During the summer of 2019 the Committee for Employment & Social Security consulted regarding draft policy proposals for new multi-ground discrimination legislation. In March 2020 the Committee published proposals for new discrimination legislation which will make it unlawful for employers and service providers to discriminate on the grounds of disability, carer status and race.
You can find the Policy Letter outlining the proposals in more detail and also the resolutions that were agreed by the States at https://gov.gg/article/176559/Proposals-for-a-New-Discrimination-Ordinance
Although the proposals in the Policy Letter now supersede the consultation, the various documents published as part of the consultation remain available in the downloads section of this page. A report setting out the findings of the consultation is also available to download.
Update: The States agreed the policy proposals at the States meeting in July 2020. The legislation is now in the drafting phase and will then return to the States for approval. The Committee are working to undertake 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. The Committee has not set a date for when the legislation will come into force. We anticipate that this will be some time in 2022 - allowing time for guidance and training about the new legislation to be prepared before it is implemented.
Background
- As part of the 2013 Disability & Inclusion Strategy, the States of Guernsey agreed to develop proposals for discrimination legislation to protect disabled people and carers. 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 reviewed this and formulated a set of draft proposals which they believed would be appropriate for Guernsey. The draft proposals published in 2019 drew largely on UK and Irish legislation. Following the consultation, the Committee has given further consideration to the issues raised and has undertaken further discussions with key parties. The Committee published its Policy Letter in March 2020 for debate in the States in April or May 2020.
