ACS

Harriet Harman, Minister for Women and Equality, today published the Equality Bill which aims to make Britain stronger, fairer and more equal.

The Equality Bill sets out groundbreaking new laws which will help narrow the gap between rich and poor; require business to report on gender pay; outlaw age discrimination; and will significantly strengthen Britain's anti-discrimination legislation.

The Bill will simplify the law which, over the last four decades, has become complex and difficult to navigate. Nine major pieces of legislation and around 100 other measures will be replaced by a single Act written in plain English to make it easier for individuals and employers to understand their legal rights and obligations.

Despite considerable progress since 1997, inequality and discrimination still exist which is why the law needs to be strengthened.

• women are paid on average 23 per cent less per hour than men;
• disabled people are twice as likely to be out of work;
• people from ethnic minority backgrounds are nearly a fifth less likely to find work; and
• one in five older people are refused quotes for motor or travel insurance, or car hire.

The Equality Bill is expected to come in to force from autumn 2010.

Harriet Harman said: "We will shine the spotlight in every workplace on the hidden pay discrimination against women.

The Equality Bill will strengthen our equality law by:

• Introducing a new public sector duty to consider reducing socio-economic inequalities;
• Putting a new Equality Duty on public bodies;
• Using public procurement to improve equality;
• Banning age discrimination outside the workplace;
• Introducing gender pay reports;
• Extending the scope to use positive action;
• Strengthening the powers of employment tribunals;
• Protecting carers from discrimination;
• Offering new mothers stronger protection when breastfeeding;
• Banning discrimination in private clubs; and
• Strengthening protection from discrimination for disabled people.

Important points within the report for retailers are:

Gender pay reports

* Nearly a quarter of employers ban their staff talking about their wages, with women more likely to be in the dark about colleagues' pay than men. The Equality Bill will ban 'secrecy clauses' so that work colleagues can compare wages if they want, and challenge employers who unlawfully pay them less.

Banning age discrimination

* The Equality Bill will ban age discrimination against people aged 18 and over outside of the workplace, where goods are bought, and services provided, such as in shops, hospitals, and when buying financial products (it is already banned in the workplace).

* Specifics will be consulted on this summer. The Government will bring the new law into force more quickly in sectors which are ready to comply, from 2012.

Positive action

* The Equality Bill will allow employers to choose to take positive action to appoint a person from an under-represented group, provided candidates are equally suitable, and so balance things out if they want to.

Strengthening employment tribunals

* The Equality Bill will allow tribunals to make wider recommendations to firms, which can benefit everybody in the workforce and help prevent similar types of discrimination happening again.

Click here to read more details of the Equality Bill.