The Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) made the announcement as amendments to the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill were published. BIS said the measures would help cut unnecessary red tape and take steps towards creating the right conditions for businesses to grow.
The Equality Act 2010 will be amended to:
- Remove the questionnaire procedure that enables an individual who thinks that he or she has been discriminated against to gather information from the employer and enables the parties to use the individual's questions and the employer's response as evidence in the proceedings.
- Require employment tribunals to order an employer to conduct an equal pay audit where it has breached the equal pay provisions under the Act, except in limited circumstances.
Jo Swinson, minister for employment relations and consumer affairs, said: "The changes to the act will help strengthen the business environment and boost confidence, by sweeping away needless bureaucracy and out-of-date rules.
She added: "Clearing away barriers to help businesses grow and invest is an essential part of the Government's plan for growth."
Responding to the Government's announcement that it is to repeal sections of the Equality Act, less than two years after the legislation was introduced, Trades Union Congress (TUC) general secretary Brendan Barber said: "Today's U-turns make a mockery of the claim that 'equality is at the heart of this coalition government."
"Getting rid of third party harassment will make working life even harder for the thousands of care home staff, teachers and health workers who suffer prejudice and abuse from those they are trying to help,"
Barber added: "And taking away the power of tribunals to make recommendations to employers will make it much more difficult to deal with employers who serially bully and discriminate against their staff.
"These changes are in line with wider government plans to weaken employment rights and let bad bosses off the hook. This is no way to create the decent full-time jobs that this country so desperately needs."
In March 2012, the Government launched a consultation on proposals to repeal these provisions on the basis that there is 'no evidence to suggest that the third-party harassment provisions are serving a practical purpose or are an appropriate or proportionate manner of dealing with the type of conduct that they are intended to cover'. The consultation closed in 7 August and, although a formal response has not yet been published, the Government confirmed that it would proceed with its proposals.
