Introduction

The majority of provisions of the Act will come into force in October 2010 with some provisions being delayed until following years.

In Summary

In summary the main provisions of the Act are as follows:

• Harmonisation and extension of discrimination law to cover age, disability, sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, race, religion or belief and in many, but not all instances, marriage and civil partnerships. The concept of ‘disability related discrimination’ under the Disability Discrimination Act will be replaced with a prohibition on discriminating against a disabled person by treating them unfavourably where the treatment is not a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.
• A prohibition on employers asking job applicants questions about their health and whether they have a disability (other than in specific circumstances). Employers will still be able to screen applicants about health after making a job offer.
• From April 2011 an employee who claims they have been specifically discriminated against because of a combination of characteristics (such as being an Asian woman) rather than solely on one ground, will be able to claim for this combination of characteristics.
• A widening of Tribunal powers to make recommendations to employers in cases where discrimination has been proved. 
• A possible but limited form of positive discrimination allowing employers to chose someone from an unrepresented group where they have a choice between two or more candidates who are “as qualified” as the other (note the Conservatives have suggested they may not implement this provision if they win the election).
• The ban on discrimination by association will be extended, to reflect the law in recent appeal cases. People such as spouses, partners, carers etc who look after a person who falls within the discriminated class will be protected from discrimination by virtue of their close link to that person. 
• The ban on discrimination based on perception is extended to protect employees who experience discrimination because they are wrongly thought to have protected characteristics (e.g. a female job applicant who is rejected because the employer wrongly thinks she is a man). 
• A provision empowering employees to be able to discuss pay, including seeking information and discussing the same and a prohibition on action being taken against them for doing so.
• Employers with 250 employees or more will be encouraged (on a voluntary basis) to publish their pay statistics to demonstrate how they are tackling the gender pay gap. This could become compulsory, if perceived to be necessary, on review in the future (again, depending on who is elected).
• There are also further and other provisions, outside the scope of this article, particularly affecting the public sector and the provision of services and public functions.