Disability Discrimination Act & Equality Act

Disability Discrimination Act 2006 and Equality Act 2017

The Disability Discrimination Act 2006 defines a Disabled Person as someone who:

has a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long term adverse effect on (their) ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities
has had such an impairment in the past

The Disability Discrimination Act 2006 creates the right for any individual defined by the Act as a Disabled Person not to be discriminated against in the provision of goods, facilities and services, including the Isle of Man Tourism Industry.

Phase 3 of the Disability Discrimination Act 2006 commenced on the 1^st January 2018 and imposes a duty on the service provider to:

Take such reasonable steps to facilitate changes to practice, policy or procedure where such current practices make it impossible or unreasonably difficult for disabled persons to make use of its services
Provide an auxiliary aid or service, if it would allow a disabled person to make use of its services
Provide a reasonable alternative method of making the service available to disabled persons where a physical feature makes it impossible or unreasonably difficult for disabled persons to make use of the service

The Equality Act 2017 seeks to provide a unified legal framework to protect individuals from discrimination, harassment and victimisation in both the workplace and the provision of goods and services.

The Equality Act has repealed the following legislation:

Breastfeeding Act 2011
Race Relations Act 2004
Employment (Sex Discrimination) Act 2000

The following characteristics are now protected under the Act:

Gender Reassignment
Marriage & Civil Partnership
Race
Religion
Sex
Sexual Orientation
Pregnancy & Maternity

The remaining two characteristics protected under the Act will be effective from 1 January 2020 which will repeal the Disability Discrimination Act 2006:

Age
Disability

Compliance with the Equality Act 2017 is a legal obligation, but it also makes good business sense as your customers and employees are diverse.

Organisations that:

are able to provide services that meet the diverse needs of its users generally run more efficiently
have a culture of a supportive working environment and draw on a wider range of talent, representing a diverse community are generally more productive
embody a diverse workforce result in better informed decision-making and policy development

In January 2019, Visit Isle of Man hosted an information session on the Equality Act. The presentation from Equality Adviser, Dawn Kinnish, is available here.

Additionally, some employment rights contained within the Employment Act 2006 have been amended.

I am a tourism service provider, what do I need to do?

We request that all tourism providers are required to have an Access Statement in place as best practice. If you have not yet prepared your Statement, guidance can be found here.

Step 1 - Read the ‘Code of Practice’ in full, this document explains your responsibilities and the law surrounding the Disability Discrimination Act 2006.

Please click here to view the current Disability Code of Practice. The IOM Equality Act Code of Practice for business providers will be available later this year, please refer to this document in the meantime.

Step 2 - Familiarise yourself with this document: Accessible Cafes, Restaurant and Hospitality, it is an extremely useful resource for tourism businesses.

Step 3 - Read the Guidance for the Tourism Industry Phase 3 - Disability Discrimination Act, sections of the 'Cofe of Practice' with particular relevance to the tourism industry. Please note that the Code is for guidance only and is not an authoritave statement of the law. The Code aims to help tourism businesses adopt good practice and by following the Code may help to avoid an adverse judgement in a legal challenge.

Step 4 - Complete the Self-Assessment Checklist to review how accessible your service currently is, and to potentially identify ways of improving the accessibility.

Please click here to view the Self-Assessment Checklist

If after completing Step 1 to 4 you have any concerns on how your service or premises comply with either Act, please contact the Disability Awareness Officer or the Equality Adviser who will be more than happy to assist you.

Disability Awareness Officer

dda2006.dhsc@gov.im

Equality Office

equality@gov.im

Please ensure that you include your name, business name and contact telephone number within the email.

Make your Business Accessible

Guidance as to how you can make your property more accessible can be found in the following downloadable documents.