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27th March 2008

NEWS IN BRIEF

Sex Discrimination Act

A number of important changes are being made to the 1975 Sex Discrimination Act by amendment regulations which come into effect on 6 April. These include:

• Regulation 2 which amends the definition of discrimination on grounds of pregnancy or maternity leave to eliminate the requirement of a comparator who is not pregnant or not on maternity leave
• Regulation 3 which amends the definition of harassment to remove the causal link between harassment and the sex of the person being harassed. The change enables claims to be made by someone who is not subjected to the unwanted conduct themselves but the effect of which nonetheless violates their dignity or creates an intimidating or hostile environment
• Regulation 4 which requires employers to take reasonably practicable steps to protect employees from harassment by third parties where such harassment is known to have occurred on at least two other occasions

For more information, go to: www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2008/uksi_20080656_en_1