Recent Legislation in the Area of Employment Law - Essay Example

It is in this sense, that it is being emphasized that Pope do not come down from their pillar''s very often to directly make political statements. As was articulated in 'Pope Benedict attacks government over Equity Bill' [BBC, 11:30 GMT, Tuesday, 2 February 2010]: Human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell said the Pope's comments were a "coded attack on the legal rights granted to women and gay people" [BBC, Feb. 2, 2010]. The Equity Bill envelopes a number of arguably diverse legislation that preceded it. While the Pope did protest The Equity Bill, he did not oppose Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006, Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003, and the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003. By no means was this the only context or situation where employee rights were overlapping with human rights.

Thus, what influenced the constituent parts of the Equity Bill might also include some legislation progressions dating at least back to 1970 which was the date of the Equal Pay Act. Between the tripartite components of 2006, 2003, and 2003, was also the Sex Discrimination Act of 1975, and the Race Relations Act of 1976, and finally, the Disability Discrimination Act which was introduced in 1995: As it was described in the BBC News Magazine in 2007: “It is not a piece of legislation welcomed by all and it was bitterly opposed by parts of the Catholic Church” [Geoghegan, BBC News Magazine BBC, April 30th, 2007].

As is consistent with principles and practices of equity under the British legal system, basic rights have been extended by acknowledging that same sex-partnerships have every right to be recognized. It is a form of legal reform that is prevalent throughout Europe and in North America. While the Equality Bill is “for the purposes of anti-discrimination legislation, The Government considers that it is important to maintain current models of disability, which draws on different models for different purposes” [The Equality Bill: Oral and written evidence, p. 210].

Another significant body of legislation that has impacted employment law in recent years, was the introduction of the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations in 2006. This was a legal challenge to the Default Retirement Age [Davies, Ed., 204]. While the judge did not find that any of the regulations had been breached with regard to the Default Retirement Age in accordance with the European Union's Equal Treatment at Work Directive. It is important to employment law because of the obvious connection with work-related retirement, but also because of the human rights issue involved with the legislation. Age discrimination has been one of the strong arguments made against the Default Retirement Age. It has been argued in court, that forcing someone to retire at any one particular age, is a form of discrimination: “this term encourages the perception that age discrimination is less important than other forms and can obscure discrimination arising from multiple intersecting identifies of people of all ages” [Meenan 290]. Just as an employer cannot legally tell someone that they are too old for a job, likewise, there is a line that gets crossed in situations where an individual is being asked to retire. And, it is a situation where the individual in question has no interest in being retired, or, has envisioned another age for retirement, and so on.

Both the Equity Act and the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations suggest that the area of rights needs improvement. Both bodies of legislation that aim at compensating for some inequality or aim at preventing that from happening in the first instance. The demand for this legislation entails that there are current problems that require some attention. Equity should be one of the guiding principles for any manager of employees, and it is important to stress that it is not just a question of doing what is right, but also considering some of the consequences in terms of liability. Lawsuits brought about because of discrimination are consistently costly, and liability should be considered alongside the principles of equity as well. Both pieces of the legislation point to a greater need for awareness and consideration of issues concerning equity in the workplace, and that is their main importance Read More