Anti Discrimination Act – Legislation for Hotel HR

Anti Discrimination Act is a global concern for today’s hospitality industry and maintained in every hotels in India and world.

Sex Discrimination Act 1975

Sex and marital status (the latter referring specifically to persons who are married)

Sex Discrimination (Gender Reassignment) Regulations 1999

Persons who intend to undertake a sex  change, are currently in the process of doing so or have completed treatment

Employment Equality (Sex Discrimination) Regulations 2005

Introduced a new definition of indirect discrimination and added specific definitions covering discrimination on
grounds of harassment

Race Relations Act 1976

Race, colour nationality, national or ethnic origin

Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000

The duty of public authorities to take positive action to promote good race relations

Disability Discrimination Act 1995

Disabled persons

Disability Discrimination Act (Amendment) Regulations 2003

Removal of the exemption for employers of  fewer than 15 people; shift in the burden of proof

Disability Discrimination Act 2005

Those with progressive conditions such as HIV and cancer will be treated as disabled from the point of diagnosis. Those with mental illness are no longer required to have their illness clinically recognized

Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003

Orientation towards persons of the same sex, of the opposite sex, of both the same sex and the opposite sex

Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003

Religion or similar beliefs

Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974

Persons with ‘spent’ convictions

Human Rights Act 1998

Prohibition of forced labour and slavery; right to respect for private and family life

The Employment of Socially Defined Minority Groups

Discrimination on the basis of sex, race, religion, sexuality, disability, age, etc. is a very real issue within society generally and workplaces specifically.

WOMEN

Women may face particular barriers in the workplace in the hospitality industry:

• Sexism and sexist attitudes.
• The macho atmosphere in certain departments, such as kitchens.
• Lack of flexible, part-time opportunities at higher levels in the industry.
• Shortage of positive female role models.
• Poor career planning.
• Difficulties of the dual role in maintaining a management career and caring for children and other dependents.

Hospitality organizations are taking several steps to increase the quantity and quality of women’s participation in the workforce. They are working on areas such as developing flexible working arrangements, improving childcare, career break options, and training and education to increase women’s opportunity at work. They also have policies on gender equality and harassment.

MINORITY

Steps which can be taken by organizations to promote racial equality:

• Ensuring fair recruitment practices.
• Accommodating different religious beliefs in the multicultural workforce.
• Introducing diversity awareness training.
• Ensuring HR policies to help create and protect a diverse work environment.
• Taking positive action on training and development.

DISABLED EMPLOYEES

Disability does not always mean that the person has to be in a wheelchair or visually impaired. A large percentage of the disabled people have minor disabilities. There are many employees who become disabled while in work as well. Steps which organizations may take to help the disabled employees are:

• Make every effort when employees become disabled to ensure they stay in employment.
• Take action to ensure that key employees are aware of the needs of the disabled employees.
• Ask disabled employees at least once a year what can be done to ensure they can develop and use their abilities at work.
• Each year review achievements towards making the workplace welcoming and accessible for disabled employees.
• Avoid using terms like handicapped or retarded. The preferred terms are people with disabilities, differently-abled, or people with learning difficulties.