The conciliation service Acas has published guidance to help HR professionals prepare for implementing the Equality Act, which is due to come into force this October.

 
The Acas guide entitled ‘The Equality Act: What’s New for Employers?’ explains how the new legislation, which was passed on 8 April and replaces nine current laws including the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, will affect organisations.
 
According to Acas, changes will need to take place to HR policies in the areas of indirect, associative, perceptive and equal pay direct discrimination, victimisation and harassment. Alterations will also have to be made to positive action, pre-employment health-related checks and pay secrecy practices.
 
For example, employers will no longer be able to require staff to keep their pay secret from each other, although they can still demand that they keep pay rates secret from third parties such as rivals.
 
Employment tribunal powers will likewise be extended. Employers found guilty of discrimination will henceforth need to take steps to change their policies and procedures to prevent such activity in future.
 
The Equality Act will cover the same groups of people that are protected by existing equality legislation in areas such as age, gender reassignment, sex and pregnancy. But staff will, for example, now be able to complain not just about direct discrimination, but also about harassment – even if it is not directed towards them – if they can demonstrate that it creates an offensive environment in which to work.
 
The concept of associative discrimination – or direct discrimination against someone because they associate with another person who comes under a protected category – has also been extended to cover age, disability, gender reassignment and sex rather than simply race, religion and belief and sexual orientation.
 
Treating disabled people unfairly because of circumstances arising from their disability will likewise be outlawed for the first time.