Businesses Unsure On Equality Law

Britain's businesses should ensure that they are aware of the latest equality laws.

A large number of employers are not confident that their human resource (HR) teams understand the recent changes to equality legislation even though the majority provide diversity training, according to a new survey.

Research by XpertHR revealed that four in ten organisations are unsure whether their HR departments are up to speed about the modifications caused by the introduction of the Equality Act 2010.

The study discovered that seven out of ten companies have already provided their HR teams with diversity training and 21 per cent are planning to do so by the autumn of this year.

Organisations which are uncertain about the impact of the Equality Act have pointed to a lack of funding and support from senior management in relation to inadequate training on the new issues.

Charlotte Wolff, XpertHR training editor and author of the report, said that training the relevant staff on the Equality Act 2010 is crucial for firms if they want to avoid future employment legislation problems.

She said: "Given the prominence of legislation in this area and the breadth of its coverage, ensuring HR has the right levels of expertise in equality law is vital.

"Employers that are not offering and encouraging training and development in this area could face major issues, and potential claims of discrimination in the future."

Discrimination claims can damage an organisation's reputation and result in extremely expensive legal costs which can be financially ruinous and result in poor employee morale and higher staff turnover levels as a consequence.

Performance improvement consulting professionals can help an organisation combat poor employee morale by delivering strategic and tactical transformation with unrivalled business knowledge.

XpertHR found that 80 per cent of organisations had already experienced benefits by investing in HR procedures by providing their employees with equality and diversity training.

Lynne Featherstone, Equalities Minister, has urged employers to concentrate on the Act's benefits and to seek guidance before the law changes on April 6th.

She said: "It's about giving individual employers an extra tool they can use to help make the workplace fairer."

The 2010 Equality Act gives employers the option to choose a candidate from an under-represented section of their workforce if they are faced with two applicants possessing the same ability.

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