Berryman to advise on equality act changes
Nottingham-based law firm Berryman has launched a new training session for employers. The programme aims to advise companies on how to avoid potential pitfalls and costly tribunals as the new Equality Act 2010 is introduced.
Hilary Campion, Berryman’s head of employment in the Nottingham office, will lead the half-day event.
He said: “The majority of the provisions of The Equality Act came into force on 1 October and effectively replace nine laws and more than 100 other measures with one single act.
"In practice, this new legislation is a potential minefield for employers and if managers don’t take some priority ‘pre-emptive steps’ in how they approach day-to-day issues with employees, it could lead to expensive discrimination claims, where there is no cap on the compensation which a tribunal can award.”
Last year, the highest-ever sum of £742,000 was awarded in a disability discrimination case and a top-end average of between £300,000 and £400,000 was secured by claimants in a range of sex and race discrimination cases.
Campion said: “Each session brings together our employment lawyers and human resources team so that managers will leave armed with the tools and skills they need to understand and implement the Equality Act 2010 in their own organisation.”
