THE SINGLE EQUALITIES BILL – ARE YOU READY?

Equality Quiz

The Single Equalities Bill – on the near horizon to become an Act – looks at workplace equality. Interestingly, the Commission for Equality will look at gender equality in particular targeting the construction and financial services industries… How prepared is your firm – and how much do you know..? Take the test to find out…

Questions

1. The first piece of legislation to tackle the issue of sex discrimination was the Sex Discrimination Act 1975. True or false?

2. If an individual has undergone gender re-assignment, legal recognition follows from the issue of a full gender recognition certificate by a gender recognition panel. True or false ?

3. The Sex Discrimination Act 1975 made it unlawful to discriminate because someone is married in employment or in advertisements of jobs. True or false?

4. The Equality Act 2006 established a single Commission for Equality and Human Rights that replaced three existing commissions. Which three were they (select all which apply)?

a.  The Equal Opportunities Commission

b.  The Commission for Religious Equality

c.  The Commission for Racial Equality

d.  The Gender and Sexual Orientation Commission

e.  The Disability Rights Commission

f.   The Commission for Racial and Cultural Equality.

5. Who is impacted by gender legislation?

Employees

Employers

Agency workers / contractors

Those applying for work

Those undertaking or applying for work-related training eg apprenticeships

You.

6. Direct discrimination has to be intentional. True or false?

7. The following extract forms part of the definition of which form of discrimination:

“occurs when an employer applies a provision or practice equally to both women and men that puts one sex at an unfair disadvantage”.

Is this direct or indirect discrimination?

8. If a company advertises for a role in “Women’s Weekly”, this is a form of discrimination. Is it direct or indirect discrimination?

9. If you are treated unfavourably by your line manager following your support for a colleague who has raised a sex discrimination complaint at an employment tribunal, is this an example of victimisation or harassment?

10. Who is responsible for encouraging change in unacceptable, discriminating behaviour in the workplace in the first instance?

You

Your manager

The Corporate responsibility team

Everyone.

Answers

1. It’s false. The first piece of legislation to tackle the issue of sex discrimination was The Equal Pay Act 1970, which tackled the sex discrimination issue of rates of pay and benefits for male and female employees.

 2. It’s true.

3. True again!

4. a, c and e: The Equal Opportunities Commission, the Commission for Racial Equality and the Disability Rights Commission.

5. It’s everyone.

6. It’s false. Direct discrimination does not have to be intentional.

7. It’s indirect discrimination.

8. It is indirect discrimination because it puts men at an unfair disadvantage as men are less likely than women to access the advertisement.

9. It’s victimisation. It is victimisation as victimisation can occur where you are treated unfavourably as a result of making a complaint or supporting another in a complaint of discrimination

10. It’s everyone.

How did you get on? If you scored fewer than eight out of ten, you wouldn’t have passed our computer-based training programme. If your organisation doesn’t understand this stuff it should…

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