The Equality Act 2010: a Peninsula masterclass

PC doesn't just mean Politically Correct

"PCs" or "protected characteristics" include age, disability, gender reassignment, religion or belief, race, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership and pregnancy and maternity; these aspects are defended by the Equality Act 2010 as they were by previous discrimination laws. Meanwhile, particular aspects of discrimination law have been enhanced, changed or extended to protect new groups by the Equality Act 2010.

Although certain rights and responsibilities, listed below, have been added to, changed, or are appearing for the first time, employers will be glad to discover most of the basic principles of discrimination legislation are largely unaffected.

Changes in employment law

Changes to the law include the condition that employees will be able to complain of harassment even when it is not aimed at them, but if they are able to demonstrate that it creates an environment offensive to them.

Extensions to legislation include associative discrimination, or direct discrimination against an employee or colleague due to their association with another person possessing a protected characteristic. This will cover age, gender reassignment, disability and sex as well as religion and belief, race and sexual orientation.

Discrimination arising from disability is a condition newly introduced to the law, which forbids unfavourable treatment of disabled workers as a consequence of something arising from their disability.

Peninsula can help

The purpose of the Equality Act 2010 is to create legislative framework to protect the rights of all employees and simplify existing legislation. With this in mind Peninsula strongly advises businesses and employers to review and implement their policies as soon as possible. Dealing with any issues the Act may raise in advance could help avoid a costly employment tribunal" in the future.

If you need further advice on the Equality Act 2010 or any other employment law issue, please contact Peninsula. We are a leading UK-based provider of health and safety and employment law services. Established since 1983, we have over 25,000 businesses who have now integrated Peninsula to work with their HR and Health and Safety departments. With head offices in Manchester, Peninsula employs 900 people across the UK and Ireland.

If you are a member of the media and need any further assistance, would like to discuss case studies for a particular feature, or be added to our media contact list, feel free to contact Sammual-James McLoughlin, Head of Media, Press and Public Relations at Peninsula Business Services.