Gender equality top of agenda

Solicitors in Northern Ireland will get a "timely prompt" to remember their own equal opportunities laws this April.

The rest of Britain will see the introduction of the new Gender Equality Duty on April 6th, giving a wake-up call to Northern Ireland's solicitors, according to the UK Equal Opportunities Commission's (EOC).

The new legislation means that public sector authorities in Britain will be obliged to proactively promote gender equality, a practice already adopted in Northern Ireland.

By April's close all public authorities will be expected to have laid out clear plans to promote equality between the sexes in the workplace, ensuring that both benefit equally from new policies.

EOC chair, Jenny Watson, warned that there would be no room for complacency, since some seemingly gender neutral policies still favour one gender over the other. Examples of this are parenting policies slighting men working in childcare and public transport tending to favour male commuters.

Ms Watson said: "It means a major shift in employment practice across the public sector, tackling the barriers that prevent women from getting to the top such as lack of flexibility and ensuring that all areas of work are opened up to both sexes, bringing more men into professions such as primary school teaching, nursing and childcare."

The law should bring the rest of the UK in line with Northern Irish practices, which are extremely strict on gender discrimination.

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