Equality Bill
The Government has announced, as part of a new Equality Bill, that it will set up a single Commission for Equality and Human Rights (CEHR) in October 2007.
The purpose of the Bill is to:
establish the CEHR and to define its purpose and functions
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
create a duty on public authorities to promote equality of opportunity between men and women (the gender duty) and to prohibit sex discrimination in the exercise of public functions.
For more information, go to www.gnn.gov.uk/environment/dti
Maternity consultation document
Working mothers are to be offered an extra three months' paid maternity leave under plans published recently in a consultation document by Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt.
The Government proposes to:
extend maternity and adoption pay from six to nine months by April 2007 with the goal of a year's paid leave by the end of the next Parliament
introduce a new right for mothers to transfer a proportion of their maternity leave and pay to fathers in the first year
consider extending the right to request flexible working hours to carers of adults and parents of older children.
To access the consultation paper "Work and families: choice and flexibility", go to www.dti.gov.uk/workandfamilies.
The closing date for responses is 25 May.
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Equal treatment consultation
New proposals to crack down on discrimination in the workplace have been published in a consultation document by Jacqui Smith, deputy Women and Equality Minister.
The proposals would implement the amended Equal Treatment Directive, due to come into force on 5 October.
The document entitled "Equality and Diversity: Updating the Sex Discrimination Act", sets out proposals to include discrimination against pregnancy and maternity leave in the Sex Discrimination Act (SDA).
It would also outlaw sexual harassment in employment and vocational training and update the definition of indirect discrimination in the SDA.
The consultation will close on 31 May. To access the consultation document and draft regulations, go to www.womenandequalityunit.gov.uk/legislation/index.htm.
The Department of Trade and Industry has published a list of legislation that comes into effect on 6 April, including:
implementation of a number of sections of the Employment Relations Act 2004 (see LELR 95)
amendments to fees charged by the Certification Officer to list trade unions and employers and register their mergers and amalgamations
implementation of the Information and Consultation of Employee Regulations for employers with more than 150 employees.
Changes to take effect on 1 October include:
implementation of the amended equal treatment directive, updating the Sex Discrimination and Equal Pay Acts
implementation regulations amending procedures for trade union recognition and de-recognition
revision of the TUPE regulations to reflect amendments to the Acquired Rights Directive and to provide clarity to contracting-out situations
implementation of the Employment Relations Act, changing the requirements to industrial action notices.
Avoiding the question
It is well established that tribunals can draw adverse inferences from an employer's evasive reply (or failure to reply) to questions posed in a statutory questionnaire.
The employment appeal tribunal (EAT) has now decided in the case of Dattani v Chief Constable of West Mercia Police that the same principle applies to questions not asked under the statutory procedure.
The appeal tribunal justified its decision on two grounds. It said, first of all, that under section 65 of the Race Relations Act which refers to the questionnaire procedure, the person submitting it can choose whether to use a prescribed form or not.
Secondly, it said that all employers should be treated the same way, whether or not the questions have been asked under the statutory procedure. So if an employer is asked a direct question in writing by a potential claimant and fails to respond, or gives an evasive answer he or she can expect a tribunal to draw an adverse inference.
Reasonably adjustable
In Williams v J Walter Thompson Group Ltd, a woman who was totally blind started work as a computer software operator in September 1999.
However, the employer then failed to make any reasonable adjustments to accommodate her needs over the next two years until she resigned in October 2001. She claimed constructive dismissal and cited eleven incidents of disability discrimination, eight of them direct.
Not surprisingly, the Court of Appeal said that the employer could not justify this failure, and made a finding of disability discrimination. The court said that it was significant that when JWT employed Ms Williams, it was already aware of her disability and knew that adjustments would have to be made.
Employment continuity
In an interesting case, the employment appeal tribunal (EAT) has decided that an employer and employee can agree on whether certain gaps in employment constitute continuity for the purposes of section 212 of the Employment Rights Act 1996.
In London Probation Board v Kirkpatrick, the employer dismissed Mr Kirkpatrick, then upheld his appeal against dismissal, only to renege on that promise a month later and restore the original dismissal.
That meant the employee was out of time to bring a claim based on the first dismissal. The employer argued that if he was reinstated, his continuity of employment was broken with the result that he did not have one year's continuous employment.
The EAT decided in Mr Kirkpatrick's favour. It said that it was open to the parties to reach an arrangement about whether certain gaps from work could count towards continuity; that a "reinstatement" would count as such an arrangement; and that the arrangement (even if made after the gap occurs) would still count towards continuity of employment.
News in brief
Industrial Action Ballots
A consultation document has been published by the Department of Trade and Industry on revising the code of practice governing industrial action ballots and employer notices. This gives practical guidance to trade unions and employers on how to apply the relevant law. The consultation ends 3 June. Download the document as a PDF file from
Women and Work Report
The Women and Work Commission, set up by the Prime Minister last year to examine the problem of the gender pay gap and other issues affecting women's employment, has produced an interim report. "A Fair Deal for women in the Workplace" was published on 8 March and can be found at
Union gender gap closes
According to a recent TUC report "A woman's place is in a union", the proportion of working women in trade unions is now 29.3 per cent compared to 29.4 per cent among working men. Younger women, in particular, are more likely to join unions than men. The report shows that unionised workplaces are more likely than non-union workplaces to have equal opportunity policies, offer access to parental leave, provide financial help with childcare, monitor promotions, and pay women more. See www.tuc.org.uk/equality/tuc-9509-f0.cfm for more.
Minimum wage increase
The Department of Trade and Industry recently announced increases to the national minimum wage. It will increase from £4.85 per hour for adults over 21 to £5.05 in October. This will rise to £5.35 in October 2006. The youth rate - for those between 18 and 21 - will increase to £4.25 per hour in October 2005 and £4.45 in October 2006.