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The Main Changes Of The Equality Act 2010

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The main change of legislation that has recently come into force is the equality act 2010, it became law in October 2010 and it replaced previous legislation1;
• Equal Pay Act 1970
• Sex Discrimination Act 1975
• Race Relations Act 1976
• Disability Discrimination Act 1995
• Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003 • the Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003 • the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006
• Equality Act 2006, Part 2
• Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007

The Equality act 2010 provides a further effective legal framework that as an employer we must adhere to this is to prevent discrimination according to ACAS. The act has brought together consistency in making the work place a fair environment. There are a lot of crucial changes and new principles that it introduces, firstly it introduces protected “characteristics” ;

• age
• disability
• gender reassignment
• race
• religion OR belief
• sex
• sexual orientation
• marriage or civil partnership
• pregnancy or maternity

Extended changes include new principles like associative discrimination, this is where someone is discriminated against because they associate with someone with a protected characteristic. Indirect discrimination and third party harassment has been introduced where if an employer is liable for other people’s action even if it is not them doing it. If an Affinity employee discriminated against either a service user or a another staff member

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