Employment Law Breakfast Briefing

I’m just back in the office after our Employment Law Breakfast Briefing and my head’s buzzing with information!

We’ve been running the briefings in conjunction with Hegarty LLP Solicitors for more than a decade and now regularly have 200 people attending.

It takes a lot of work to co-ordinate but it’s so worthwhile.

Hegarty’s employment law experts Tim Thompson and Martin Bloom deliver the actual briefing. The subject this time was the introduction of the Equality Bill on Friday which will spell the final curtain for a host of other legislation including the sex, race and disability discrimination acts.

Having listened carefully to Tim and Martin this morning, I have to say I think the new Bill is breath of fresh air. As Martin explained, in layman’s terms for all of us non-legal delegates, the overall principle of the new rules is ‘fairness’.

The objective of the bill is that everyone has the right to be treated fairly and to fulfil their potential.

There was lots of talk of ‘protected characteristics’ - the new buzz phrase apparently. Protected characteristics are all the things that make us individual – our sex, race, sexuality, disabilities, marital status… Under the new Equality Bill employers – and potential employers – can no longer single anyone out for discrimination on any of those grounds.

While the protected characteristics encompass a wider spectrum than the previous laws covered – particularly including marital and civil partnership status, gender resassignment and pregnancy and maternity leave – it does seem to be a much easier to understand ‘catch all’ bill which, from an HR point of view, should make life a little simpler.

Lots more to blog about on this subject over the coming days…