The Equality Act: Impact on Marriage, Partnership, Age, and Sex

The Equality Act

Introduction

Equality Act, 2010 states that organizations need to treat their employees equally so that the overall atmosphere of ventures can be improved. In addition to that, equal opportunities need to be provided to the employees so that discrimination within organizations can be minimized. Further, it has been noted that equal opportunities need to be provided to male and female employees so discrimination can be put to a limit (legislation.gov.uk, 2021). The Equality Act, 2010, has stated that the characteristics of employees depend upon the age of the employees. In the present report, the impact of the equality act, 2010 on marriage, partnership, age, and sex will be discussed. The new equality act has come into force since 1^st October, 2010. In addition to that, the Equality Act, 2010 has come into existence after compiling 116 pieces of legislation. The main motive of the legislation is to protect the rights of the employees and create equal opportunities for the employees. The new equality Act, 2010 has provided Britain with a discrimination law that protects employees from unfair treatment from the management of organisations.

Discussion

The concept of equality Act has come into existence since the year 2010. Further, it has been noted that the implementation of the Equality Act, 2010 strengthened the environment of workplaces. The main motive of the law is to harmonize the discrimination law to make society fairer. This law will also help the management of organizations to boost the performance of the organizations so that the employees can remain motivated. Equality within the workplace also secures the position of the venture in the market (legislation.gov.uk, 2021).

The equality Act, 2010 has stated that management of the organisation need to protect the employees from direct and indirect discrimination. In equality Act, 2010 no one has the higher priority as compared to others. On the contrary, discrimination claims can be made if there are single protected characteristics. In organisations discrimination occurs because the management treat the male and the female employees in a different manner. Sometimes, the discrimination is being made on the basis of age.

As per public sector equality duty, organizations comprises of people of various age. In addition to that, the activities of the organizations also need to be fixed as per age, marriage, partnership, and sex.

For instance, Tesco follows equality so that the overall working environment of the organization can be improved. Additionally, it has been mentioned that the management of Tesco welcomes everyone so that discrimination can be mitigated smoothly. Diversity and inclusion are also included in Tesco because the management gives importance to the employees. The CEO of Tesco has stated that they treat people how they are being treated. Furthermore, it has been stated that the management of Tesco divides their team as per their efficiency level so that the employee retention rate can be increased (legislation.gov.uk, 2021). Further, to maintain equality the management provides training on regular basis to the employees so that the competitive position of the organization can be boosted. The partnership also provides 360-degree development among the employees. Further, diversity within the venture also mitigates the rate of discrimination. In Tesco, the leaders also maintain an effective relationship with the employees so that they can perform their activities successfully. Moreover, if proper training is not effective then the efficiency of the employees may get affected. Thus, the employee's turnover rate also gets increased. Equal opportunities need to be provided to all employees so that they can complete their responsibilities in a successful manner (tesco.com, 2021). Lastly, it has been mentioned that the management of the organization need to maintain an effective relationship with the employees so that the competitive position of the venture can be improved.

The nine protected characteristics of the Equality act, 2010 have been mentioned in the current study. Some of the characteristics are age, disability, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion and sex. Section 1 of the equality act, protects the employees from getting harassed, victimised due to age differences. For instance, the employees have taken the management of Tesco to the court because the management has been alleged of gender and age discrimination (theguardian.com, 2021). The management of Tesco has reduced the salary of the employees working in the venture at night and weekend shifts. 17 Long serving employees are also facing equality issues because their hourly wages have been reduced. On the contrary, age and gender discrimination can be mitigated if the employees are treated equally

Section 4

Section 2 of the equality Act has protected the employees from getting harassed due to disability. In addition to that, the disability can be of physical and mental. In addition to that, some diseases like cancer and HIV also implement discrimination within the organisation

For instance, Mrs Tennant has brought a case against het employers Tesco on 11 September 2017 for disability discrimination and harassment which as alleged took place from September 2016. As per the provision of equality act, the disability needs to be present within an individual since 12 months then only a claim can be registered. On the contrary, the management of Tesco has claimed that the concerned individual was suffering from disability since last 6 months therefore; she does not have the liability to bring cases against the individual.

Discrimination also occurs within an organization because of marriages and the partnership. On the contrary, it has been noted that in Tesco the rate of discrimination due to marriage and civil partnership. Further, it has been noted that sex discrimination also affects the overall atmosphere of the organisation.

As per the equality Act, 2010, it has been noted that in an organization if opposite-sex employees get registered as the married couple enjoyed the same benefits as the opposite-sex married couples. For instance, it has been noted that in Tesco equal opportunities are being provided to the employees of the opposite sex otherwise discrimination may take place within the organization Thus, the overall performance of the organization also gets affected. In Tesco, opposite-sex couples and same-sex couples are being treated equally. In addition to that, The Equality Act protects employees who are in a civil partnership or marriage against discrimination. The equality act is import at within an organization because it protects the employees of the same sexual orientation from discrimination (legislation.gov.uk, 2021). At the time of recruiting the employees, sexual discrimination needs to be mitigated because it creates a negative impact within the workforce. The Equality Act, 2010 plays an important role in the organization because they also motivate the management of the organization to take care of the employees who are being pregnant.

