EQUALising the Workplace

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EQUALising the Workplace Diversity in Action

• Exchange Event
• 13 June 2007
• Waterfront Hall, Belfast

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• Ms Aideen McGinley
• Permanent Secretary
• Department for Employment and Learning

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• Mr Walter Faber
• Head of Unit Community Initiatives European
  Globalization Fund
• DG Employment, Social Affairs Equal
  Opportunities, European Commission

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• Ms Monica Wilson, OBE
• President, European Union of Supported Employment
• Chief Executive, Disability Action

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Equality Legislation in Northern Ireland
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Equality Legislation (1)

• Equal Pay Act (NI) 1970 (as amended)
• Sex Discrimination (NI) Order 1976 (as amended)
• Sex Discrimination (Gender Reassignment)
  Regulations 1999
• Race Relations (NI) Order 1997 (amended 2003)
• Fair Employment Treatment (NI) Order 1998
  (amended 2003 original legislation introduced
  1976)
• Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (as amended)
• Equality (Disability, etc) (NI) Order 2000
• DDA (Amendment) Regulations (NI) 2004

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Equality Legislation (2)

• Special Educational Needs and Disability
  (Northern Ireland) Order 2005 (amended 2006)
• Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation)
  Regulations (NI) 2003
• Northern Ireland Act 1998 - statutory duties
• Employment Equality (Age) Regulations (NI) 2006
  (into force 1 Oct 06)
• Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations
  (NI) 2006 (into force 1 Jan 07)
• Disability Discrimination (NI) Order 2006

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What the law says -Employment

• Unlawful for employers to discriminate in
• Recruitment Selection
• Terms Conditions of Service
• Promotion Transfer
• Redundancy

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What the law says -Goods, Facilities or Services
Unlawful for persons concerned with the provision
of goods, facilities or services to the public
or a section of the public to discriminate by

• Refusing or deliberately omitting to provide
• Refusing of deliberately omitting to provide same
  quality, in same manner and
• on same terms

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Goods, Facilities or Services

• Access to and use of any place which members of
  the
• public or a section of the public are
  permitted to enter
• Accommodation in hotel, boarding house or other
  
• Banking, insurance, grants, loans, credit,
  finance
• Educational facilities
• Facilities for entertainment, recreation or
  refreshment
• Facilities for transport or travel
• Services of any profession, trade, local
  government or other public
• authority

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What the law says - Education
Unlawful to discriminate against a person
Admission Terms on which admission offered
Refusing / deliberately omitting to accept
an application for admission
Benefits, facilities or services Refusing or
deliberately omitting to afford access to
Exclusion
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Which Hat Are You Wearing?
Service User
Employee
Pupil / Student
Service Provider
Employer
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Types of Discrimination

• Direct Discrimination
• Indirect Discrimination
• Victimisation
• Harassment

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Direct Discrimination

• Less favourable treatment on grounds of a
  persons
• Religious belief/political opinion
• Sex (or marital/civil partner status employment
  only)
• Pregnancy
• Sexual orientation
• Race
• Disability (including failure to make reasonable
  adjustment)
• Age (employment only - from 1 October 2006)
• Pregnancy explicitly covered by changes to the
• SDO in Oct 2005

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Indirect Discrimination

• Applying a provision, criterion or practice
  which, while applied equally, disadvantages a
  person on a particular ground and which cannot be
  justified
• No concept of indirect discrimination in
  Disability legislation

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Indirect Discrimination Employment examples

• Physical requirement - height, age
• Language requirements
• Requirement to work full-time
• Qualifications, experience
• Mobility/flexibility
• Particular religious belief

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Victimisation

• Less favourable treatment due to
• Asserting rights under equality legislation
• Helping someone else to assert rights
• Alleging that someone has contravened equality
  legislation

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Harassment
Unwanted conduct on grounds of race, religious
belief or political opinion, disability, sex,
sexual orientation or age which has the purpose
or effect of violating a persons dignity or
creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading,
humiliating or offensive environment.
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Statutory Duties(Northern Ireland Act 1998)

• Section 75 (1)
• A public authority in carrying out its
  functions in relation to NI shall have due regard
  to the need to promote equality of opportunity
• between
• persons of different religious belief, political
  opinion, racial group, age, marital status or
  sexual orientation
• men and women generally
• persons with disability and without
• persons with dependants and without

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Section 75 N Ireland Act

• A public authority is also required to have
  regard to the desirability of promoting good
  relations between persons of different religious
  belief, political opinion or racial group.

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Section 75 putting equality at the heart of
public policy making

• Designated bodies include Local councils,
  Government departments and bodies they fund,
  Education Library Boards, Further Education
  Colleges, Health Boards Trusts
• Equality Schemes commitment, planning,
• equality impact assessment of policies
• Consultation
• Mitigation of adverse impact
• Deal with complaints

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Fair Employment Treatment (NI) Order 1998
(amended Dec 03)

• Unlawful to discriminate on grounds of religious
• belief or political opinion in
• Employment (original legislation 1976)
• provision of goods, facilities, services
• sale and letting of land or premises
• further and higher education
• partnerships and barristers

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Fair EmploymentDuties on employers

• Register - 11 or more full time employees
• Monitor - employees applicants
• Review - every 3 years (composition of workforce,
  recruitment, training promotion practices) to
  ensure fair participation
• Affirmative action (if required)
• Set goals and timetables

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Race Relations (NI) Order 1997amended July 2003
to implement EU Race Directive

