29/08/2018
Are you doing enough?
The Discrimination (Disability) Jersey Regulations 2018 will come into force on 1 September 2018 (this Friday!), under the Discrimination (Jersey) Law 2013.
Disability will then join race, s*x, s*xual orientation, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity and age as a protected characteristic for the purposes of the Jersey’s anti-discrimination law.
It will become unlawful to discriminate against people on the grounds of their disability in situations such as employment, the provision of goods, services and facilities, access to and use of public premises, disposing of premises (including granting tenancies) and education among others.
The 2013 Law prohibits both “direct” and “indirect” discrimination on the grounds of protected characteristics.
The Regulations go further, extending the definition of direct discrimination when it comes to disability, to include treating a disabled person unfavourably, not simply because he or she is disabled, but because of something which arises as a consequence of his or her disability.
An example would be if a landlord refused to grant a tenancy to a disabled person because she had a guide dog. The landlord is not refusing to grant the tenancy because the lady is blind; it is the dog to which the landlord objects. But the lady has a guide-dog as a consequence of her disability and so, from 1 September 2018, the landlord’s refusal could fall foul of the law.
We will all be under a duty (as employers and service providers) to consider whether the way we operate could place disabled people at a disadvantage.
Which can only be good news for disabled people, and ultimately, for all of us.
