The Changes in Employment Law Introduced by the Equality Act 2010 Essay

The Changes in Employment Law Introduced by the Equality Act 2010 - Essay Example The paper discusses the changes on the employment law as a result of introduction of the Equality Act 2010. Equal Pay The Equal Pay Act of 1970 prohibits discrimination in pay between men and women. The Act emphasizes equal pay for equal work. Despite the act being in place gender wage gap continues to rise and women are segregated in low paying service sector jobs such as education and health. However, the claimant pursuing this allegation should be able to proof that the difference in pay is as a result of discriminatory act by the employer. To proof this, there needs to be a comparator of opposite sex performing similar work in the establishment or in a similar establishment offering same terms and conditions of employment (Kelly et al. 2011). The Act gave employers right to secrecy in remunerations thereby preventing employees from getting information as to whether they are being discriminated thus making it hard to claim unequal pay discrimination. The Equality Act 2010 however makes some changes which removed the clauses on secrecy. Employees are thus free to get information regarding remuneration. It also made it unlawful for employers to prohibit employees from discussing pay. The Act requires organizations with 250 or more employees to publish pay differences for males and females (Directgov, 2011). The Act also enables claimants to make a claim even if there is no comparator. This implies that employers need to be very cautious when offering terms of payment to avoid discrimination allegations. It has also to publish pay differences to avoid paying fines. This may affect performance related pay as those performing equal work need to be paid similar wages. While Equal Pay Act incorporates equality clause in all contracts, Equality Act incorporates sex equality in the contract (Kelly et al. 2011, p. 465). Sex Discrimination Treating one less favourably on the grounds of sex is prohibited in the Sex Discrimination Act of 1975 (Kelly et al. 2011). The act also prohibits harassment based on sex and victimization as a result of giving evidence on sex discrimination cases or for filing a complaint based on sex. The Employment Equality (sex discrimination) Regulations 2005 require a claimant to proof they were discriminated because of their sex by use of a comparator hence according to Clarke (2006), discrimination laws emphasize on differences between complainant and comparator rather than the disadvantage the complainant has experienced (161). The Equality Act has extended the associative and perceptive discrimination based on sex. It is therefore unlawful to treat someone less favourably because of having an association with a person of a particular sex or because of being perceived as belonging to a particular sex. Disability Discrimination The Disability Discrimination Act of 1995 prohibits unfair treatment on the grounds of being disabled. It prohibits direct discrimination and disability related discrimination whereby one is disc riminated due to reasons associated to disability such as sickness. However, the employer can discriminate if the nature of activities does not allow hiring a disabled person, if costs involved are high or as a result of genuine