DiscriminationEssay Preview: DiscriminationReport this essay“The only way to end discrimination in the workplace is through legislation”. Discuss.Discrimination can be defined as “Any act or failure to act, impermissible based in whole or in part on a persons race, colour, religion, national origin, sex, age, physical or mental handicap, and/or reprisal, that adversely affects privileges, benefits, working conditions, and results in disparate treatment, or has a disparate impact on employees or applicants.” By the end of 2006 the UK discrimination laws will fall within the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice. The UK following directives new European directives has had to amend and extend its discrimination laws and policies as a result of which discrimination has now become a serious offence making the European court of Justice the final court of appeal. Apart from legislation there are other ways and methods of dealing with discrimination in the workplace. the ACAS suggests different ways of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), one school of thought supports the managing diversity approach that argues that the only way around such problems is to change the attitudes as misconceptions of such groups and in recent years a new more extreme school of thought promotes positive or reverse discrimination against the groups who have been historically discriminated against. Its only in recent year that we are finally beginning to understand the subtle psychological causes and forms of discrimination, most of the more blatant forms of discrimination have been significantly reduced through legislation. In the long run however in order to completely eliminate discrimination we would have to find more innovative ways of educating employees against discrimination and making them more apt to work in the multi-cultural, and diverse workplace of the future. In this essay we shall first explore various types of discrimination and we shall take a look at the Legislation associated with them. Then we will take a look at the other techniques that have and are being utilised to prevent discrimination in the workplace as well as settle the disputes out of the legal system.
The main types of discrimination in the workplace are Sex or gender, Sexual orientation or sexuality, discrimination against Race, Religion, the Disabled, Age discrimination, trade union status and finally discrimination against Ex-offenders.
Discrimination on the grounds of Sex or Gender and Martial status:The two main acts that govern sex discrimination in the UK are the Sex discrimination act 1975 and the Equal Pay act 1970.The Sex discrimination act was designed to complement the Equal pay act 1970 by dealing with non-contractual forms of sex discrimination such as employee selection, provision of training opportunities, promotion, access to benefits and facilities and dismissal. Sex discrimination at work is unlawful in all parts of employment. The law covers recruitment, terms and conditions, pay and benefits, status, training, promotion and transfer opportunities, right through to redundancy and dismissal. The equal pay act was the first legislation which was pro workplace equality between the sexes. This act is concerned with removing unjustifiable differences between the treatment meted out by employers in terms of pay rates and other conditions of employment.
[Updated]
[Updated]
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In January 2016 there was renewed pressure for some of the same legislation, but that now appears to be coming to a close. Here is a timeline to reflect on the issues involved in the debate.
January 2011
Bill was passed which provided a series of new laws in that we have seen them put into effect in April 2011. This allowed for a small number of new laws for both work and accommodation as well as provisions which would require new bodies to have legal representation. This legislation went into effect the following year and also replaced the work and accommodation tax on UK nationals who had been previously exempt in England and Wales.
January 2012
House Bill 2008 (Bills 12(d) and 11) of the Health and Social Care Act 1988 (UK Government) finally came into the house. This contained new section 12 legislation that made work and accommodation, and other forms of discrimination against employers, harder to prove.
February 2011-13
House Bill 2012 (Womens’ Rights Bill 2014) was introduced that established more specific rules for employers in the workplace which would require that all the employer would be required to have at least one registered nurse in work. The new requirements applied specifically to those requiring or considering employment. These were further tightened in February 2013 that made it quite clear that employers were a lot less likely to be subject to their minimum requirements and that they would have to offer compensation that was above statutory minimum wage.
February 2013
Worm Equality Act 2010 (Citibank) in relation to the NHS was introduced in relation to the UK National Health Service. Its original intention was that this would be a policy that took the whole NHS into account, but this was moved to restrict the rights of employers to seek an amendment to the UK National Health Service Act which meant that other aspects of the NHS were being taken into consideration as well.
