The Sex Discrimination Act 1975 and The Equal Pay Act 1970 aim to create equality between the sexes. The SDA makes discrimination unlawful in "employment, education, advertising, or when providing housing, goods, services, or facilities". There are two forms of discrimination these are direct discrimination, and indirect discrimination. On the 5th November 1998, the Equal Opportunities Commission submitted recommendations for a new sex equality law to the government.
This aims to provide more clarity in the present law, including suggestions such as clarifying "the EOC's jurisdiction in the context of the EC law", "a reduction in the current exceptions", they also request an examination of "positive discrimination" which is described as "preferential treatment to a previously disadvantaged group". and "monitoring by law" of companies. Also recommended is that the "respondent of a victim is to prove that discrimination has not taken place".
The equal pay act covers all workplaces and Article 119 of the equal pay act deals with obligations of states to do certain things regarding equal pay and provides a definition of equal pay. It states that Men and Women should receive "Equal pay for equal work". However an employer is allowed to treat women differently in respect to maternity leave and according to EC legislation, a Directive adopted on 19 October 1992 employers should provide women with 14 weeks maternity leave. The EOC recommends changing this to 18 weeks and simplifying the procedures.
There are many other careers that have been affected by sex discrimination. Many women work part time due to family commitments and cases such as Powell & Clarke v Eley (IMI) Kynoch, and Dick v University of Dundee, provide evidence of Companies attempting to discreetly discriminate against part time workers, which in turn discriminated women. An attempt to improve upon this situation is made by the "European Commission's Draft Directive On Voluntary Part Time Work", which strives to give part time workers the same rights as full time workers, but regarding "the special nature of part time employment".
Haze Management consultancy is based in Germany France and UK. It is therefore crucial to have an overview of the situation in all countries and the relevant European laws. Over the past 40 years, the EC's policy has built up, from events and pressures and it is a group of 12 Countries bound together by three major international treaties along with a number of smaller ones. In Germany the Basic Constitutional Law of 1949, states that "Men and Women shall have equal rights". This was amended by the European Community Adjustment Act of 1980 to comply with both directives.
This states "equal pay for work of equal value" and the same statement is in the laws of France in 1972 and the UK in 1970. Conclusion The people affected by the article are employees, businesses and society in general. Firstly in respect to employees, the women are affected in that they are discriminated as previously mentioned. However this also works in the opposite direction for men as they have less laws protecting them as a male and if they find themselves in a bullied situation, they remain powerless.
They also remain powerless when witnessing a situation of sex discrimination, due to company's image of male on one side of the fence and women on the other. Also, Business may be affected in that females may be better qualified, but due to the discrimination are leaving. This in turn creates the situation that companies are loosing out on good employees and as a result of this society is loosing out in that the better-qualified employees are not available to support them. Although there are laws protecting women at work, the goal of harmonisation has not yet been reached.
Problems arising are general attitudes towards women and when discrimination is experienced, difficulties in obtaining evidence is great. When comparing statistics, the picture, which is formed, is a picture of society and this can not be placed as evidence in court. Recommendations The implications of the changes in laws for Haze Management consultants are that the relevant research must be made and kept up to date, so that they may give the relevant advice to the clients
Although it is important to create equal opportunities, we must also accept that due to problems arising and specific requirements of a professional female, additional protection in the form of more specific laws and serious reinforcement is required and will therefore changes in this area of the law are expected. In general companies need to achieve a greater awareness and seriousness of the issues affecting women and more intense review should be made.
The article highlighted the slow process of law enforcement being formed into reality and therefore more enforcement and encouragement should be made for the companies to address such problems, which would catalyse laws becoming reality. Recommending clients of Haze Management Consultancy to have a code of practice incorporating equal opportunities would be highly advisable, although the content and size should vary according to the size of the company.
This would help to promote equality of opportunity and create awareness in this area of concern. By creating a company policy in this field, it is recommended to highlight that it is in the interests of both the organisation and employees. It is also important to have appropriate contracts with employees that comply with the relevant laws and integrate with the changing attitudes towards women at work. This should be done by a review of the client's contracts, which they issue to employees.
Haze Management Consultants need to keep close records of changes in the adopted directives of the EC as these are usually converted into a national legislation within two years. This information is collected by the commission and held on the CELEX database and can be obtained by contacting the local EuroInfoCentre. This I would highly recommend, as Haze Management Consultants need to be able to advise clients of changes and have a good insight into the future.
Comments
Post a Comment