Equality bill 'provides welcome clarification'

25th March 2010

Laws outlined in the equality bill provide clear instructions for recruitment practices regarding disabled employees, one expert has claimed.

Darren Sherborne of legal firm Rickerbys said the banning of pre-employment health questionnaires offers "welcome clarity" on issues that have arisen in the media recently, People Management reports.

For example, he noted that while the legislation undermines the ruling in the Cheltenham Borough Council v Christine Laird case, it at least addresses important questions brought up by such matters.

Last year, the authority lost a lawsuit against former employee Ms Laird after it tried to sue her for allegedly covering up a history of mental health illness on an application form.

Commenting on the proceedings, Mr Sherborne said: "In that case, the court explicitly stated that they saw nothing in the Disability Discrimination Act that prevented pre-employment questioning and sweep-up questions in health questionnaires."

The equality bill recently passed its third reading in the House of Lords, which is the last phase in which the document can be changed before becoming a law.

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