Employers and their advisers are having to stay on their toes to keep up with rapidly expanding legislation prohibiting discrimination in the workplace and beyond. To date, the law relating to discrimination has focused on three areas – sex, race and disability. In addition to taking on board amendments to the legislation prohibiting sex and race discrimination that were made in July this year, employers will soon have to get to grips with new legislation prohibiting discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief, age and sexual orientation. Still to come are further amendments to existing disability and sex discrimination legislation.
The origin of these changes is an amendment to the European Commission (EC) Treaty, made on 2 October, 1997, introducing a new Article 13, empowering the Council to take appropriate action to combat discrimination “based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation”. As a result, two Directives were published by the Council. The Race Directive (2000/43/EC) enacts the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of race or ethnic origin. Legislation pursuant to this Directive came into effect on 19 July, 2003 under the Race Relations Act 1976 (Amendment) Regulations 2003.
