Avoiding discrimination while preventing illegal working

The Government has published its statutory Code of practice for employers on avoiding unlawful discrimination while preventing illegal working. The Code of practice provides practical guidance on how to avoid illegal discrimination when carrying out right to work checks on employees. 

Although the statutory Code does not of itself impose any legal obligations on employers, an employment tribunal may take the Code into account when determining whether there was discrimination when an employer carried out prevention of illegal working checks. 

The key point in the Code is that employers should have in place and follow clear recruitment practices which treat all applicants fairly and in the same way at each stage of the recruitment process. It states that provided that all applicants are asked, the employer can ask for appropriate documentation to carry out its checks.

The Code is available on the Government website. 

Take the lead - A guide to welcoming customers with assistance dogs

VisitEngland and the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) have produced a new guide for tourism businesses on welcoming customers with assistance dogs. Take the lead highlights the important role performed by assistance dogs, it outlines the legal obligations under the Equality Act 2010, and how tourism businesses can boost business by attracting more visits from disabled travellers and their canine companions.

"As service providers to the public, tourism businesses have a legal duty to make reasonable adjustments to enable disabled people, including assistance dog users, to use their services.

It would be unlawful to refuse access to a disabled person accompanied by an assistance dog except in the most exceptional circumstances." The Guide says.

For a full version of the Guide, please visit the Equality and Human Rights Commission website.

How to ask and respond to questions of discrimination in the provision of goods and services and public functions

Practical advice has been prepared for customers who think they have been discriminated against on how to ask for more information about what happened; and for the service providers or retailer on how they should respond to their questions.

This can help clear up a misunderstanding, help resolve concerns and avoid claims and disputes.

This guidance replaces existing statutory guidance on obtaining information.

For more information, please visit the Government website.

Technical guidance on the Public Sector Equality Duty

The Equality & Human Rights Commission has recently published a technical guidance on how public bodies, including local authorities, can comply with the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) which was introduced in April 2011. Although this is not a statutory code of practice, it provides a formal authoritative, and comprehensive legal interpretation of the PSED. It complements the existing codes of practice and non-statutory guidance. It explains in detail what the General Equality Duty and the Specific Equality Duties require and provides useful examples of how the law can be turned into practice. The guide can be accessed via the Commission's website.

Guidance on how to comply with equalities in public procurement

'Buying better outcomes - mainstreaming equality considerations in procurement - A guide for public authorities in England' has been published by the Equality and Human Rights Commission. The guidance explains what approach public authorities may take in order to comply with their Public Sector Equality Duty (under the Equality Act 2010) obligations at different stages of the procurement cycle. It details equality issues that need to be considered at each stage.

The guide is aimed at commissioners, procurement officers, contract managers and people involved in the procurement process.

To view the guidance, visit the Commission's website.

Technical Guidance on Further and Higher Education

The guidance sets out Equality Act 2010 requirements on further and higher education providers in relation to provision of education and access to benefits, facilities or services. These cover all of the services, facilities and benefits, both educational and non-educational that an education provider provides or offers to provide for students. It provides an authoritative, comprehensive and technical guide to the detail of the law. It will be invaluable to education providers, lawyers, advocates, human resources personnel, courts and tribunals, and everyone who needs to understand the law in depth, or apply it in practice.

To access the guidance, visit the Equality and Human Rights Commission's website.

Religion or Belief in the workplace: a guide for employers

Equality & Human Rights Commission has published a guide which employers will find useful in dealing with the expression of religion or belief at work whilst preventing any conflict and legal challenges by employees. The guide will also be helpful to employees in terms of what their rights are to express their religion or belief at work and what assistance they can reasonably expect of their employers in this regard. The guidance follows recent judgment of the European Court of Human Rights which confirm that persons who want to undertake a certain practice sufficiently connected with their religion or belief will be protected under European Convention of Human Rights regardless of whether it is a mandatory requirement of their religion. To read the guidance, please visit the Commission's website.

Assistance dogs - a guide for all businesses

Short guidance has been produced by the Equality and Human Rights Commission to assist businesses in dealing with Assistance dogs on their premises. The guide explains their legal obligations under the Equality Act 2010 and what they can do to enable disabled owners accompanied by their assistance dog to use their service.

All Service Providers from Restaurants to Taxi operators are encouraged to read the new guide, which is available on the Commission's website.

Guidance on human rights for commissioners of home care

The guide is aimed at Local Authority elected members and staff who are involved in commissioning and procurement of home care as well as others who have an interest in home care such as care providers, regulators, service users, their friends and families. The guidance helps Local Authority staff to acquire better understanding of their obligations under the Human Rights Act 1998.

It has been published by the Equality and Human Rights Commission in response to its earlier inquiry into older people and human rights in home care. An understanding and practical application of human rights are important as "they underpin and add value to a range of legal duties and policy initiatives which are at the heart of local authority business, including non-discrimination, safeguarding and personalisation.

The guide is available on the Commission's website.

Guidance for small and medium size businesses

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has published easy to understand guidance for businesses on how to avoid discrimination and ensure respect for human rights. The aim of the guide is to help smaller businesses acquire understanding of anti-discrimination provisions under the Equality Act 2010 and the human rights law, and gain practical knowledge of how to manage important business challenges and dilemmas.

The guide is available on the Commission's website.

Home care and human rights

The Equality & Human Rights Commission has launched a guide for older people, their families and friends, 'Your home care and human rights', which deals with reasonable expectations that older people can have about the home care they receive, their legal rights when using home care and what action older people, their families and friends can take if they are not satisfied with the home care they or their loved ones are provided with. The aim of the guide to raise awareness amongst older people of their entitlement to home care service which respects their human rights and what they can do to ensure those rights are not violated. The report is available on the Commission's website.

Public sector equality duty guidance for Schools in England

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has released a guidance specific to schools in England on how to comply with the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED). The guidance explains what the PSED means for schools, how it helps schools address issues and improve teaching and learning.

The guidance can be accessed via the Commission's website.

Reasonable adjustments for pupils with disabilities in schools

The Equality Act 2010 contains a duty on schools to make reasonable adjustments for disabled pupils and this duty now extends to the provision by a school of auxiliary aids and services. The purpose of the duty is “to avoid as far as possible by reasonable means, the disadvantage which a disabled pupil experiences because of their disability.” For more information and technical guidance for schools and educational authorities on auxiliary aids please go to the Equality and Human Rights website.

New consultation guidance

We have just published our updated Consultation guidance, which incorporates the new consultation principles published by the Cabinet Office. The guidance is an essential tool for lawful and meaningful public consultation providing advice on, amongst many others, who to consult, methods of consulting, questions to ask and the use of SurveyMonkey.

The new guidance can be found on our PCC pages.