Discrimination in the workplace on grounds of religion, belief or sexual orientation is now illegal. The regulations came into force in December 2003 and apply to all employers, regardless of their size. They cover the recruitment process, terms and conditions, pay, promotion, transfers and dismissals.

The process of guaranteeing equality in employment will be extended further as new laws against discrimination come into effect on grounds of disability in October 2004. A ban on age discrimination will also be introduced by the end of 2006.

Employers will have to take active steps to prevent discrimination on any grounds and ensure that employees themselves comply with the legislation. Failure to do so can have very serious consequences. For example, a managing director was recently sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment for racially aggravated harassment — even though he was not personally involved — because he ignored a campaign of abuse by three employees against a black colleague. Employers should make it clear to employees that any discrimination, bullying or abuse is unacceptable and will result in disciplinary proceedings. Staff should also be assured complete confidentiality if they make a complaint of harassment.

Meanwhile, the Equal Opportunities Commission has issued a revised code of practice on equal pay. The purpose of the code is to provide practical guidance to employers on how to ensure pay is decided free of sex discrimination. Paying employees at different rates depending on their sex has been unlawful for more than 30 years. Yet on average, women who work full-time earn only 81% of the hourly earnings of full-time male employees — and the gap is even bigger for part-time workers.

The code of practice recommends that employers should regularly review and monitor their pay practices, in consultation with their workforce. The effective implementation of equal pay policies should reduce the risk of costly litigation and can increase business efficiency by attracting the best employees, reducing staff turnover, increasing staff commitment and reducing absenteeism.

The code also explains that pay systems must be transparent. This means that everyone involved should be able to understand their pay and benefit systems, although individuals' pay levels do not have to be disclosed. Where the pay structure is not transparent, and an employee is able to show some indication of sex discrimination, the burden of proof switches to the employer who then has to demonstrate that the pay system does not discriminate.

Employers are advised to keep records of how they have reached any pay decision. The code also explains how to decide whether jobs are of equal value and how an employer might be able to provide objective justifications for any differences in pay.

The code of practice on equal pay is available from the Equal Opportunities
Commission website at
www.eoc.org.uk/EOCeng/dynpages/law_codes_of_practice.asp