Pictured above: Hilary Campion

Employment lawyers at Midlands law firm Berryman have launched a new training initiative for employers to provide them with the tools and knowledge on how to avoid potential pitfalls and costly tribunals in the wake of the introduction of the new Equality Act 2010.

Led by Hilary Campion, Berryman's head of employment in Nottingham, the half-day turn-key Equality Act Training Programme sessions will bring managers up to speed on the new legislation, as he explains:

"The majority of the provisions of The Equality Act came into force on the 1st 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."

According to Campion, understanding the new Act is of vital importance for employers in the wake of some of the most recent, and highest-ever, financial awards in tribunals: "Last year saw the highest-ever award of £742,000 in a disability discrimination case and a top-end average of between £300,000 and £400,000 in a range of claims for sex and race discrimination," he says.

The interactive sessions will summarise and explain the Acts' new concepts of Associative Discrimination and Perceptive Discrimination, the difference between the lawful Positive Action and unlawful Positive Discrimination, the nine Protected Characteristics set out in the Equality Act 2010, and explain how and why employers can now be liable for harassment of employees by third parties, such as customers and clients. 

"The sessions are run as an in-house training programme at businesses' own premises to minimise down-time for managers," he says. "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."

For more information about The Equality Training Act Programme, contact Berryman's Hilary Campion, Tel: 0115 945 3712, Email: hilary.campion@berryman.co.uk. 

Berryman is a Midlands' law firm based in Nottingham, which provides an extensive portfolio of legal services within four key areas: Business Services, Property & Construction, Insurance Services and Private Client. It employs over 130 people and has 17 partners. For more information, T: 0845 310 7200, or visit www.berryman.co.uk.