Equality Duty – Threat or Opportunity?

Why Equality should be on your agenda in 2010

Why is Equality on the agenda in 2010?

·               Changes to discrimination law have resulted in public sector bodies (including many ‘non-departmental’ public bodies) having to develop Equality Schemes in fields of gender, race and disability to actively promote equality for under-represented / minority groups. 

·               The EOC and  DRC have recently been ‘naming and shaming’ authorities who have not complied with their equality duties (and publicly criticising some for inadequate schemes or tokenistic approaches).  

·               Drafting a Gender Equality Scheme raises the thorny issue of Equal Pay audits (and their consequences) for organisations.

·               There is currently discussion about extending such public sector equality schemes to other areas of discrimination law (sexual orientation, religion and belief and age) with the establishment, in October 2007, of the new Commission for Equality and Human Rights (CEHR).

·               There is also a live debate about whether such statutory duties should also fall on private sector organisations.

·               Part of the drive for equality in the public sector has resulted in a drive for public authorities to assess the ‘equality status’ of those from whom they are procuring goods and services.

·               Such ‘contract compliance’ investigation processes will become commonplace and those who contract to the public sector will be asked for details of their own efforts to promote equality in their organisation and its dealings with customers/ users.

These issues are particularly important to organisations which contract to the public sector or receive significant grant funding from European, UK, Scottish or council state bodies. 

Law At Work can assist both categories of organisation to progress in this area and find practical ways forward in the development of their organisations’ policies for the coming period.