Equalities Bill to tackle Equal Pay and Age Discrimination, and encourage diversity

Equality Minister Harriet Harman has set out plans in a new Equalities Bill to encourage diversity in the workplace and bring together previous discrimination law into a single piece of legislation to help cut red tape for employers. Key points of the plans are:- 1. Where there are two job candidates of comparable qualifications and experience, employers will be able to choose a woman or person from an ethnic minority over a male and/or white candidate. Equally if an employer wanted to discriminate in favour of a male candidate for a vacancy on a female-dominated team, that would be allowed. 2. Employers would be forced to disclose salary structures in a bid to close the gender pay gap. It would also be unlawful for employers to prevent employees discussing pay. 3. Prejudices on grounds of age will also be outlawed in the provision of goods and services, eg pensioners will not be denied medical treatments, where there is a sound clinical reason for the treatment, because of their age. 4. Employment Tribunals will have wider powers to make recommendations that can apply to the whole workforce, not just the successful claimant, in discrimination claims. Failure by the employer to comply with Employment Tribunal recommendations could be taken into account in any further discrimination claims against the employer. These recommendations might include reviewing pay policies or drawing up and implementing an equal opportunities policy. 5. In addition to current duties in respect of race, disability and gender, public sector employers would have duties in relation to gender reassignment, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief. Harriet Harman said she wanted to tackle patterns of discrimination in the workplace and ensure employers better reflected the communities they recruit from. The Equalities Bill will require public sector organisations and companies doing business with the public sector to publish pay levels. Current the gender pay gap averages 17% across all employees. Individual employees often find it difficult to undercover if they are being paid less due to a refusal to disclose pay levels. A quarter of all employers have clauses in their contracts forbidding discussion of pay. If you believe you have been discriminated against on grounds of gender or ethnicity or believe you may have an equal pay claim, please contact Lara Scott on 0116 212 1000 for free initial advice.