New legislation to bring Guernsey into line with other jurisdictions on protecting Islanders from discrimination in and out of the workplace has been published, ahead of a planned States debate in September and implementation in October 2023.
The long-expected law has now been approved by the Committee for Employment & Social Security – and has been published here as the draft Prevention of Discrimination (Guernsey) Ordinance, 2022.
It will be reviewed by the Legislation Review Panel, submitted in final form in August, and debated in September. If approved, it will not take effect until October 2023, so that everyone has time to understand and prepare for the law.
Group Partner Sarah Ash, the head of Walkers' Guernsey Employment Group, said: "The Ordinance will be a major step forward for Guernsey, and will bring the Island in line with other jurisdictions in terms of anti-discrimination protection.
"Although there has been a lot of discussion about the law, now is the time for businesses and other organisations to start to get to grips with its requirements."
The Ordinance will extend protections for prohibited conduct (which under the current legislation are limited to the field of employment only) to cover conduct at work, goods and services, education, clubs and associations and accommodation, initially across five new protected grounds.
A consortium of leading experts – led by Walkers and The Guernsey Institute - was selected by the States of Guernsey last year to deliver a comprehensive training and development programme assisting employers and service providers in understanding and preparing for the new legislation.
Sarah Ash and Senior Counsel Danielle Brouard will be delivering the programme on behalf of Walkers.
The Consortium has now created an online portal for training and resources, which is available here. Five training sessions are being offered, which can be attended in any order, and each training session will be delivered four times between October 2022 and March 2023. All training sessions are free to attend and the training dates are now open for bookings via the Consortium portal.
Sarah Ash said: "The training and resource portal covers the legislation from every angle. We want to ensure that employers, businesses, voluntary groups, members of the public and others impacted by the new legislation fully understand the new rights and protections afforded by the law and their responsibilities under it, so they can prepare in advance of the Ordinance coming into force."
The Consortium also includes Equality Guernsey, Guernsey Employment Trust and Focus HR.
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