Legge 16 novembre 1989

Employment Act 1989 (c. 38), 16th November 1989.

An Act to amend the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 in pursuance of the Directive of the Council of the European Communities, dated 9th February 1976, (No.76/207/EEC) on the implementation of the principle of equal treatment for men and women as regards access to employment, vocational training and promotion, and working conditions; to repeal or amend prohibitions or requirements relating to the employment of young persons and other categories of employees; to make other amendments of the law relating to employment and training; to repeal section 1(1)(a) of the Celluloid and Cinematograph Film Act 1922; to dissolve the Training Commission; to make further provision with respect to industrial training boards; to make provision with respect to the transfer of staff employed in the Skills Training Agency; and for connected purposes. [16th November 1989]

Be it enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords
Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

(Omissis)

Section 5.
Exemption for discrimination in connection with certain educational appointments.

(1) Nothing in Parts II to IV of the 1975 Act shall render unlawful any act done by a person in
connection with the employment of another person as the head teacher or principal of any educational
establishment if it was necessary for that person to do that act in order to comply with any requirement of any instrument relating to the establishment that its head teacher or principal should be a member of a particular religious order.

(2) Nothing in—
(a) Part II of the 1975 Act, or
(b) Part IV of that Act so far as it has effect in relation to Part II,
shall render unlawful any act done by a person in connection with the employment of another person as a professor in any university if the professorship in question is, in accordance with any Act or instrument relating to the university, either a canon professorship or one to which a canonry is annexed.

(3) Nothing in the provisions of the 1975 Act referred to in subsection (2)(a) or (b) shall render unlawful any act done by a person in connection with the employment of another person as the head, a fellow or any other member of the academic staff of any college, or institution in the nature of a college, in a university if it was necessary for that person to do that act in order to comply with any requirement of any instrument relating to the college or institution that the holder of the position in question should be a woman.

(4) Subsection (3) shall not apply in relation to instruments taking effect after the commencement of that subsection; and section 6(b) of the [1978 c. 30.] Interpretation Act 1978 (words importing the feminine gender to include the masculine) shall not apply to that subsection.

(5) The Secretary of State may by order provide that any provision of subsections (1) to (3) shall not have in relation to—
(a) any educational establishment or university specified in the order; or
(b) any class or description of educational establishments so specified.

(6) In this section “educational establishment” means—
(a) any school within the meaning of the [1944 c. 3l.] Education Act 1944 or the [1980 c. 44.] Education (Scotland) Act 1980;
(b) any college, or institution in the nature of a college, in a university; or
(c) any institution to which section 156 of the [1988 c. 40.] Education Reform Act 1988 applies (further and higher education institutions) or any constituent institution of an institution to which that section applies.

(7) Nothing in this section shall be construed as prejudicing the operation of section 19 of the 1975 Act (exemption for discrimination in relation to employment of ministers of religion).

(Omissis)

Section 11.
Exemption of Sikhs from requirements as to wearing of safety helmets on construction sites.

(1) Any requirement to wear a safety helmet which (apart from this section) would, by virtue of any statutory provision or rule of law, be imposed on a Sikh who is on a construction site shall not apply to him at any time when he is wearing a turban.

(2) Accordingly, where—
(a) a Sikh who is on a construction site is for the time being wearing a turban, and
(b) (apart from this section) any associated requirement would, by virtue of any statutory provision or rule of law, be imposed—
(i) on the Sikh, or
(ii) on any other person, in connection with the wearing by the Sikh of a safety helmet, that requirement shall not apply to the Sikh or (as the case may be) to that other person.

(3) In subsection (2) “associated requirement” means any requirement (other than one falling within subsection (1)) which is related to or connected with the wearing, provision or maintenance of safety helmets.

(4) It is hereby declared that, where a person does not comply with any requirement, being a requirement which for the time being does not apply to him by virtue of subsection (1) or (2)—
(a) he shall not be liable in tort to any person in respect of any injury, loss or damage caused by his failure to comply with that requirement; and
(b) in Scotland no action for reparation shall be brought against him by any person in respect of any such injury, loss or damage.

(5) If a Sikh who is on a construction site—
(a) does not comply with any requirement to wear a safety helmet, being a requirement which for the time being does not apply to him by virtue of subsection (1), and
(b) in consequence of any act or omission of some other person sustains any injury, loss or damage which is to any extent attributable to the fact that he is not wearing a safety helmet in compliance with the requirement, that other person shall, if liable to the Sikh in tort (or, in Scotland, in an action for reparation), be so liable only to the extent that injury, loss or damage would have been sustained by the Sikh even if he had been wearing a safety helmet in compliance with the requirement.

(6) Where—
(a) the act or omission referred to in subsection (5) causes the death of the Sikh, and
(b) the Sikh would have sustained some injury (other than loss of life) in consequence of the act or omission even if he had been wearing a safety helmet in compliance with the requirement in question, the amount of any damages which, by virtue of that subsection, are recoverable in tort (or, in Scotland, in an action for reparation) in respect of that injury shall not exceed the amount of any damages which would (apart from that subsection) be so recoverable in respect of the Sikh’s death.

(7) In this section— “building operations” and “works of engineering construction” have the same meaning as in the [1961 c. 34.] Factories Act 1961;
“construction site” means any place where any building operations or works of engineering construction are being undertaken;
“injury” includes loss of life, any impairment of a person’s physical or mental condition and any disease;
“safety helmet” means any form of protective headgear; and
“statutory provision” means a provision of an Act or of subordinate legislation.

(8) In this section—
(a) any reference to a Sikh is a reference to a follower of the Sikh religion; and
(b) any reference to a Sikh being on a construction site is a reference to his being there whether while at work or otherwise.

(9) This section shall have effect in relation to any relevant construction site within the territorial sea adjacent to Great Britain as it has effect in relation to any construction site within Great Britain.

(10) In subsection (9) “relevant construction site” means any construction site where there are being undertaken any building operations or works of engineering construction which are activities falling within Article 7(a) of the [S.I. 1989/840.] Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (Application outside Great Britain) Order 1989.

Section 12.
Protection of Sikhs from racial discrimination in connection with requirements as to wearing of safety helmets.

(1) Where—
(a) any person applies to a Sikh any requirement or condition relating to the wearing by him of a safety helmet while he is on a construction site, and
(b) at the time when he so applies the requirement or condition that person has no reasonable grounds for believing that the Sikh would not wear a turban at all times when on such a site, then, for the purpose of determining whether the application of the requirement or condition to the Sikh constitutes an act of discrimination falling within section 1(1)(b) of the [1976 c. 74.] Race Relations Act 1976 (indirect racial discrimination), the requirement or condition shall be taken to be one which cannot be shown to be justifiable as mentioned in sub-paragraph (ii) of that provision.

(2) Any special treatment afforded to a Sikh in consequence of section 11(1) or (2) above shall not be regarded for the purposes of the Race Relations Act 1976 as giving rise, in relation to any other person, to any discrimination falling within section 1 of that Act.

(3) Subsections (7) to (10) of section 11 above shall apply for the purposes of this section as they apply for the purposes of that section.

(Omissis)