Transcript Slide 1

Implications of the Equality
Act 2010
Ellen Pugh, Senior Policy Adviser
Equality Challenge Unit
Outline
1. About ECU
2. Why Equality?
3. The Equality Act 2010
• Implications for staff
• Implications for students
4. The public sector equality duty
5. Questions
About Equality Challenge Unit
• Equality Challenge Unit supports the higher
education sector to realise the potential of all
staff and students whatever their age, disability,
gender identity, marital or civil partnership
status, pregnancy or maternity status, race,
religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation to
the benefit of those individuals, higher education
institutions and society.
• Funded by the 4 UK higher education funding
Councils, Universities UK and GuildHE
ECU’s work
•
•
•
•
•
•
Supporting institutions
Guidance
Research
Advice
Events
Bespoke services
Importance of equality and diversity in
decision making
• The moral and social case
• The business case
– Staff retention and wellbeing
– Student recruitment, retention and
attainment
• Better decision making
• Reputation and risk
• Legislative compliance – Equality Act 2010
The Equality Act 2010
•Applies to England, Scotland and Wales
•Consolidates and strengthens previous equality law
•Simplifies and strengthens existing equality law.
•Designed to address systemic inequalities
•Everyone in society is in some way protected under
the act
•Specific requirements for the HEIs as education
providers, employers and service providers
•Majority of provisions of the Act came into force in
October 2010
Equality Act: Protected chracteristics (1)
• Age: the Act protects people of all age groups
• Disability: the law includes a broad definition of
“disability”
• Race: the term “racial grounds” covers race, colour,
nationality, national origin and ethnic origin
• Religion or belief: the law covers people who have a
religious belief and those who do not
• Sexual Orientation: the law protects lesbian, gay,
heterosexual and bisexual people from discrimination
• Sex: the law protects men and women from
discrimination because of their sex
Equality Act protected characteristics (2)
• Gender reassignment: protection for those who have
proposed, started, or completed a process to change their
sex
• Pregnancy and maternity:
– Protects female staff because they are pregnant, have a pregnancy
related illness and in relation to maternity leave.
– Protects female students because of a pregnancy, they have given
birth in the past 26 weeks or are breastfeeding.
• Marital or civil partnership status: protects those who
are in marriages or in civil partnerships (limited protection)
Types of discrimination
1. Direct discrimination
Treating someone less favourably than someone
else because they have a particular characteristic
e.g. gender, race, sexual orientation, etc.
2. Indirect discrimination
A criteria or practice which might appear to treat
everyone the same – in practice, it may put
people from a particular group at a disadvantage.
Types of discrimination
3. Failing to make a reasonable adjustment
In deciding what is reasonable, the question
institutions need to ask “Is it reasonable for the
HEI , not the division, school, faculty or
department, to make this adjustment?”
4. Discrimination arising from disability
An individual being treated less favourably
because of something connected to their
impairment/disability.
Other types of less favourable treatment
1. Victimisation
Treating someone less favourably because they
have complained, or brought a case, of
discrimination, or supported someone else’s
complaint/case.
2. Harassment (also form of discrimination)
Unwanted conduct (linked to one of the protected
characteristics) that has the purpose or effect of
violating a person’s dignity or creating an
intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or
offensive environment.
Can discrimination be justified?
•
•
•
•
•
Some types of discrimination can sometimes be justified
if the discrimination is a proportionate means of
achieving a legitimate aim:
Other legislation or statutes in place e.g. national limits
on visas for international staff and students
In relation to the curriculum.
In relation to single sex provision e.g. accommodation.
In relation to genuine occupational requirements
In relation to national security
Key developments in discrimination and
harassment provisions
• Discrimination because of a person’s perceived
characteristic.
• Discrimination because of a person’s association
with a person who has a protected
characteristic.
• Third party harassment provisions:
• Duty on employer to take action when an employee
has been harassed by a third party (includes
students) on at least two previous occasions.
Disability and Recruitment
• The Equality Act prohibits employers from
asking about the health of applicants:
• Before offering work to an applicant and;
• Before including the applicant in a pool of
applicants from whom the employer intends to
offer work to in the future.
Pay equality
• Employers no longer have to justify difference in pay and
benefits that have arisen from service of up to 5 years.
• Employees protected from victimisation by their
employer for discussing pay with colleagues to establish
pay inequalities due to their protected characteristics.
• Terms of employment or appointment that prevent or
restrict discussions relating to pay now unenforceable.
• The need for a comparator where a person has less
favourable contractual conditions because of their sex
has been removed.
Ensuring equality: more favourable and
different treatment
• Equal treatment does not equal equality.
More favourable treatment (disabled people)
Different treatment (other protected characteristics)
Voluntary positive action measures in the provision
of education and in the recruitment and promotion
of staff to:
• alleviate disadvantage experienced by protected groups
• reduce underrepresentation of protected groups
• meet particular needs of protected groups
Implications for staff
• It is unlawful for HEIs as employers to discriminate
against employees or people seeking work. This
applies in respect of anything done in the course of
a persons employment for example:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Terms of offer
Access to opportunities for promotion
Transfer or training
Receiving benefits (including pay)
Facility or service
Dismissal
Implications for students
• The act prohibits the governing body of an
HEI from discrimination against an applicant
or student in relation to:
•
•
•
•
•
Admissions
the provision of education
conferment of qualifications
access to any benefit, facility or service
Exclusions
• Similarly to previous legislation alumni also have
some protection from discrimination
Implications for HEIs and Students’ Unions
as service providers
The Act requires HEIs and Students’ Unions to
ensure that they do not discriminate in the
provision of services:
• Public events and conferences (including open days for
applicants)
• Accommodation
• Facilities: the library, sports facilities and catering outlets
owned by the HEI
• Students’ unions: clubs, societies, facilities and services
Embedding equality
• Public sector equality duty (Equality Duty) of
the Act designed to support HEIs in meeting
the requirements and intentions of the Act.
• Applies to all protected characteristics
• Commenced in April 2011.
• Underpinned by specific duties which are
different for each country of the UK
The Equality Duty
• HEIs required to have due regard to the need
to:
• Eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation
and any other conduct prohibited under the Act
• Advance equality of opportunity between people
who share a protected characteristic and those who
do not
• Foster good relations between people who share a
relevant protected characteristic and people who do
not.
Due regard
• Legal term
• Comprises two elements:
1. Proportionality
2. Relevance
• In all decisions and functions HEIs are required to
give due weight to their obligations under the
Equality Act in proportion to the relevance of their
obligations to a particular decision or function.
• ‘Due regard’ requires more than simply giving
consideration to the Act.
Specific requirements for England
• No requirement in regulations to conduct impact
assessments or engage people from protected groups.
• However, government has made clear that:
‘... under the requirements of the general duty to have ‘due
regard’ to the matters set out in the Act, public bodies will need
to understand the effect of their policies and practices on
equality – this will involve looking at evidence, engaging with
people, staff, service users and others and considering the
effect of what they do on the whole community.’ (Equality Act:
2010 The public sector Equality Duty: reducing bureaucracy)
Specific requirements for England
• Publication of information on employees and
service users (students!) by 31 January 2012
• Prepare and publish one or more equality
objective/s by 6 April 2012
• Manner of publication
Elements of the Act that have not
commenced
• Gender pay gap
• Combined discrimination: dual characteristics
• Socio-economic duty
Useful websites
• Equality Challenge Unit
www.ecu.ac.uk
• Equality and Human Rights Commission
www.equalityhumanrights.com
• Home Office equality web pages
www.equalities.gov.uk
• Office for Disability Issues
www.odi.gov.uk
Questions