Legislation

There are several pieces of legislation that are relevant to understanding disabilities and the rights of individuals affected by them. We will be looking at The Equality Act 2010, the Human Rights Act 1998, the UN convention (UN) on disability rights and the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

The Equality Act brings together nine separate pieces of legislation into one single Act. It simplifies the law and strengthens it in important ways to help tackle discrimination and inequality. Previously, there were separate pieces of legislation which protected individuals. The Equality Act brought old legislation together and established protected characteristics which protect them from discrimination:

• You cannot be discriminated against because of your race. Race is defined as ‘a category of humankind that shares certain distinctive physical traits. Ethnicity is a broader used term and class group of people according to common racial, national, religious, tribal, or cultural origin/background.
• You cannot be discriminated against because of your sex. Sex is defined as the physiological and biological characteristics that define humans as male or female.
• You cannot be discriminated against because of your Sexual orientation, whether being lesbian, gay, bisexual or heterosexual.
• You cannot be discriminated against because of a disability or because of something connected with a disability. 
• You cannot be discriminated against because of your religion or belief. This is defined as the belief in a religion’s central articles of faith or an acceptance that something is true and exists.
• You cannot be discriminated against because of your Gender reassignment. Transsexuality is where someone has changed, is changing, or has proposed changing their sex which is also called ‘gender reassignment in law. Having just had a baby or being pregnant ensures fair treatment and reasonable adjustments to working conditions.
• You cannot be discriminated against because you are married or in a civil partnership. This applies only at work or if someone is being trained for work,
• You cannot be discriminated against because of your age. Again, this applies only at work or if someone is being trained for work.