Capability Scotland and Shepherd and Wedderburn Welcome New Equality Act
October, 2010 - Edinburgh, Scotland
The new Equality Act comes into force today (Friday 1 October 2010) and leading UK law firm Shepherd and Wedderburn and Capability Scotland are working in partnership to provide information to business about how this legislation will affect them.
This historic piece of legislation combines existing anti discriminatory legislation into a single Act and contains a range of new rights, powers and obligations to help create a more equal society.
Crucially, it clarifies and extends protection from discrimination for disabled people so that a broader range of treatment and reasons for the treatment will constitute disability discrimination. This means that it will be easier for disabled people to challenge unfair treatment.
Capability particularly welcomes the ban on pre-employment health checks included in the Act and the outlawing of unnecessary stipulations regarding health in person specifications.
Commenting on the Equality Act, Capability’s Director of External Affairs, Richard Hamer said: “As a major ally of disabled people, Capability Scotland is delighted to see the Equality Act come into force.
“The Act strengthens the rights of disabled people without reinventing the wheel, for example by retaining the right to reasonable adjustments first introduced by the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.
“A clear and enforceable law to tackle discrimination is fundamental to equality and social justice and critical to addressing the inequalities that limit disabled people’s contribution to our society.
Neil Maclean, Head of Employment at Shepherd and Wedderburn said: "The Equality Act is intended to consolidate and simplify 40 years of anti-discrimination legislation. It certainly goes some way to doing so. As with any new piece of legislation there are intricacies and changes which are potentially significant and will certainly need careful handling and it may take some time for us to fully understand all its implications."
Shepherd and Wedderburn and Capability Scotland will host a seminar on the new Equality Act on 18 November to highlight how the legislation will affect businesses.
For more information about the seminar please contact Gayle Bowes at Shepherd and Wedderburn on 44 (0)131 473 5497 or [email protected].
