Gender Equality Duty

The Gender Equality Duty becomes law in April 2007, but many local authorities are working now to have it in place by the end of 2006. The Gender Equality Duty has far-reaching implications for women in the workplace.

What is it?

The Equality Act 2006 created what is called a "general duty" on public authorities to:

• Eliminate unlawful discrimination and harassment, and
• Promote equality of opportunity between men and women.

The Equality Act also allows for the creation of what are known as "specific duties" to be placed on public authorities. These duties will help those bodies to fulfil their responsibilities under the general duty.

Complying with the Gender Equality Duty means public authorities need to be proactive. This means that instead of the responsibility being on an individual to make a complaint about sex discrimination, a public authority will now be required to demonstrate that they treat men and women fairly.

All public authorities in are subject to the general duty, but only some public authorities (for example, the Scottish Executive, Local Authorities, Health Boards etc) will be subject to the specific duties.

The specific duties for the Gender Equality Duty have not yet been finalised. It is envisaged that the duties will be lain before the Scottish Parliament in the Autumn of this year.

For more information, see the Scottish Executive website.

In addition, the Scottish Women's Convention has published a useful guide entitled Enforcing the Gender Equality Duty. A Toolkit for Individuals in Scotland.