Influences of EU Laws on UK Laws Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Influences of EU Laws on UK Laws - Essay Example The enactment of the Equality Act 2010, which brings together UK’s anti-discrimination laws, was particularly influenced by EU law. This paper critically examines the influences of the EU law on the UK’s anti-discrimination laws. Article 141 of the Treaty of Rome, providing for equal pay for employees undertaking a like job has also influenced the English domestic law1. EU Directives and the EU Treaty continue to play a pivotal role in the implementation of the Equality Act 2010. The Equality Act 2010 consists of Equal Pay Act 1970, the Sex Discrimination Act 1975, the Race Relations Act 1976, and the Disability Discrimination Act 19952. The statute consists of other statutory structures outlawing discrimination in workplaces on the basis of religion or belief, age and sexual orientation. The recent enactment of the Act was influenced by the EU Directives on Equal Treatment. The Act requires fair treatment in employment, whether it is a public or private organization irrespective of age, physical ability, gender, marital status, ethnicity, sex, and sexual orientation . The legislation also envisages special privileges for expectant women and mothers, since their condition is classified as a protected characteristic. Moreover, the law requires employers and organizations that provide services to effect adequate adjustments at their premises to allow the disabled persons an unfettered access and equal benefits as the not-disabled4. Despite its overarching role in ensuring equality in the UK as captured in the EU law, the Act permits the barring of transsexuals from occupations that require gender-specific qualities for purposes of realizing a valid objective. Equal Pay Act 1970 Equal Pay Act was the first anti-discrimination law in Great Britain. Whereas, equal pay is an important part of EU and local anti-discrimination law, its enactment was not influenc ed by the EU5. The debate as whether equal pay across gender constitutes discrimination may be the result of a lack of a clear pattern by the international influences on this particular issue, and partly due to the joint codification of equal pay and sex discrimination legislation in the English law6. Anyhow, discrimination law both at the EU level and locally has shaped equal pay legislation where ‘genuine material difference’ exists (Equal Pay Act section 1(3)) or where the employers create indirectly biased payment systems. Whereas equal pay across gender and sex discrimination laws were codified separately, unequal pay based on ethnicity and race discrimination can be effectively handled under the Race Relations Act 19767. In light of this, the Equal Pay Act 1970 could be an original body of law whose creation was informed by local concerns because at its enactment, the UK had not yet joined the European Commission (EC) membership8. The subsequent inclusion of the U K in the EC in 1973 arguably served to strengthen the implementation of the law since a similar provision is present in the Treaty of Rome of 1957. Nonetheless, the is no denying that the