In November 1986 the Sex Discrimination Act was amended to bring it in line with the European Commission’s Equal Treatment Directive – which the UK had been found to be in breach of by the European Court in 1983.
That UK law was out of kilter with the Directive was also spelt out in a case that had been referred to the European Court of Justice and was heard in February 1986 (Marshall v. Southampton and South West Hampshire Area Health Authority [1986] IRLR 140). Miss Marshall was a senior dietician who was dismissed by her employer at the age of 62, although she wished to continue to 65. The employer’s reason was that it was because she was a woman and their policy was to require employees to retire at the age at which the state pension was payable (60 for women and 65 for men). Whilst her case did not come within the scope of the UK’s Sex Discrimination Act, the ECJ ruled that her dismissal was unequal treatment within the terms of the Equal Treatment Directive, and also that this Directive could be relied upon by an individual in a national tribunal.
The resultant Sex Discrimination Act 1986 has been described as ‘a hodge-podge of measures’ through which the government ‘adopted a “minimalist position”, making the smallest number of changes to comply with European law (Gregory, 161).
Small employers (of five or fewer) were removed from exemption, whilst that of private household was modified. Any collective agreements that were discriminatory were deemed unlawful. Clauses regarding pensions were modified, so that different compulsory retirement ages for men and women were no longer permissible.
The Sex Discrimination (Northern Ireland) Order 1988 imported similar legislative changes into the Province, but after considerable delay.
Further reading
- Gregory, Sex, Race and the Law. Legislating for Equality. Sage, 1987.