There are various of pieces of legislation in place to
protect individuals from issues relating to equality, diversity, discrimination
and rights.

From 1 October 2010, the Equality Act 2010 came into effect.
The Equality Act legally protects people from discrimination in the workplace
and in wider society. It ensures consistency in what workplaces need to do to
comply with the law and make working environments fair.

Flip the cards to see what the main purposes of the Equality
Act are to provide…

A modern, single legal framework with clear, streamlined law
to tackle disadvantage and discrimination more effectively.

A legal framework to protect the rights of individuals and
promote equal opportunity for everyone.

The Equality Act 2010 aims to protect individuals from
discrimination and strengthen particular aspects of equality law.

It provides legal rights for disabled people in the areas
of:

Employment

 

Functions of public organisations

Buying and renting land or property Services and facilities including larger private clubs and
land based transport services

Education Access to goods

The Equality Act 2010 combines numerous Acts including
the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (Amended 2005) (DDA); however, the
Disability Equality Duty in the DDA continues to apply.

The Equality Act 2010 covers the same groups that were
protected by existing equality legislation.

The Equality Act also extends some protections to groups
not previously covered…

For example: carers or parents of a disabled person. 

It provides rights for people not to be directly
discriminated against or harassed because they have an association with a
disabled person. In addition, people must not be directly discriminated against
or harassed because they are wrongly perceived to be disabled.

Prior to the Equality Act 2010, the following Acts were
individually used although they are now incorporated into the Equality Act.
These are:

• Equal
  Pay Act 1970


• Sex
  Discrimination Act 1975 and amendments in 1982 and 1999


• Race
  Relations Act 1976 and amendments in 2000 and 2003


• Disability
  Discrimination Act 1995

These are some other useful pieces of legislation relating
to the Equality Act:

• Rehabilitation
  of Offenders Act 1974


• Human
  Rights Act 1998


• Employment
  Act 2002


• Employment
  Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003


• Employment
  Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003


• Employment
  Equality (Age) Regulations 2006


• Gender
  Recognition Act 2004


• Civil
  Partnership Act 2004


• Disability
  Equality Duty 2006


• Work
  and Families Act 2006


• The
  Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006


• The
  Gender Equality Duty 2007