Employment Legislation 

 Sex Legislation 

March 2005 - The Government has proposed making changes to the sex discrimination legislation (Sex Discrimination Act 1075 and Equal Pay Act 1970) in the UK to make it consistent with European law. The draft regulations will come into effect on 1 October 2005. The changes include:

• Same wording of indirect discrimination as other existing Equality legislation (race, sexual orientation and religion regulations).
• Same definition of harassment on the grounds of sex as the Eu's Race and Employment Directives.
• Inserting definitions of harassment on the grounds of sex, harassment on grounds of gender reassignment, and sexual harassment into the Sex Discrimination Act (SDA).

Pregnancy and maternity, paternity and adoption leave

• Adding explicit reference to discrimination on grounds of pregnancy and maternity leave to the SDA.
• Removing small firms exemption from maternity regulations and will occur by April 2007.

Vocational training

• Making clear that it is unlawful for providers of vocational training to subject individuals to harassment or sexual harassment.

• Unlawful to discriminate on grounds of sex in the provision of death and retirements benefits to their partners and members respectively.

• Equal pay act will apply to office holders (eg those appointed by Central Government).

• The SDA and EPA applies to employees for British organisations, outside GB in relation to recruitment, T&C's, pay, promotion, transfers and dismissals.

The Sex Discrimination Act 1975 applies to both males and females and makes it unlawful to discriminate in employment and vocational training, education, the provision and sale of goods, facilities and services and housing. It is also unlawful to discriminate against someone of the grounds of being married.

There is two kind of unlawful sex discrimination: direct and indirect.

• Direct discrimination is where a person is treated less favourably than a person of the opposite sex on the grounds of his or her sex. Types of direct sex discrimination include sexual harassment and treating a woman adversely because she is pregnant.
• Indirect discrimination can occur when a condition or requirement is applied to both sexes but it adversely affects a considerably larger proportion of one sex than the other.

The Equal Pay Act 1970 aims to eliminate discrimination between and men in the same employment in pay and other terms and conditions of their contracts of employment. It makes it unlawful to offer different pay and conditions where and men are doing the same or like work or rates as equivalent in the same employment.