• Unlawful to discriminate on
• racial grounds
• Covers colour, race, nationality (inc
  citizenship), and ethnic or national origins
• Irish travellers specified as racial group
• Applies to employment, provision of goods,
  facilities and services, education, training,
  housing and advertising
• Some 2003 amendments do NOT apply to colour
  and nationality

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Sex Discrimination (NI) Order 1976 (amended
1988, 2001, 2004, 2005)

• Discrimination unlawful on the basis of a
  persons sex(or marital statusemployment)
• Covers Employment Goods, Facilities and
  Services Education Training Housing
• Includes Advertising Pregnancy and maternity
  rights Sexual harassment
• Gender reassignment also protected in employment
  and vocational training (since 1999)

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Equal Pay Act (NI) 1970 (amended 1984 2004)

• Employers are required to give equal
  treatment in pay and conditions of employment to
  men and women where they are doing
• The same or broadly similar work
• Doing jobs which have been rated equivalent under
  a job evaluation scheme
• Doing work of equal value

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Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation)
Regulations (NI) 2003

• Unlawful to discriminate on grounds of sexual
  orientation (lesbian, gay, bi-sexual or
  heterosexual)
• Applies only to Employment and Vocational
  training (including further and higher education)
  - separate law for goods, facilities and
  services
• Genuine Occupational Requirements may apply in
  limited circumstances
• Note Civil Partnership Act 2004 required
  amendments
• to this law

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Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations
(NI) 2006

• Unlawful to discriminate on grounds of sexual
  orientation in the provision of goods,
  facilities, services, premises, education
  public functions
• Exemption for religious organisations where the
  sole purpose is to practice or advance a religion
  or belief

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Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (amended 1
Oct 2004)

• The Act gives disabled people rights in relation
  to
• Employment
• Access to goods, facilities and services
• Buying or renting land or property
• Further amendments in 2006 - protection for
  conditions, eg, cancer, HIV, MS from diagnosis
  definition of disability extension to transport,
  etc

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Disability Discrimination (NI) Order 2006

• Includes
• - new duties on public authorities district
  councils
• (Jan 07)
• - transport vehicles accessibility
• - discriminatory advertisements
• - private clubs
• - premises
• - meaning of disability

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Disability - Definition

• A physical or mental impairment which has a
  substantial and long term, adverse effect on a
  persons ability to carry out day to day
  activities
• impairment physical or mental condition
• substantial more than minor
• long term lasting for at least 12 months or
  rest of ones life

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Definition day to day activities

• mobility
• speech, hearing or eyesight
• manual dexterity
• physical coordination
• ability to lift/move objects
• memory or ability to concentrate or learn
• perception of risk
• continence

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DDA Access requirements - goods, facilities and
services

• Applies to all providers, regardless of size and
  regardless whether services are paid for
• Requires providers to consider reasonable
  adjustments
• From 1 October 2004, all service providers have
  responsibilities to ensure access to goods,
  facilities and services for disabled
  customers/service users

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DDA Reasonable Adjustments in employment

• An employer or service provider may
• be held to discriminate against a
• disabled job applicant, employee, or
• service user if they fail to make a
• reasonable adjustment.
• Examples of adjustments
• removing physical access barriers
• changing working conditions/arrangements,
• providing additional or modified equipment where
  these help
• providing alternative duties, transfer,
• training or mentoring

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Reasonable adjustments- goods, facilities and
services

• Changes to policies, practices or procedures to
  ensure access
• Provision of auxiliary aids or services where
  these help access
• Make changes to physical features of premises to
  overcome barriers to access

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Protection against disability discrimination in
education
Special Educational Needs and Disability
(Northern Ireland) Order 2005 (as amended)

• Applies to schools, Education Library
• Boards, institutions of further and higher
• education, and qualifications bodies

• Extends protection from disability
• discrimination to people being educated in
  Northern Ireland
• Strengthens the rights of children with special
  educational needs to be educated in mainstream
  education

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SENDO Duties on responsible bodies

• Not to treat disabled pupils/students and
  prospective pupils/students (and former students
  of FHE in some circumstances) less favourably
  for a reason related to their disability (or on
  grounds of their disability in FHE).
• To make reasonable adjustments to all policies,
  procedures and practices to ensure that a
  disabled pupil/student is not placed at a
  substantial disadvantage.
• To work towards making school life and the
  education experience more accessible to disabled
  pupils/students and prospective pupils/students.

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Employment Equality (Age) Regulations (NI) 2006

• Unlawful to discriminate on grounds of age in
  employment and vocational training (including
  further higher education)
• Applies to all ages and all sizes of
  employer/training provider
• Exceptions/exemptions apply
• Does not apply to provision of
• goods, facilities and services

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Discrimination Complaints

• Office of the Industrial Tribunals and the Fair
  Employment Tribunal (OITFET) for
  employment-related complaints under Sex,
  Religious Belief Political Opinion, Race,
  Disability and Sexual Orientation and Age
  legislation
• County Court for complaints relating to Goods,
  Facilities and Services under the various
  legislation and further higher education
• Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal
  for complaints relating to
• disability discrimination in schools

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Equality Legislation The Future

• Further changes to disability law definition
  extension to cover certain conditions from
  diagnosis extension to transport sector
• Single Equality Legislation for Northern Ireland
  consultation closed 12 Nov 2004
• Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland
• Developments in Britain CEHR -
• political environment in NI

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Thanks

• Participants
• NI Support Structure-Proteus
• European Unit of DEL
• EUSE formally recognises financial
• and other support we have had from EQUAL

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• Ms Anna Lo, MBE
• Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA)
• Northern Ireland Assembly

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EQUALising the Workplace Diversity in Action

• Exchange Event
• 13 June 2007
• Waterfront Hall, Belfast