Equality Legislation

We are all protected in the law from discrimination around 6 key areas:

1. Sex  (including marital status and gender reassignment)
2. Race (including colour, nationality. national origin, ethnic origin)
3. Disability
4. Sexual Orientation
5. Religion & Belief
6. Age

This framework of legislation is part of a move towards a consistent approach to discrimination law.

The Equal Pay Act (1970 & 1984)

• Women must be paid the same as men when they are doing the same (or broadly similar) work, or work which is of equal value.
• In spite of this legislation women still earn only 81% of men's earnings for the same or equivalent work.

The Sex Discrimination Act (1975)

• It is unlawful to discriminate on grounds of sex, marital status or because someone intends to undergo, is undergoing or has undergone gender reassignment.
• This applies to employment, education and the provision of goods, facilities, services and premises.

The Race Relations Act (1976 & 2000)

• It is unlawful to discriminate on grounds of race, nationality, colour, ethnic or national origin.
• This applies to employment, education and the provision of goods, facilities, services and premises.

The Disability Discrimination Act (1995)

• There are 8.5 million disabled people in the UK.
• It is unlawful to discriminate on the grounds of disability.
• This applies to employment, education and the provision of goods, facilities, services and premises.
• The Act defines a disabled person as someone with 'a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long term (over 12 months) adverse effect on his or her abilitiy to carry out normal day to day activities'.  This includes sensory impairment and severe disfigurement.

The Employment Equality Regulations (Sexual Orientation 2003, Religion or Belief 2003, Age 2006)

These regulations protect people from discrimination in the workplace on the grounds of sexuality (e.g. being lesbian, gay, or bisexual), religion or belief (e.g. being muslim) and age (young or old).

The Gender Reassignment Act (2004)

Transexual people can marry in their acquired sex, obtain a birth certificate recognising their acquired sex, and obtain benefits and a state pension like anyone else of that sex.

The Equality Act (2006)

• This act makes discrimination illegal in the provision of goods and services on the basis of sexuality or religion.
• The act has also created a single Commission called the Commission for Equality and Human Rights (CEHR), which has replaced the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC), the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) and the Disability Rights Commission (DRC).

Human Rights Act (1988)

The Human Rights Act incorporates provisions from the European Convention on Human Rights into UK law.  Individuals or groups can enforce their rights in the UK courts.  The Act sets out general principles rather than detailed legal rules.  These principal rights are:

• Article 2 - The right to life
• Article 3 - The right to freedom from torture, inhuman and degrading treatment
• Article 5 - The right to liberty
• Article 6 - The right to a fair trial
• Article 8 - The right to respect for private and family life
• Article 9 - The right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion
• Article 10 - The right to freedom of expression
• Article 14 - The right to freedom from discrimination
• Article 2 or proctocol 1 - The right to education

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