Discrimination Review - legal reaction

Richard Linskell, employment partner at Dawsons Solicitors, said:

The volume and piecemeal development of the UK's current equality and discrimination laws have created an unhelpful landscape for businesses and employees alike, in which complexity and uncertainty are the watchwords. Any simplification of discrimination legislation resulting from this Government review would therefore be greatly beneficial and should be welcomed.

However, I do not think our expectations should be too high for this review for two main reasons. Firstly, UK employment law, in particular in the field of discrimination, is largely constrained by European Union directives and case law, which will limit the Government's room to manoeuvre and it is unclear how much clarity the Government will realistically be able to bring. Secondly, the Government's recent track record is poor when it comes to introducing clear and simple employment legislation (witness the debacle of the statutory dismissal and grievance procedures) and this does not give grounds for optimism.