United Kingdom: Legislation concerning disabled people and employment

The following provides a round-up of the main UK legislation that affects disabled people and their employment.

Main law
The Equal Pay Act 1970
- unlawful to discriminate between men and women in their contracts of employment, including pay, holiday entitlement, pension etc

The Sex Discrimination Act 1975
- unlawful to discriminate on grounds of sex or marriage
- The SDA was amended in July 2003, widening the scope of its provisions to include discrimination on grounds of: pregnancy or maternity, sexual orientation, gender reassignment

The Race Relations Act 2000
- unlawful to discriminate on grounds of colour, race, nationality, ethnic or national origin
- must work to eliminate unlawful racial discrimination
- public authorities must aim to promote equality of opportunity and good relations between persons of different racial groups. (By extension, this applies to organisations contracted to deliver services on behalf of pubic authorities.)

Disability Discrimination Act 2005
- unlawful to discriminate on grounds of disability, for people with either both physical or mental health problems
- extends protection to cover people who have HIV, cancer and multiple sclerosis from the moment they are diagnosed
- ensures that discrimination law covers all the activities of the public sector
- requires public bodies to be pro-active rather than re-active (This applies to any organisation contracted to provide services on behalf of the public sector.)

The Human Rights Act 2000
- protects the human and civil rights of individuals and has a potential impact on working practices and policies

Related employment legislation

Protection from Harassment Act 1997
- creates a criminal offence of harassment

National Minimum Wage Act 1998
- provides that workers shall not be paid less than a designated minimum rate per hour

Part Time Working Regulations 2000
- requires employers to offer the same terms and conditions pro rata to part time workers as full time workers.

Employment Act 2002 (Flexible working regulations)
- makes changes to maternity, paternity and adoption rights in the Employment Rights Act 1996. From April 2003, the 2002 Act introduces a new right for employees to request flexible working.

The Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003
- prohibits discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation in the employment field

The Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003
- prohibits discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief in the employment field

Crucial distinction in current British law
- those who can trace their descent from a common geographical origin protected as an ethnic or racial group, and
- those who can only trace their beliefs from a common origin and as a religious group are not protected.

Employment Equality (Age)
Regulations ~ came into effect 1st Oct. 2006
- outlaws direct and indirect discrimination and harassment on grounds of age in employment and vocational training and victimisation on grounds of having complained of age discrimination or given evidence in age discrimination proceedings

Discrimiation legislation
Most of the above acts clarify the legislation in regards to various types of discrimination. The most general are specified below.

Direct Discrimination
- means treating a person less favourably than another purely on the grounds of disability, sex, race or gender reassignment

Indirect Discrimination
- in general terms, means imposing a requirement or condition on everyone

Harassment ~ a type of direct discrimination
- is defined as: conduct which is unreasonable, unwelcome and offensive, and which creates an intimidating, hostile or humiliating working environment.

Victimisation
- is related to formal complaints of discrimination which are intended or have been taken to court or a tribunal.

The changing business environment and the increasing need to utilize all the available work force has made it imperative to develop ways to include also disabled people into labour. There are attempts in each partner country to develop and modify legislation into more disabled friendly mode. The legislation concerning disabled people and their possibilities for employment in partner countries varies greatly. The harmonization of the legislation in the EU is needed in order to make the disabled people equal and empowered in each country as well as to ensure the free movement of all labour force.
There are still great barriers in employment of disabled people:
- general lack of knowledge about the disability issues
- lack of training possibilities
- the disabled themselves don't always believe in their own skills and abilities
- lack of empowerment of disabled people
- attitude problems of employers and other employees
- lack of guidance and assistance - both disabled people and employers

In general, more awareness raising actions about the disability issues are still sorely needed. Training institutes should implement education and training suitable for disabled people in order to equip them with necessary skills.
Training institutes and employers should together develop vocational areas and training courses, with consideration for the kind and degree of disability, to suit the specific needs of disabled people. For example, the need for wellplanned, unambiguous and easily accessible e-learning material for people with special needs is apparent. In some of the partner countries utilizing ICT in the education of disabled people is a fairly new concept.
Through training and education, disabled people should be made aware of their skills and abilities to learn more and to develop their professional skills. Disabled people should be aware of their rights and responsibilities - they should be empowered.
Development of suitable and adaptable working environment to disabled people is important. The work places should be customized to meet the needs of disabled employees. Employers need more special subsidiaries to be able to employ disabled people and to make the necessary work place modifications. Employers should also be offered the possibility to use assistance and guidance, for example job coaches or other support measures, when employing disabled people.