| The Equality Act |
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The Equality Act – ‘the three strikes rule’ The Equality Act came in to force (mainly) on 1st October 2010. It has the effect of extending the rules on third party harassment – i.e. anyone who is not an employee of the business – for example a client, customer, supplier or contractor, (in fact anyone who the employee comes into contact with during the course of his/her employment) could be the culprit. Previously, the Act could only apply to gender or sexual harassment. It has now been extended to race, religion and age. The employer can be held liable for this harassment, but only if the employer knows the employee has been harassed on at least 2 previous occasions by a third party and then fails to take reasonable steps to prevent the occurrences – hence the ‘three strike rule’. The harassment does not need to be by the same person, or indeed relate to the same issues. The recommendation is to put into place anti-harassment procedures and alert both third parties and the employees to these – and to encourage employees to report any incidences of harassment. Other developments under the Equality Act Health questions pre-employment It is now unlawful to ask job applicants about their previous and current health or disabilities before they have been offered a job. Nor is it lawful for an employer to ask either a recruitment agency or a current employer questions relating to an applicant’s health before offering a job. It is possible to ask questions after a conditional offer of employment has been made if it is necessary to establish if the applicant can comply with the job requirements – specifically whether that applicant would be able to carry out a function intrinsic to the job (with any reasonable adjustments where necessary). The questions must be specific and limited to what is relevant to the task the applicant will be required to do. General questions about health will probably be unlawful under the Act. |
