Disability Discrimination: New Codes of Practice
The Disability Rights Commission has recently published two new draft codes of practice. These codes will replace the current disability codes and, subject to consultation, will come into force on 1st October 2004 when the new rights under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) also come into force.
The changes to the employment provisions of the DDA have been made as a result of the implementation of a European Directive on discrimination in employment covering a variety of grounds, including disability. A key change is that in future the DDA will apply to all employers (except for the Armed Forces) and is not restricted to employers with 15 or more employees.
The new codes, like the ACAS and Data Protection codes, do not impose legal obligations but they give practical guidance on how to interpret the law and prevent discrimination against disabled people.
The draft Code of Practice (Employment and Occupation) explains and illustrates how the legislation seeks to prevent discrimination against disabled people in their access to employment and occupation and how employers and other bodies covered by this part of the Act can comply with their duties.
The draft Code of Practice (Trade Organisations and Qualifications Bodies) explains and illustrates how the legislation seeks to prevent discrimination against disabled people in their access to trade organisations, including trade unions, and in relation to qualifications bodies (which covers most authorities or bodies which can confer a professional or trade qualification). It also explains and illustrates how trade organisations and qualification bodies covered by this part of the Act can comply with their duties. It is a revision of the current Code of Practice (Trade Organisations), which has also been expanded to cover the new duties which are placed upon qualifications bodies.
As consultation is limited to the form of the codes, rather than the underlying law, the draft codes are unlikely to change radically. However, there are questionnaires for both codes and any comments are required by 30th November 2003. The codes can be found at www.drc.org.uk/campaigns/consultation.asp.
This article was written by Simon Jeffreys of CMS Cameron McKenna Solicitors.
It is reproduced here with permission.
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