‘Discrimination law will need time and business resources’
EMPLOYERS could have to invest significant time and resources to comply with new anti-discrimination legislation, an expert has warned.
Carey Olsen associate Lois Madden was speaking at the firm’s first Guernsey employment seminar of the year.
She said Guernsey’s anti-discrimination law regime was on the cusp of a fundamental change, as the Employment & Social Security was due to present its policy paper on the proposed expansion of the discrimination law to the States at the beginning of March.
The final details of what it would contain have not been made public. From previous announcements though, it was likely to add more ‘protected characteristics’ to Guernsey’s law, including disability – the exact definition of which has been the subject of varied opinions during the ESS consultation process. The policy paper would then be debated by the States, with draft legislation likely to come in 2021.
‘Many larger Guernsey employers may have policies and procedures which can be adapted to ensure compliance with the new law but, especially if ESS chooses to depart from established models from Jersey or the UK, getting compliant will require considerable employers to invest a significant amount of time, resources and attention in advance of its implementation,’ said Ms Madden.
It is envisaged that the States may adopt a staggered approach, as has been done in Jersey.
‘This would mean bringing in, for example, protections for disability initially, followed by other characteristics such as race and sexual orientation,’ she said.
‘Adopting a staggered timetable will be of great assistance to the island’s business community and Carey Olsen will continue to keep its clients informed of the next steps in this process.’
More than 60 representatives from the island’s business community attended the seminar.
Ms Madden took them through some of the areas in which discrimination law might have a significant impact on their recruitment processes.
Under the current legal regime, Guernsey employers already needed to be mindful of their obligations in respect of potential sex discrimination so as to ensure that, for example, job adverts do not indicate an intention that an employer would prefer a male or female candidate.
The changes would represent some of the biggest reforms to the local employment sector for many years.
