EQUALITY AND DISCRIMINATION

Equality and Discrimination Law



Equality and Discrimination Law

Equality A Symmetric Concept

Equality is a term that covers different multidisciplinary fields beyond gender, as include sexual orientation, race or ethnicity, religious beliefs, disability and age, and that refers to the right of all persons making up the society to have the same accessibility to social welfare (Squires 2006, p. 470). The characteristics surrounding this fundamental right are constantly evolving, as society, brewing up new terminology to explain all aspects, evolving legislation and creating new measurement and control agencies.

Formal equality is premised on the notion that 'likes should be treated alike'. If two persons are in a comparable situation, then they should be treated in the same way, with no regard to irrelevant characteristics, such as religion or sexual orientation. In the employment context, this means that it constitutes discrimination to take into account such characteristics when making decisions on whom to hire, promote, or dismiss. Decisions should be fair and rational, based on merit (Squires 2006, p. 470). The simplicity of this concept makes it attractive and it tends to coincide with popular ideas of what amounts to unfair discrimination. Nevertheless, there are certain weaknesses with the formal equality concept, two of which are highlighted below.

Although 'equality' and 'discrimination' are terms frequently invoked in public and political discourse, there is little consensus on what they mean. For some, equality is about people being treated in the same way, yet for others equality means the recognition of difference. Legislation has tended to focus on the prohibition of specific acts of discrimination. However, in recent years, public authorities have been placed under legal duties to promote 'equality'. This conveys the idea that equality is the ultimate objective, whereas actions or behavior which obstructs the achievement of equality constitute discrimination. The difficulty lies in pinning down the contours of this end goal of equality; how would we know when and if it had been achieved? Academic literature has conventionally distinguished between two principal concepts of equality: formal equality and substantive equality.

Discrimination in the Equality Act 2010

The equality act 2010 replaces the previous anti-discrimination laws, with a single act. Simplify the law, eliminating inconsistencies and making it easier for people to understand and comply with it. It also strengthens the law in an important way to help address discrimination and inequality (Hellman 2008, p. 32). The same team have put a great amount of resources over the past 2 years to ensure the trust is in a good position to not only meet the existing legislation, to have systems, processes and governance in place to meet and exceed the requirements of the Equality Act 2010.

The Equality Duty support good management practices. It encourages the confidence to engage with different communities that are affected by their activities so that policies and services are appropriate and accessible to all and meet the needs of different people. To understand the effect of their activities on different groups, and as including trust services to support and open new ...