There is a wide range of legislation regarding equal opportunities, equality and diversity. Information on some of the major pieces is given below.
Age Discrimination
In the UK the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006, the last of the Regulations made as a result of the European Employment Directive 2000/78/EC, came into effect on 1 October 2006. The Directive requires the outlawing of discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation in the areas of employment and vocational training.
The Regulations impact on the Scottish Government and its agencies in their roles as bodies responsible for the appointment of office holders, for both statutory and non statutory schemes where age related criteria are involved within the scope of the Regulations, and as employers and employees. The Age Regulations prohibits direct and indirect age discrimination, harassment and victimisation.
The spirit of the legislation is very much that age should not be a relevant consideration in making decisions about any aspect of employment or training. This is entirely in line with the Government's commitment to equality, and so our approach to ensuring that we are compliant with the Regulations should reflect that policy.
Any relevant age restriction is required to be either removed or objectively justified, with the exception of the default retirement age of 65 for employees. The continuing need for a default age for employees will be reviewed in 2011, and it will be removed if it is not required.
The Disability Discrimination Acts (DDA) 1995 and 2005
The 1995 Act protects disabled people in the areas of employment and training; access to goods, facilities and services; and the management, buying or renting of land or property. It is unlawful for employers and service providers to treat disabled people less favourably than other people for a reason related to their disability. Reasonable adjustments for disabled people must be made, such as providing extra help or making changes to the way they provide their services. This also means that reasonable adjustments have to be made to the physical features of premises to overcome physical barriers to access.
The 2005 Act introduces a new positive duty on the public sector to promote equality of opportunity for disabled people which will come into force on 1 December 2006. The Government must promote equality of opportunity for disabled people and take a proactive approach to equality of opportunity for disabled people.
The Government will be required to assess its functions and policies for their relevance against the duty to promote disability equality at least once every three years. We are legally required to:
- assess and consult on the likely impact of our proposed policies on the promotion of disability equality;
- monitor our policies for any adverse impact on the promotion of disability equality and report annually;
- publish the results of all our assessments, consultation and monitoring; and
- ensure that public access to information and service we provide.
The Equality Unit are presently working with Disability Organisations to finalise this process.
Race Relations Act 1976 and 2000 Amendment Act
Under this legislation it is unlawful to discriminate against anyone on grounds of race, colour, nationality (including citizenship), or ethnic or national origin. The original 1976 Act applied only to the fields of employment and training, education, housing, and the provision of goods, facilities and services. The 2000 Act extended this to all public functions, with a few common sense exceptions.
Importantly, the 2000 Act also places a general statutory duty on listed public authorities, including the Scottish Government and its agencies, to promote race equality. This means that we must have 'due regard', when carrying out our functions to:
- eliminate unlawful racial discrimination;
- promote equality of opportunity; and
- promote good relations between people of different racial groups.
Like other key public bodies, the Scottish Government had to publish a Race Equality Scheme setting out how it would comply with the duty. Among other things, the Scottish Government must:
- assess its functions and policies for their relevance to the duty to promote race equality at least once every three years.
- assess and consult on the likely impact of our proposed policies on the promotion of race equality;
- monitor our policies for any adverse impact on the promotion of race equality;
- publish the results of all assessments, consultation and monitoring;
- ensure public access to information and services we provide; and
- train staff in connection with these duties.
The Scottish Government published its first Race Equality Scheme in November 2002, with a new Scheme published in November 2005. The race equality impact assessment now forms an integral part of the policy making process and there is a race equality intranet site with guidance and tools to help directorates.
GB race legislation does not cover Gypsies/Travellers. However the Scottish Government recognises Gypsies/Travellers in Scotland as a distinct group with specific requirements who may require protection from discrimination and abuse. They should therefore be treated as a racial or ethnic group for the purposes of impact assessment.
The Equality Act 2006
The Equality Act 2006 received Royal Assent on 17th February 2006. Its main purposes are:
- To establish the Commission for Equality and Human Rights (CEHR) and define its purpose and functions. The CEHR replaced the former three equality commissions (Equal Opportunities Commission, Disability Rights Commission and Commission for Racial Equality) in October 2007 and also cover the three equality strands of sexual orientation, age and religion and belief which were previously not covered by a commission.
- To make unlawful (subject to exemptions set out in the Bill) discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief in the provision of goods, facilities and services, the disposal and management of premises, education, and the exercise of public functions. These provisions took effect in April 2007.
- To provide the Secretary of State with order making powers to prohibit discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation in the provision of goods, facilities and services and the exercise of public functions. The Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007 came into force on 30 April 2007.
- To create a duty on public authorities to promote equality of opportunity between women and men, and to prohibit sex discrimination in the exercise of public functions (the Gender Duty). Please see below for further information.
Gender Duty
The Gender Duty is similar to the existing duty to promote race equality (through the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000) and the duty on disability included in the Disability Discrimination Act 2005. These duties place clear responsibility on public authorities, such as the Scottish Government, to take action themselves, rather than relying on individuals challenging discrimination reactively.
Like the Race and Disability duties, the Gender Duty has a 'general duty' which applies to all public authorities and specific duties which assist specified public authorities (i.e. the Scottish Government) to comply with the general duty. The specific duties are intended to set out a clear, specific framework that will enable the overall goals of the Duty to be delivered. They have been drawn up taking into account the experience gained from the implementation of the race duty and the plans to implement the disability duty.
The specific duties require those public bodies listed in the regulations to:
1. Prepare and publish a Gender Equality Scheme and publication of annual reports showing progress towards achieving objectives outlined in the Scheme.
2. Prepare and publish an equal pay statement (for listed authorities with 150 or more full time staff)
3. Conduct gender impact assessments
In addition, Scottish Ministers are required to set out priorities they have identified for the advancement of equality of opportunity between men and women and provide an overview of progress.
Other Equality Legislation
There are other areas of legislation covering equality issues such as equal pay, religion, sexual orientation and transgendered people.