Government proposals for equal treatment

Proposals to implement the EC Equal Treatment Framework Directive have been published by the DTI. The Directive requires the introduction of legislation to prohibit discrimination on the grounds of age, religion or belief, and sexual orientation.  The government intends to introduce legislation concerning sexual orientation and religion by early 2003, age discrimination legislation is timetabled to follow in 2006.  

In preparation, an "Age Positive" website has been launched to provide practical help for employers.  A novel feature of the site is a 'Games' section, which allows participants to assess whether they are guilty of age stereotyping!  This provides a useful resource for employers when dealing with potential age discrimination.

Current race and disability discrimination legislation will be amended to remove the current 15 employee 'small employer' exemption from October 2004.  Also proposed is a single 'Equality Commission' replacing the Equal Opportunities Commission, the Commission for Racial Equality and the Disability Rights Commission.  

Employers are urged to familiarise themselves with the proposals and review their existing policies to ensure that they will comply when the discrimination legislation is amended. The consultation period finishes at the end of March 2002.
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