The Discrimination Legislation (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2018 was finally passed by the Legislative Council on 11 June 2020. Subsequently the Discrimination Legislation (Miscellaneous Amendments) Ordinance 2020 was gazetted on 19 June 2020, and came into force on the same day. The Ordinance enhances the protection from discrimination and harassment in the four anti-discrimination Ordinances, namely the Sex Discrimination Ordinance (“SDO”), Disability Discrimination Ordinance (“DDO”), Family Status Discrimination Ordinance (“FSDO”) and Race Discrimination Ordinance (“RDO”). The Ordinance implements the following amendments:
- providing protection from direct and indirect discrimination, as well as victimisation for breastfeeding women in key sectors, such as education, employment and the provision of goods, services and facilities under the SDO (these breastfeeding provisions will come into force one year later on 19 June 2021);
- providing protection from sexual, racial and disability harassment in common workplaces where there is no employment relationship (e.g. consignment workers, volunteers and interns) under the SDO, DDO and RDO;
- providing protection from racial and disability harassment where customers harass service providers, including where such acts occur on Hong Kong-registered aircraft or ships and while they are overseas under the DDO and RDO;
- introducing protection from direct and indirect racial discrimination and racial harassment by imputation under the RDO;
- protecting an associate of a person from direct racial discrimination and racial harassment under the RDO;
- providing protection from sexual and disability harassment for members and prospective members of clubs, by the management of the clubs; and
- repealing requirements of an intention to discriminate as a pre-condition to awarding damages for acts of indirect discrimination under the SDO, FSDO and RDO.
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Paul Arkwright
Publisher