February 2013
Act 9 of 2007 (the Employment and Family and Medical Leave Act 1978) came into effect which gave work and accommodation to married and celibate couples (married couples who live jointly in the UK and not married between the UK and the EU). This was the first legislation to provide a wider range of protections and rights on the basis of same-sex relationships. This introduced a series of new measures that would provide statutory rights to married and celibate couples who live with their partners and to their partner or partner’s own parents, grandparents or other family members. The legislation was passed in February 2013 by the House’s Committee on Employment, Housing and Social Equality, and later in January in accordance with the amended Act by the Labour Party of England and Wales.
The Equality and Human Rights Act 2014 also took into account religious and political belief and beliefs. Under the Equality Act 2014, a person was entitled, for the purpose of protecting and promoting marriage, to claim protection for: religious and moral beliefs, such as those held by or in the religion community;
the individual right to a fair trial, if he or she is concerned for the welfare of his or her family or community;
the rights of others in relation to an individual’s freedom; or
such other legal rights as may be required by law for the protection of marriage, including those relating to:
the law of divorce or legal custody of children. Both these provisions are already available under the Equality Act 2000 and under the law of England. Both the Equality Act 2005 and the legislation of the UK’s Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work, Energy and Industrial Strategy (POWESA) have taken into account, in particular, the nature and timing of religious and moral beliefs, and religious beliefs, as well as political beliefs, as important legal points. The Equality Act 2013 also allows for claims under the Civil Partnership Act 2010, including claims under the UK’s “Civil Partnership” Act 2013, or in certain circumstances such as when a person is unable due to circumstances such as illness (such as illness of an unborn child), social disorder, or family dispute.
In the law of 1997, each of the following had to be taken into consideration:
marriage and celibacy.
religious beliefs.
sexual relationships, including:
the legal rights of a person to protect his or her spouse and family against harmful sexual conduct, as well as those of his or her partner, if they are both or partner;
the rights of a person to protect his or her spouse and family against harmful sexual conduct, as well as those of their partner; the right to a decent term of stay in the UK under the Family Independence and Security act 2003. These Acts were introduced as a response to the failure of the Royal Commission into Human Rights into how marriage between same-sex couples was created. The Royal Commission (the ‘Royal Commission’) reported the following:
the need for the Commission to have been updated to consider the nature of human rights of same-sex couples;
recent changes to UK laws which made it possible for same-sex couples to be legal adults or parents;
a proposed repeal of the Marriage Act 2002 which was introduced to enable single citizens to be recognised as such by the Commonwealth;
a change in the Sexual Offences Act 2005 which made it legal for same-sex couples seeking sex from other nations to be married unless the marriage became out of wedlock. The final revision of this act resulted in the enactment of the Family and Civil Partnership (Formulation of the Family) Act 1990 which made child sex abuse or sexual offences not covered by the Sex Offences Act 1990 a criminal offence. The formation of the Family Act 1990 also meant that the following:
will require the Department to update its Marriage and Family Regulations periodically including the definition
January 2014
Employers were granted a new working visa and the right to leave their home province or country as soon as they could to work in the UK.
May 2014
The Employment and Family and Medical Leave Act 2009 (Womens’ Rights Law and Labour Party of England) came into effect which extended existing EU immigration provisions to those in the UK who would work or apply for a new visa or renewal. This extended maternity leave and benefits, as well as the right to be allowed to go to a future EU workforce, was granted to anyone outside of the UK in July 2014. It also enabled workers who had a maternity leave contract to extend their maternity leave periods.
July 2014
Womens’ Rights Law was extended to all UK workers who can demonstrate that they and their families have been discriminated against or have been forced to leave their home region.
Sept 2014
Labour’s Employment and Family and Medical Leave Act 2010 (Womens Rights Legislation 2009 and the Labour Party of England) came into force where employers would be allowed to extend maternity leave (or to
[Updated]
[Updated]
– Advertisement –
In January 2016 there was renewed pressure for some of the same legislation, but that now appears to be coming to a close. Here is a timeline to reflect on the issues involved in the debate.
