The Committee for Employment & Social Security are seeking the community's views on the draft proposals for new multi-ground discrimination legislation. The consultation will be open until Monday 30th September 2019.
The Committee for Employment & Social Security have published a range of documents, which go into different levels of detail. You do not need to read the technical draft proposals in order to take part in the consultation - you can dip in and out of the sections that interest you, or you can just refer to the easy-read, summary document, FAQs or questionnaire. The documents available are:
- Full technical draft proposals
- Summary of the draft proposals (English)
- Priekšlikumu projektu kopsavilkums (Latvian translation)
- Podsumowanie wstępnych projektów (Polish translation)
- Resumo de projetos de propostas (Portuguese translation)
- Summary of the draft proposals - Easy read
- A Frequently Asked Questions document for employers and service providers
- A Frequently Asked Questions document for people who might experience discrimination
- List of proposed exceptions
- Questionnaire
These documents are available in the downloads section of this page. Please contact us if you require an alternative format.
The Guernsey Blind Association have prepared an audio version of the summary of the draft proposals, which is available below.
The Committee for Employment & Social Security has also published a questionnaire which focuses on some key topics. These are areas where the Committee is particularly interested in hearing views from the community. The questionnaire is available in three parts:
- Part A - who is protected from discrimination and when
- Part B - the complaints process and implementation
- Part C - the exceptions
It is recommend that you read the Exceptions List (available in the downloads section) before completing Part C. The Exceptions List is organised by where the exceptions apply and who they apply to. If you have limited time, the Committee suggest you focus on the exceptions which are most relevant to you.
The Committee would welcome responses on all three parts, but you do not need to respond to all of the parts, or all of the questions, in order to participate. Each part will take about half an hour to complete. If you have comments on aspects of the proposals not covered in the questionnaire you are welcome to email these through to equality@gov.gg or send a letter to the Discrimination Legislation Team.
Background
- As part of the 2013 Disability & Inclusion Strategy, the States of Guernsey agreed to develop proposals for disability discrimination legislation. Responsibility for this work transferred to the Committee for Employment & Social Security in 2016. Work to select 'model' legislation (by comparing the legislation of other countries) in late 2017 and early 2018 led to a question about whether the project should be expanded into a project to develop discrimination legislation which covered multiple grounds of protection - and this was agreed by the States in June 2018. In summer and autumn 2018 expert advice was sought on what provisions the legislation might contain based on international best practice and drawing on Irish and Australian law. The Committee has since reviewed this and formulated a set of draft proposals which it believes would be appropriate for Guernsey.
Consultation events
- In order to explain the draft proposals, the Committee for Employment & Social Security held a public briefing on Monday 15 July at the Princess Royal Centre for the Performing Arts. This event was livestreamed and the video can be watched below. A transcript of this event can be found in the downloads section of this page.
- During the consultation period, the Committee will be engaging with other groups who have a specific interest in the draft proposals. If your organisation is interested in finding out more and would like to enquire about the possibility of someone meeting with you, please contact us using the details below.
What happens next?
- A summary of the findings will be published on this webpage during December 2019.
- The Committee intends to bring its final proposals to the States for debate by April 2020.
- If the States approve the proposals, the legislation will then need to be drafted and returned to the States for approval and we will need to undertake some work to ensure that there are appropriate structures in place to give people information and advice and register and hear complaints raised under the legislation. We have not set a date for when the legislation will come into force. We anticipate this will be 2021 at the earliest.
Open until Monday 30th September
