Save the date for Guernsey's new discrimination laws - 1 October 2023

Subject to the States approving The Prevention from Discrimination (Guernsey) Ordinance 2022 after its next meeting in mid-September, the Committee for Employment and Social Security yesterday confirmed that the proposed commencement date of the Ordinance will be 1 October 2023. This will give employers over 12 months to "get their heads around" the legal obligations contained in the legislation and implement the steps necessary to ensure compliance when it comes into effect.

In its press release on 20 July 2022, Deputy Peter Roffey, President of the Committee for Employment and Social Security said "we thought it important to publish the draft Ordinance prior to formal submission to the States to give interested parties plenty of time to review it before the States considers the Ordinance". 

A copy of the draft Ordinance has been released and can be downloaded here. We will be reviewing that Ordinance carefully and preparing a high-level briefing detailing the headline terms, highlighting the aspects that our employer clients will need to be most mindful of and identifying the changes that may need to be made to existing contracts, policies, procedures and practices when the Ordinance comes into effect. 

There is still time, of course, for changes to be made to the Ordinance and the possibility that it may not be approved by the States at its next meeting, however we consider the likelihood of either of those outcomes being low. We recommend that all employers take note of the 1 October 2023 date and arrange a time in Q4 2022 to speak to a member of the Bedell Cristin employment team about their obligations in 2023.