The Equality Act 2006 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The Equality Act 2006 - Essay Example This essay discusses that "The general duty places a proactive responsibility upon all public bodies to ensure that their services, practices, and policies are developed with the different needs of women and men in mind. This will lead to a more inclusive society with high-quality contemporary services - targeted to meet the specific needs of men and women."2 Interestingly, this Act has already brought legal challenges. On 21 March 2007, the House of Lords refused to remove the Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007, which came into force on 30 April. Catholic adoption agencies had routinely refused to place children with gay couples. The government gave the Catholic adoption agencies an additional 21 months to prepare, but as Baroness Andrews told the House: "At present, there are 116 separate pieces of equality legislation in force - 35 Acts, 52 statutory instruments, 13 codes of practice, and 16 European Commission directives and recommendations. They come with 2,500 pages of guidance."3 It is expected that a forthcoming European Union Dire... They come with 2,500 pages of guidance."3 It is expected that a forthcoming European Union Directive will require further legislation that will seek to provide redress for those discriminated against in the provision of goods and services on the grounds of gender reassignment. Trevor Phillips, the chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), was quoted as saying: "Even the most well-intentioned businesses and there are an awful lot of them, don't know when they've complied (with the existing laws). It's almost impossible unless you have vast armies of bureaucrats." As part of their corporate social responsibility, persons working in the public domain have a moral and legal responsibility to eradicate discrimination. This is crucial since it should be borne in mind in mind that business impacts on other â€Å"opportunities for the less-advantaged in other areas such as housing.† Based on the foregoing arguments it seems that the business sector has yet to wholeheartedly embrace the legislation and take proactive steps to counteract discrimination in the workplace. One takes comfort from the words of Mr. Phillips – that the majority of organizations in the public domain are well-intentioned.