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Anti-Discrimination Laws in the United Kingdom

Before the 1960's, not many changes were made in the United Kingdom to protect different races, genders, ethnicities, etc. from the discrimination of their employers, public services, and other goods/services. Yet once the decade flipped from the 1950's to the 1960's, this all began to drastically change with the introduction of new laws forbidding discrimination against all types of people, in many different types of situations.

Starting in the 1960's, new laws began to be implemented in order to eliminate discrimination based on gender, race, etc. These laws included the Race Relations Act 1965 and the Race Relations Act 1968[1][2]. Both of these laws go hand in hand, making it illegal to refuse employment, public services, and housing based on the person's gender, race, ethnicity, or other factors.

Throughout the 1970's, many laws were introduced in order to expand upon the progress made with anti-discrimination in the 1960's. The Equal Pay Act 1970 gave women the opportunity to take actions against their employer if they were able to prove they were being paid less than their male colleagues of the same value in the company.[3]. The Sex Discrimination Act 1975 forbade both direct and indirect discrimination on the basis of sex, and the Race Relations Act 1976 expanded the scope of anti-discrimination law on the basis of race and ethnicity[4][5].

The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 made it unlawful to discriminate against somebody based on their disabilities, whether it happens through employment, education, public services, or any other goods/services provided to the public[6].

In the 2000s, the scope of employment anti-discrimination laws were expanded to cover sexual orientation (with the passage of the Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003), age (the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006), and religion/belief (Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003)[7][8][9].

In 2010, existing anti-discrimination laws were combined into a single Act of Parliament, the Equality Act 2010[10]. The Equality Act contains provisions forbidding direct, indirect, perceptive and associative discrimination on the basis of sex, race, ethnicity, religion and belief, age, disability, sexual orientation and gender reassignment. This act also protects all workers from facing discrimination based on the amount of time they work (part-time, full-time, salary contract etc.).

Over the span of almost 50 years, many changes were brought to the United Kingdom to prevent the discrimination of all different types of people, whether they were a different gender, race, background, and even sexual orientation later on with the Equality Act. These laws changed the way businesses, and other services had to treat not only their customers, but also their employees, creating a much more equal society all throughout the United Kingdom.

  1. ^ "Race Relations Act 1965". www.parliament.uk. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
  2. ^ "1968 Race Relations Act". www.parliament.uk. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
  3. ^ "Equal pay and The Equal Pay Act 1970". NEU. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
  4. ^ "The origins of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975". Woman's Place UK. 2019-04-24. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
  5. ^ "The Race Relations Act 1976". Race & Class. 18 (4): 405–410. 1977-04-01. doi:10.1177/030639687701800407. ISSN 0306-3968.
  6. ^ "The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) – RAMH". ramh.org. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
  7. ^ "Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003 - Glovers Solicitors London". www.glovers.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-12-08.
  8. ^ "Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003 - Glovers Solicitors London". www.glovers.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
  9. ^ "The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006, United Kingdom, 2006 | SPLASH DB". splash-db.eu. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
  10. ^ "What is the Equality Act? | Equality and Human Rights Commission". www.equalityhumanrights.com. Retrieved 2020-11-20.