Discrimination and Harrassment

• The 2003 act inserts new sections into the 1995 act, designated sections 3A and 3B. These sections define what is meant by the terms discrimination and harrassment when these terms are used in both acts. The 1995 act did not define discrimination and did not refer to harrassment. You discriminate against a disabled person when you treat a disabled person less favorably than you treat others who are not disabled, and you cannot justify your less favorable treatment. Acts of omission may be discriminatory. For example, if you have a duty to make workplace adjustments for a disabled person, such as installing access ramps, and you fail to do so, this is an act of discrimination. Harrassment occurs if you violate a disabled person's dignity, or create a humiliating or hostile environment. For example, it may be degrading and humiliating to allow or encourage other workers to make jokes about a disabled person's disability.
  
  

Contract Workers

• Sections four to six of the 1995 act contained provisions relating to discrimination against disabled people by employers. Amendments to the 2003 act expand the provisions of the 1995 act to include provisions relating to specific groups of workers, such as contract workers. Employers are not allowed to discriminate against contract workers by insisting on terms and conditions of employment designed to prevent a disabled worker doing the work required by the employment contract. An employer may not prevent a disabled person from doing a particular job or discriminate against a disabled person by refusing to offer benefits to the disabled person that are available to other contract workers. Relating the provisions to specific groups of workers is intended to remove any doubts that the provisions of the original act may not have applied to certain groups of workers or in certain circumstances.
  
  

Trade Organizations

• Section 13 of the act relates to the treatment of disabled people by trade organizations, such as trade unions or employer organizations. You cannot refuse membership of a trade organization to a disabled person because of the person's disability. You cannot offer a disabled person different terms of membership because of the person's disability. Where a trade organization offers benefits, such as reduced insurance or medical benefits, the trade organization cannot refuse to offer a disabled member access to these benefits.
  
  

Small Business Exemption

• The 1995 act contained provisions in section 7 exempting small businesses from compliance with those parts of the act conferring a duty on employers to provide access and other facilities for disabled employees. This section defined a small business employer as an employer employing less than 20 employees. The secretary of state had the power to reduce this number following a review, but could not increase it. Section 7 of the 2003 act amends the 1995 act by removing the exemption for small businesses, so that all businesses are subject to the requirements of the 1995 act.