NEWS IN BRIEF

ET1 forms

As of 6 April, the ET1 form (which must be used for lodging tribunal claims) changed. Reps can find the new form and the accompanying guidance on the following sites:

http://www.employmenttribunals.gov.uk/FormsGuidance/formsGuidance.htm
http://www.employmenttribunals.gov.uk/Documents/FormsGuidance/newforms/ET1.pdf

Equality Act 2010

The House of Commons recently approved the amendments made by the House of Lords to the Equality Bill and is expected to receive Royal Assent shortly. The Equality Act 2010 will come into force in stages, starting in October this year with other provisions coming into force next year.

The Act will:

• Introduce a new public sector duty to consider reducing socioeconomic inequalities
• Impose a new integrated Equality Duty on public bodies
• Use public procurement to improve equality
• Ban age discrimination outside the workplace
• Encourage employers with 250 or more employees to publish pay statistics
• Extend the scope to use positive action
• Strengthen the powers of employment tribunals
• Protect carers from discrimination
• Clarify the protection for breastfeeding mothers
• Ban discrimination in private members’ clubs
• Strengthen protection from discrimination for disabled people
• Protect people from dual discrimination - direct discrimination because of a combination of two protected characteristics.