1. Open the starter sheet from the shared area Business Studies/year 11/AQA Revision/12 Employment Law/starter 2. Read through the objectives 3. Then match the laws to their definition.

 be aware of current legislation affecting employment rights and responsibilities and equal opportunities such as those relating to discrimination on the grounds of gender, race, disability and age

 The 1970 Equal Pay Act requires that pay rates are the same for identical or similar jobs.  The 1975 Sex Discrimination Act makes it illegal for people to be discriminated against on the grounds of their gender.  The 1976 Race Relations Act outlaws discrimination on the grounds of colour, race, nationality and ethnic origin.

 The National Minimum Wage Act 1988 gives everyone the right to a minimum amount to be paid depending on their age.  The 1995 Disability Discrimination Act makes it illegal for an employer to treat a disabled person less favourably for a reason which relates to the disabled person’s disability.  The 2006 Age Discrimination Act  Ensures that people are not denied jobs or are harassed because of their age and will have an equal chance of training and promotion.

 In pairs, look at the case studies and for each one say ◦ whether you think the law has been broken, ◦ if so which law

Race discrimination  This case is based on the question of whether a hospital should respond to, or reject, the wishes of a parent of a patient who asks for their child not to receive help or treatment from a black nurse.  The hospital agreed that the child’s mother was racist, but said it did not support, and was not responsible for, her views.  The tribunal decided that there was no doubt that the hospital had made arrangements to go along with the mother’s request and had ensured that Vera was not on duty when the boy came in for treatment.  This arrangement, the tribunal said, would not have been made if Vera had been white. It was therefore a clear case of race discrimination. The tribunal decided that the hospital had also failed in its duty by not taking stronger action to protect its staff and prevent the abuse.

Age discrimination  If an employer has to make redundancies, the method chosen to select people for this must be fair and based on reasonable grounds.  Employers must consult with employees before making redundancies, and the method of selection should be demonstrably fair. Choosing some on grounds of sex, race – or age, is unfair and unlawful.  Lucy took her case to a tribunal which decided that she had been selected simply because she was the oldest employee and that she was a victim of unlawful age discrimination.

Sex discrimination  This cases hinges on whether an inability to work because of pregnancy is the same as time-off work through ill-health. Pregnancy, of course, only affects women.  Vicky was unable to work as a driver and was absent from work for more than six months. Normally such a long period of absence would result in an employee’s dismissal. However Vicky’s inability to work was specifically due to her pregnancy (and therefore to her being a woman) rather than a more general medical condition, as is usually the case.  The tribunal decided that an inability to work as a result of pregnancy cannot be seen as an illness; if it could, all pregnant women would be expected to comply fully with their employment contract, and would not have any protection in law against unfair dismissal.

Sex discrimination  The new pay structure, introduced by the council, was designed to reduce sex discrimination by ensuring that men and women receive equal pay for work requiring similar levels of skill.  However, the new arrangements enabled some workers – notably, refuse collectors, street sweepers and grave diggers – to earn significantly more money through overtime or bonuses, paid for reaching performance targets.  The jobs with greater earning potential were predominantly held by men; female council workers were predominantly unable to take these jobs and access these benefits.  This, the tribunal decided, was indirect sex discrimination, and the council was ordered to compensate many of its female workers for losses suffered since the new pay structure came into force.

 Find out about the Equality Act 2010  What did it do?

 Go to  Go to Activities/GCSE Business/AQA  Click on Section 4  Do the activities under “Protecting Staff through understanding legislation” AND/OR  Use quizlet to revise terminology. Legislation is 2.4. REMEMBER quizlet needs to be opened in internet explorer NOT Firefox.