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 (EHRC) are expected to come into force at the end of February 2011. 

The EHRC has produced three statutory codes of practice, covering employment, equal pay and services, public functions and associations. The draft codes were laid before Parliament on 12 October 2010, following a period of consultation. The commencement order that will bring the codes into force will be laid before Parliament in the week commencing 31 January 2011. According to the EHRC website, the codes are expected to come into force around 28 February 2011. It is not expected that there will be any further amendments to the codes. 

The purpose of the codes is to assist with the interpretation of the provisions of the Equality Act 2010 and to help employers, and others with responsibility for applying the Act, to understand its technical detail. The codes can be used in evidence in legal proceedings brought under the Act and tribunals and courts must take into account any part of the codes that appear relevant to any questions arising in legal proceedings. 

Also

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 via the Equality Act 2010 on 6 April 2011. The Equality and Human Rights Commission has published guidance on the public sector equality duty. 

Are all the provisions in the Equality Act 2010 in force from October 2010? The XpertHR FAQs section provides the answer to this and other employers' questions on the Equality Act 2010. 

Equality Act 2010: resources on XpertHR We provide a round-up of the new and updated resources from XpertHR on the Equality Act 2010, the main provisions of which come into force on 1 October 2010.