act in principle, I think the timing is very poor. Anything at all that makes employing people more risky, more complex or more time consuming should be put on hold until employment numbers are on the rise. It makes sense to encourage employment at the moment, not to create greater complexity in the recruitment process.’

For more information about the Equality Act, visit www.equalities.gov.uk/equality_act_2010.aspx

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