IDS Diversity at Work
IDS Diversity at Work aims to
provide timely, accurate and high
quality information on workplace
diversity, equal opportunities and
discrimination law. It will help
increase your understanding of
and compliance with the law,
and supply the information and
the tools you need to realise the
benefits of good practice.
IDS Diversity at Work
ISSN: 1743-7350
Editor: Gary Bowker
Assistant Editor: Sylvia Lo
Published by
Incomes Data Services Ltd
Finsbury Tower
103–105 Bunhill Row
London EC1Y 8LZ
Telephone 0845 077 2911
Fax 0207 393 8081
To enquire about subscriptions,
telephone IDS Customer Services on
0845 600 9355, or subscribe online.
www.incomesdata.co.uk
www.idsdiversityatwork.com
Issue 62 – August 2009
News 2
● Equality Bill to protect against ‘dual discrimination’
● Call for urgent talks on equal pay
● Curbing ‘no-win, no-fee’ lawyers
● Law firms commit to diversity best practice
● BT named most race-friendly employer
● Improving diversity in public appointments
● Revised Framework Agreement on Parental Leave
● Young people and men hit hardest by recession
Plus news in brief: BNP race action – Diversity honours – Pregnancy bias alliance –
Stonewall guide – Met police first – ACPOS equality strategy – HR excellence – DH
Equality Scheme – Equality Institute – Fathers’ flex worries
Legislation 7
Guide to the Equality Bill – Part two
In the second part of our two-part guide to the Equality Bill, we look at issues specific to
particular protected characteristics such as disability, equal pay, and maternity and
pregnancy. We also examine the provisions relating to new measures such as the single
public sector Equality Duty and the socio-economic duty. Key provisions of the Bill covered
in this article include:
● extension of the scope of indirect discrimination to cover disability, as well as the
introduction of a new definition of discrimination arising from disability in order to fill
the ‘Malcolm gap’
● allowing equal pay claimants to rely on a hypothetical comparator to establish sex
discrimination in pay where there is no actual comparator doing equal work
● rendering pay confidentiality clauses in employment contracts unenforceable in certain
circumstances
● power to enable Ministers to require private sector employers with at least 250
employees in Britain to publish information about the differences in pay between their
male and female employees
● outlawing ‘unfavourable’ treatment because of pregnancy and maternity
● creating a new single public sector Equality Duty which will continue to cover race,
gender, and disability, but will be extended to cover age, sexual orientation, religion or
belief, pregnancy and maternity, and gender reassignment
● power to enable Ministers to impose specific duties on listed public bodies to enable
them to carry out their Equality Duty effectively, including duties in relation to their
public procurement functions
● a new duty on Government Ministers, departments and key public bodies such as local
authorities and NHS Trusts to consider what action they can take to reduce the socio-
economic inequalities people face
● making it unlawful to unjustifiably discriminate against someone aged 18 or over because
of age in the provision of goods, facilities and services.
Perspective 21
Putting equality at heart of local authority performance
A new Equality Framework for Local Government (EFLG), which aims to put equality at the
heart of local government performance and to cut out bureaucracy and duplication, has
been launched by the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA). Mandy Wright,
Associate Director at IDeA, explains the role of the new framework and how it works, and
examines some of the challenges in implementing the EFLG in the current difficult economic
climate.