The Government has just published a consultation document seeking views from interested parties about the implications of including a provision to protect people from multiple discrimination in the recent Equality Bill (see LELR 114).
By multiple discrimination it means someone who is discriminated against on the basis of two protected characteristics. For example, a black woman passed over for promotion by her employer might have been discriminated against on the basis of both race and sex. Currently she would have to bring separate claims of discrimination, but might not succeed in either if her employer could show that black men and white women were not discriminated against and therefore her treatment was not because of race or sex alone.
In this document (“Equality Bill: Assessing the impact of a multiple discrimination provision”), the Government has now developed a proposal for protecting people from multiple discrimination which would enable claims to be brought combining two protected characteristics, to be implemented in or after April 2011.
The proposals would apply to the protected characteristics of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation. By limiting the grounds which can be combined to two, the Government says it is “extending protection to the vast majority of those who need it, without placing an undue burden on businesses or making the law unduly complex”.
It is now seeking views on the potential impact of these proposals. To respond to the consultation (which closes on 5 June 2009), go to: www.equalities.gov.uk