Almost half of Personnel Today readers are still unsure about the implications of the Equality Act 2010, according to findings from Personnel Today’s online quiz on the legislation, elements of which came into force today.
The quiz posed five key questions about issues covered by the Act, with multiple choice answers for each one. Only half (50.5%) of respondents answered all of the questions correctly.
The question that posed the hardest challenge for participants related to whether discrimination can occur when someone is perceived to be something that they are not. It asked whether or not the following statement is true: “If someone is discriminated against because others think they have a protected characteristic, for example, age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation, but they do not, they will not be able to make a discrimination claim”.
Of the respondents to have taken part in the quiz so far, a quarter (26.4%) answered this question incorrectly, by saying they believed the statement to be true. In fact, the opposite is the case; an employee can still make a discrimination claim if they are discriminated against, even if they do not have a protected characteristic.
Almost three-quarters (71.2%) of respondents answered the question correctly, while 2.3% said they didn’t know.
This finding supports figures from Personnel Today’s current News Barometer homepage poll, which suggests that two-thirds of respondents feel their business is not prepared for the introduction of the Equality Act.
Respondents taking part in the quiz were asked to provide details of the sector in which they work. The findings showed that those from public sector organisations answered more questions correctly than those from private sector and non-profit organisations.
At the time of publication, 471 respondents had completed the quiz.
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If you want to test your knowledge of the Equality Act 2010 you can still do so by taking part in our quiz.
