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. 

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.

Equal marriage for same-sex couples

The Government has demonstrated its commitment to permitting same-sex couples to marry by publishing the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill. The Bill will give same-sex couples the right to marry in civil ceremonies whilst permitting religious organisations to opt out, if they so wish, from conducting marriage ceremonies for same-sex couples. To read the Bill, please visit the Parliament 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.

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.

Third party harassment provisions in the Equality Act 2010 to be repealed

Currently, employers are liable for harassment of their employees by third parties such as clients or customers. Despite the wide discontent with the proposals to repeal these legal provisions expressed via public consultation, the Government has decided to implement those them. For details of consultation and the government’s response, go the Home Office website.

 

The European Court of Human Rights judgement offers more protection for disabled people from hate crime

The recent ruling of the European Court of Human Rights in a case of long-term disability related harassment of a young Serbian man offers some hope of additional recourse to justice for disabled people who are subjected to hate crime.

In the case of  Đorđević v Croatia – 41526/10 – HEJUD [2012] ECHR 1640  the court decided that Croatian state failed to stop disability harassment that amounted to degrading treatment. The disabled person who suffered persistent physical and mental harassment because of his disability and race was let down by a number of public authorities who provided inadequate response to prevent the continued physical violence and mental tormenting.

For more information on the case and commentary, please go the Government Lawyer 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.