Category Archives: Equality Act
The New Duty to Prevent Sexual Harassment
I have a problem with the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023. It’s a rubbish name for a statute to begin with. But I also think it does something fundamentally undesirable. Bear with me, though, because it … Continue reading
Indirect discrimination – squandering our Brexit freedoms?
The Sunday Telegraph reports concern among Tory MPs that Rishi Sunak is “squandering Brexit Freedoms by approving more EU rules”. The headline refers to new Regulations amending the Equality Act 2010. With its usual calm understatement when dealing with discrimination … Continue reading
Workers’ Rights and the EU
The annoying thing about the debate that has blown up over the weekend about workers’ rights post Brexit is that it rarely gets down to specifics. Take the Financial Times story on Friday. It referred to the possibility of divergence … Continue reading
Of course vegans are protected by the Equality Act!
A vegan is claiming discrimination after being sacked from his job at the League Against Cruel Sports. The emphasis of the BBC story is on whether or not Mr Casamitjana’s beliefs will be protected under the Equality Act as a philosophical … Continue reading
Supreme Court finds no discrimination in ‘gay cake’ case
Well I think the Supreme Court got it right – probably. In Lee v Ashers Baking Company Ltd they hold that there was no discrimination when a bakery refused to bake a cake for a customer bearing the slogan ‘support … Continue reading
Iceland, equal pay and enforcing the gender pay gap regulations
So the internet informs me that Iceland has become the first country in the world to make it illegal to pay men more than women. Iceland has not, of course, passed a law saying that it is illegal for an … Continue reading
Banning employees from wearing headscarves
Let’s get one thing clear at the outset. The European Court of Justice has not said that it is OK to ban Muslim employees from wearing headscarves. It really hasn’t. But the decision in Achbita v G4S Secure Solutions NV … Continue reading
Can you afford to ignore the Gender Pay Gap Regulations?
Actually, I think you can. Probably. I mean what’s the worst that can happen? While other large employers publish their gender pay gap information you simply sit back and say. “Not for us, thanks, we’re fine.” Of course many people … Continue reading
Dear Jeremy, ever heard of the Equality Act?
Is it OK if an employer asks a job candidate questions about their childcare arrangements? The question has come up because in a ‘Dear Jeremy’ article in the Guardian (a sort of workplace agony uncle column) A reader wrote in … Continue reading
Why we should scrap the Equal Pay Act
First of all, apologies for the clickbait title – couldn’t resist it. Also to anyone thinking “Surely the Equal Pay Act was repealed by the Equality Act and replaced by provisions dealing with ‘Equality of Terms’?” you are of course quite … Continue reading
A Range of Reasonable Responses 