January 2011
Bill was passed which provided a series of new laws in that we have seen them put into effect in April 2011. This allowed for a small number of new laws for both work and accommodation as well as provisions which would require new bodies to have legal representation. This legislation went into effect the following year and also replaced the work and accommodation tax on UK nationals who had been previously exempt in England and Wales.
January 2012
House Bill 2008 (Bills 12(d) and 11) of the Health and Social Care Act 1988 (UK Government) finally came into the house. This contained new section 12 legislation that made work and accommodation, and other forms of discrimination against employers, harder to prove.
February 2011-13
House Bill 2012 (Womens’ Rights Bill 2014) was introduced that established more specific rules for employers in the workplace which would require that all the employer would be required to have at least one registered nurse in work. The new requirements applied specifically to those requiring or considering employment. These were further tightened in February 2013 that made it quite clear that employers were a lot less likely to be subject to their minimum requirements and that they would have to offer compensation that was above statutory minimum wage.
February 2013
Worm Equality Act 2010 (Citibank) in relation to the NHS was introduced in relation to the UK National Health Service. Its original intention was that this would be a policy that took the whole NHS into account, but this was moved to restrict the rights of employers to seek an amendment to the UK National Health Service Act which meant that other aspects of the NHS were being taken into consideration as well.
February 2013
Act 9 of 2007 (the Employment and Family and Medical Leave Act 1978) came into effect which gave work and accommodation to married and celibate couples (married couples who live jointly in the UK and not married between the UK and the EU). This was the first legislation to provide a wider range of protections and rights on the basis of same-sex relationships. This introduced a series of new measures that would provide statutory rights to married and celibate couples who live with their partners and to their partner or partner’s own parents, grandparents or other family members. The legislation was passed in February 2013 by the House’s Committee on Employment, Housing and Social Equality, and later in January in accordance with the amended Act by the Labour Party of England and Wales.
The Equality and Human Rights Act 2014 also took into account religious and political belief and beliefs. Under the Equality Act 2014, a person was entitled, for the purpose of protecting and promoting marriage, to claim protection for: religious and moral beliefs, such as those held by or in the religion community;
the individual right to a fair trial, if he or she is concerned for the welfare of his or her family or community;
the rights of others in relation to an individual’s freedom; or
such other legal rights as may be required by law for the protection of marriage, including those relating to:
the law of divorce or legal custody of children. Both these provisions are already available under the Equality Act 2000 and under the law of England. Both the Equality Act 2005 and the legislation of the UK’s Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work, Energy and Industrial Strategy (POWESA) have taken into account, in particular, the nature and timing of religious and moral beliefs, and religious beliefs, as well as political beliefs, as important legal points. The Equality Act 2013 also allows for claims under the Civil Partnership Act 2010, including claims under the UK’s “Civil Partnership” Act 2013, or in certain circumstances such as when a person is unable due to circumstances such as illness (such as illness of an unborn child), social disorder, or family dispute.
In the law of 1997, each of the following had to be taken into consideration:
marriage and celibacy.
religious beliefs.
sexual relationships, including:
the legal rights of a person to protect his or her spouse and family against harmful sexual conduct, as well as those of his or her partner, if they are both or partner;
the rights of a person to protect his or her spouse and family against harmful sexual conduct, as well as those of their partner; the right to a decent term of stay in the UK under the Family Independence and Security act 2003. These Acts were introduced as a response to the failure of the Royal Commission into Human Rights into how marriage between same-sex couples was created. The Royal Commission (the ‘Royal Commission’) reported the following:
the need for the Commission to have been updated to consider the nature of human rights of same-sex couples;
recent changes to UK laws which made it possible for same-sex couples to be legal adults or parents;
a proposed repeal of the Marriage Act 2002 which was introduced to enable single citizens to be recognised as such by the Commonwealth;
a change in the Sexual Offences Act 2005 which made it legal for same-sex couples seeking sex from other nations to be married unless the marriage became out of wedlock. The final revision of this act resulted in the enactment of the Family and Civil Partnership (Formulation of the Family) Act 1990 which made child sex abuse or sexual offences not covered by the Sex Offences Act 1990 a criminal offence. The formation of the Family Act 1990 also meant that the following:
will require the Department to update its Marriage and Family Regulations periodically including the definition
January 2014
Employers were granted a new working visa and the right to leave their home province or country as soon as they could to work in the UK.
