New Gender Equality Duties Introduced
Issued on behalf of Darwin Gray
The biggest shake-up in sex discrimination legislation in 30 years has just been implemented with profound implications for Welsh businesses.
Gender Equality Duty puts the onus on businesses and organisations to tackle discrimination between the sexes and that, according to Darwin Gray discrimination law specialist Eleanor Williams, means a whole new strategy is needed for both public sector organisations and businesses with dealings in the public sector.
“By having this duty imposed on them, public authorities will have to demonstrate that they deal with the issue of gender equality effectively. So, instead of relying on individuals to bring claims of sex discrimination, public authorities must be proactive,” she said.
“Under the new Code of Practice, the GED places a statutory duty on all public authorities to have due regard to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination and harassment and promote equality of opportunity between men and women.
“The term ‘public authority’ not only refers to the public sector but also to private sector or voluntary bodies when they carry out public functions. And it is also worth noting that public bodies are still covered by the duty when services are contracted out.
“So, if a private organisation has a contract with a public authority, and that private organisation has an Equal Opportunities policy that falls short of the GED, it could be a legitimate reason for the public authority not to renew the contract.”
In addition to the general duty that was implemented on April 6, specific duties were introduced in England at the same time applying to very large, high-profile public authorities and it is expected that they will be introduced in Wales by the end of the year.
“These duties will be implemented in Wales when the Welsh Assembly Government has obtained a Transfer of Functions Order, but business should definitely not wait for them to be in place,” said Eleanor Williams.
They include:
- Preparing and publishing a gender equality scheme
- Considering the inclusion of objectives to address the causes of gender pay gaps
- Gathering and using gender equality information
- Consulting their stakeholders on what is relevant to gender equality
- Assessing the impact of their current and proposed policies and practices
- Implementing actions from their gender equality schemes
- Reporting on their scheme every year and reviewing it at least every three years
“The Equal Opportunities Commission is urging us all to implement specific duties now as a matter of best practice. It also makes sense to act now as businesses and organisations in Wales may have some clients – perhaps based in England – who are already fully compliant and others who may only be looking to do business with organisations that have implemented their duties,” she said.
“But while the implications of the GED are very significant there is no need for anyone to be alarmed. Whether it is the general or the specific duties that apply, the duty of a public authority is not absolute. They need only have ‘due regard’ to their duty.
“In practice, having ‘due regard’ means public authorities should prioritise addressing the most significant gender inequalities within their remit. This is likely to mean focusing on functions or policies that have most effect on the public, or on employees, or on a section of employees.”
“So, as long as they can show that they are addressing gender equality, they do not have to be fully compliant by 6 April.
“However, anyone that does fail in their duties may be the subject of a judicial review with potential damages against them.
“If, for example, you are a solicitors’ firm in private practice advising a public authority on a redundancy exercise and a disproportionate number of men are adversely affected, then your advice, if you have failed to take account of the GED, could result in judicial review proceedings for your client.”
It is hoped, by the Equal Opportunities Commission, that the benefits of the GED far outweigh the inconveniences it could be seen to impose. They anticipate that the advantages could include:
- Understanding what women and men really want from services
- Improving customer satisfaction
- Offering better quality and more cost effective services
Eleanor Williams added, “The GED will be a powerful instrument of change for Equality of Opportunity and both on its own and when added to the Race Equality Duty of 2001 and the Disability Equality Duty of 2006, that is what it is likely to be.”