In addition to that management of the organization provides equal pay to the employees so that the rate of discrimination can be reduced to a certain extent. In addition to that, in the year 2020, the labour party of the UK has conducted a meeting with the government to ensure that pregnant women do not receive the wrong benefits of pregnancy during the pandemic situation. On the other hand, it has been noted that some of the pregnant women have been imposed statutory sick pay during March when the lockdown has stated. However, in this case, the women were supposed to receive the full payment. After analyzing the above information it is evident that during the lockdown session employees were wrongly treated by the management. As per section 1 of the equality act, 2010, discrimination occurs within an organization when the management treats pregnant women differently as compared to other female employees. At the same time, the discrimination of women can get increased if the woman works, in 26 weeks beginning with the day on which she gives birth. As per subsection 3, it has been noted that women employees are discriminated against because after giving childbirth they get engaged in Breast Feeding. If the women are being treated unfavourably because she is on compulsory maternity leave then it can be stated that discrimination is present within the workforce.

It has been noted that Tesco provides enhanced maternity leave to women employees so that equality can be maintained within the venture, In addition to that in Tesco, medical practitioners are also been involved within the workforce so that proper treatment can be provided to the female employees who are pregnant. In addition to that, it has been noted that the management of Tesco has improved their maternity policies as per Maternity Benefits Act.

Further, it has been noted that women can take maternity leave up to 52 weeks. In addition to that, the first 26 weeks is known as Ordinary Maternity leaves and the rest 26 weeks is known as additional maternity leaves. The earliest maternity leave that an individual can take is 11 weeks before the birth of the child. Further, the factory workers can take a leave of 2 to 4 weeks after the birth of the child. On the contrary, in statutory maternity pay, 90% of their salary can be paid. Lastly, it has been noted that

Sex discrimination does not have any relation with the sexual clauses because it affects the overall working environment of the organization. In Tesco, the management of the organization needs to treat all the employees equally so that no issues can take place within the venture. Further, equal respect needs to be provided within the workplace so that employee motivation can be increased. On the contrary, if the management of the organization does not treat all the employees equally then the rate of discrimination within the venture will also be enhanced. The employment right needs to be equally distributed among the employees so that the discrimination rate can be reduced.

In the present study, it has been noted leadership plays an important role within the organization because the management needs to train the employees so that their efficiency can be boosted (Buchanan and Huczynski, 2019). It has been stated that employee equality also depends upon the organizational structure of the business venture. As per the comment of Buchanan and Huczynski (2019), organizational behaviour is a term that defines the management, structure, and function of the venture so that their position in the market can be boosted. In order to improve the organizational culture, the employees need to interact with each other effectively. The management of the organization needs to instruct the employees so that the goals and objectives of the organization can be maintained (Brown and Capozza, 2016). It has been noted that the management of the organization needs to be trained effectively so that no issues can occur within an organization. The employees need to motivate so that they can perform their team activities as per the equality Act, 2010, the members of a team need to be assigned work as per their efficiency level so that the skills of the employee can be improved. In an organization, inequality can take place if the management treats male and female employees differently. Inequality in payment is a process through which male and female employees are being paid differently (gov.uk, 2021). For instance, in Tesco, the management has been accused of the gender pay gap based on an hourly payment. In addition to that, the gender pay gap in Tesco has reached 12%. The employees of the organization need to be trained and motivated so that the overall atmosphere of the organization (livemint.com, 2021). The management can use Hertzberg's theory to motivate the employees. In order to motivate the employees motivating and hygienic factors need to be applied. Further, it has been noted that motivating factors help the employees to work harder. Hygienic factors also improve the overall working environment of the organization (personneltoday.com, 2021).

Conclusion

Thus, after completing the study it has been noted that the management of the organization needs to treat all the employees equally so that no issues occur within the organization. For instance, it has been noted that in Tesco all the employees are given equal importance so that the employee retention rate can be improved. On the contrary, discrimination occurs within an organization when the management of the organization treats employees differently. Further, to reduce the discrimination rate the employees can be divided into various departments so that the activities can be completed effectively. In the Equality Act, 2010, it has been noted that the management of the organization needs to pay equal attention to the employees so that the level of discrimination can be reduced to an effective manner. Further, it has been stated that the salary of the employees need to be paid as per the efficiency of the employees and their responsibilities so that the employees can be motivated to perform their activities effectively. Lastly, it has been noted that maternity leaves need to be given to the female employees before giving birth to the child. Further, the employees can also receive leave after the birth of the child. Lastly, it has been noted that the management of Tesco treats all employees equally so that no issues occur within the venture.

Reference List

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Brown, R. and Capozza, D. eds., 2016. Social identities: Motivational, emotional, cultural influences. Psychology Press.

Buchanan, D.A. and Huczynski, A.A., 2019. Organizational behavior. Pearson UK.

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Huczynski, A., Buchanan, D.A. and Huczynski, A.A., 2013. Organizational behavior (p. 82).

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