Employers face greater risks of race claims

Posted by HR Zone in Pay & benefits on Tue, 22/07/2003 - 09:15

New regulations which give wider rights to employees in race discrimination cases have now come into effect.

The Race Relations Act 1976 (Amendment) Regulations 2003 implement the EC Race Directive 2000/43. The main changes are that they introduce a new definition of indirect race discrimination, a statutory definition of racial harassment and change the onus of providing proof of discrimination.

Previously, it has been the responsibility of workers to establish that they have been discriminated against but the new regulations put the onus on employers to prove they did not discriminate, once a case has been made against them.

The Regulations amend the Race Relations Act to introduce, for the first time, a definition of racial harassment. Harassment is now defined by statute where a person's dignity is violated, or where an environment is created that is "intimidating, hostile, humiliating or offensive".

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Editor's Welcome

 

Hello! And welcome back as we enter 2012, with a busy year ahead of us all. With talk of double-dip recessions, a possible partial or even full break-up of the Eurozone and unemployment rates set to hit nearly 9%, topics such as organisational streamlining, staff resilience and talent management are likely to be on many an HR professional's lips over the next 12 months.
 
But to lighten the gloom here in the UK, we also have the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and its attendant public holidays to look forward to at the start of June. Followed by two weeks of Olympic Games from 27 July to 12 August and the Paralympics from 29 August to 9 September, each generating their own excitement, but also issues to work through for hard-pressed HR departments trying to sort out the multifarious staffing issues in advance.
 
So with an interesting but challenging year to come, HRZone promises to be with you, supporting you all the way and providing our usual insightful blend of news, analysis, community blogs and expert comment to help you sort the wheat from the chaff. As ever, we love to hear from you too so feel free to either post your words of wisdom to our blog section yourself or, in the case of longer, more in-depth ‘expert voice’ articles, drop me a line with any ideas to cath.everett@siftmedia.co.uk.....
 
Cath Everett
HRZone Editor 
 
 
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