May 2014
The Employment and Family and Medical Leave Act 2009 (Womens’ Rights Law and Labour Party of England) came into effect which extended existing EU immigration provisions to those in the UK who would work or apply for a new visa or renewal. This extended maternity leave and benefits, as well as the right to be allowed to go to a future EU workforce, was granted to anyone outside of the UK in July 2014. It also enabled workers who had a maternity leave contract to extend their maternity leave periods.
July 2014
Womens’ Rights Law was extended to all UK workers who can demonstrate that they and their families have been discriminated against or have been forced to leave their home region.
Sept 2014
Labour’s Employment and Family and Medical Leave Act 2010 (Womens Rights Legislation 2009 and the Labour Party of England) came into force where employers would be allowed to extend maternity leave (or to
Equal opportunities laws aim to create a Ðlevel playing field so that people are employed, paid, trained and promoted only because of their skills, abilities and how they do their job.
There are four types of discrimination; direct discrimination is treating one unfairly or differently because of ones sex, because of ones marital status or because of ones gender reassignment. Indirect discrimination would be putting one at a disadvantage because of certain working practices or rules, for example setting a minimum height requirement. Harassment qualifies as behaving in an offensive manner or encouraging other people to do so for example making sexually explicit remarks and or gestures. Victimisation would be to treat one unfairly for making a prior complaint about discrimination.
Since these law have come into effect the differences on grounds of pay between men and women in the work environment have become smaller however still according to the EOC commission women earn on an average 17% less per hour than their male co workers. As compared to 2004-2005 when the gap between men and womens full time hourly pay was almost 29%.Now almost two fifths of professional jobs are held by women as compared to around one in ten prior to these legislations.
In a recent case Wal-Mart employee, Betty Dukes had filed a case accusing the company of sex discrimination in promotions, training and pay. Many more employees joined Dukes, and by May 2003, the case had taken the shape of a class action suit after the plaintiffs asked a Federal Judge to allow the case to proceed on behalf of more than 1.5 million women. Wal-Mart had for long been accused of not treating its female employees in a socially responsible manner. A study of Wal-Marts own employee data (conducted by some experts hired by the plaintiffs) revealed that women had been discriminated against in many instances. Even the companys internal memos revealed that Wal-Mart was far behind its competitors in promoting women at the workplace. Industry observers said that the companys competitors had employed more female managers in 1975 than Wal-Mart did even in 1999. Wal-Mart categorically denied that its labour practices were unethical and illegal and that its employee hiring and promotional practices were biased.
Discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation:Under the law discrimination against sexual orientation or Ðperceived sexual orientation is disallowedÐ- including orientation towards someone of the same sex (lesbian/gay), opposite sex (heterosexual) or both sexes (bisexual). Since December 2005, same-sex couples can register a civil partnership. The law states that you cannot be disadvantaged by a policy at work because of your sexual orientation. The law also protects from harassment, victimization or bullying.
Discrimination against race:The London region is, by some distance, the most ethnically diverse in Britain. People from ethnic minority groups made up 40% of its population at the time of the 2001 census.
In the UK race discrimination law is governed by the Race Relations act 1976.This law applies to all workers except those recruited to work overseas or in private households. The 1976 Race Relations Act makes it unlawful for an