The Equality Act 2010

Public Sector Equality Duty
The new Public Sector Equality Duty came into force on 5 April 2011.The Equality Duty replaces the three previous duties on race, disability and gender, bringing them together into a single duty, and extends it to cover age, sexual orientation, religion or belief, pregnancy and maternity, and gender reassignment.

Public bodies, including local authorities, will have to take account of the needs of people from different races, nationalities and ethnicitied when designing and delivering services.

Discrimination by Association and Perception
For the first time, people who face discrimination because they are perceived to have a protected characteristic, or because they associate with someone who has a protected characteristic, will be covered by law. For example, you cannot be refused entry to a pub or club because someone in your party is from a Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic background, and this discrimination is now unlawful.

Employment
Also now in force is the use of ‘positive action’ in recruitment and promotion. Employers are allowed to select candidates from underrepresented groups when two people applying for a job have the same qualifications. Positive action is one way of tacking discrimination in employment.