The Equality Bill was approved by the House of Commons last night and will enter the statute book this week.  

Most of the provisions in the Equality Act 2010, which will have important implications for recruiters, will come into force in October. (See the 31 March issue of Recruiter.)

However, the implementation of some provisions is being delayed until next year to allow organisations across the public and private sectors time to prepare.  

Rachel Dineley, employment partner and head of the diversity and discrimination unit at law firm Beachcroft, says:  “The new law has been a long time coming and the sooner we see the harmonisation of the law in a single Act, the better.

“While many principles will remain the same, the scope of discrimination law will be widened and reinterpreted in a number of key respects. We all know that the devil is in the detail; and employers will fall foul of the law, where the detail eludes them.

Many will have their work cut out, putting appropriate measures in place to reduce the risk of claims against them. For example, they will have to take a fresh look at how they cater for disabled job applicants and employees.”

The legislative timetable for implementing the Act is as follows:

October 2010: Main provisions, in prohibiting discrimination in the workplace, will replace existing discrimination legislation.

April 2011: The integrated public sector Equality Duty, the Socio-economic Duty and dual discrimination protection.

2012: The ban on age discrimination in provision of goods, facilities, services and public functions.

2013: Private and voluntary sector gender pay transparency regulations (if required).

Some of the provisions will be subject to implementation only through subsequent regulations, such as the equal pay audits, so these may well be changed or even discarded altogether if the government of the day so decides