Prohibition on dual discrimination will not come into force in April 2011

The Government Equalities Office has confirmed that the dual discrimination provisions in the Equality Act 2010 will not be commenced in April 2011. Guidance will be published 12 weeks before implementation of the provisions. 

Section 14 of the Equality Act 2010 prohibits direct discrimination on the basis of a combination of no more than two of the following protected characteristics: age; disability; gender reassignment; race; religion or belief; sex; and sexual orientation. The prohibition on dual discrimination does not extend to the protected characteristics of pregnancy and maternity, and marriage and civil partnership. An employee who wishes to bring a dual discrimination claim must show that the less favourable treatment was because of a combination of no more than two relevant protected characteristics. 

An employee does not need to show that he or she would have been successful with a separate claim of direct discrimination based on each of the protected characteristics on which the dual discrimination claim is based. The employee is entitled to bring a separate claim on the basis of one or both of the protected characteristics in the dual discrimination claim. 

The Government is still considering how to approach the implementation of the dual discrimination provisions in the Equality Act 2010. However, it has confirmed that guidance on the provisions will be available for a 12-week period prior to implementation. The main provisions of the Equality Act 2010 came into force in October 2010 and the Government has confirmed that the provisions on positive action in recruitment and promotion and the public sector equality duty will come into force on 6 April 2011. 

Also

The XpertHR forthcoming law service provides guidance, commentary, resources and links on impending changes to employment law. 

Equality Act 2010: statutory codes of practice to come into force The Equality Act 2010 statutory codes of practice produced by the Equality and Human Rights Commission are expected to come into force at the end of February 2011. 

Government makes Equality Act commencement order on positive action The Government has made an order under the Equality Act 2010 that implements the provisions on positive action on 6 April 2011. 

Equality Act 2010: Guidance on the public sector duty and positive action The Government Equalities Office has published draft Regulations on the public sector equality duty and guidance on the positive action provisions, which are expected to be introduced on 6 April 2011. The Equality and Human Rights Commission has published guidance on the public sector equality duty. 

Equality Act 2010: resources on XpertHR We provide a round-up of the new and updated resources from XpertHR on the Equality Act 2010. This includes major changes to the equal opportunities sections of our employment law manual and model policies and documents.