orientation or because they are pregnant or have recently given birth. In addition, in Northern Ireland, HEIs must ensure that their procedures do not discriminate on the grounds of political opinion. When developing their REF procedures, HEIs will also need to be mindful that under the fixed-term employee and part-time workers regulations, fixed-term employees and part-time workers have the right not to be treated by an employer any less favourably than the employer treats comparable employees on open contracts or workers. The relevant regulations are: Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000 Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000 Fixed-term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2002 Fixed-term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002. As public sector organisations, in order to show compliance with the requirements of the public sector equality duty of the Equality Act 2010, HEIs in England, Scotland and Wales need to consider and understand the effect of their REF policies on equality. Equalities legislation in Northern Ireland and Wales places a specific duty on HEIs to conduct equality impact assessments on new and existing policies. Consequently, the funding bodies require all HEIs to conduct equality impact assessments on their policies for selecting staff for the REF. Summary of legislation A summary of the equality legislation with which institutions have to comply generally, and which they should take into account when preparing REF 2014 submissions is included in Table 2. Panel chairs, members and secretaries have received a briefing about this legislation (see briefing for REF panels’ available ‘Equality at under The briefing instructs them to develop working methods and ‘Publications). assessment criteria that encourage HEIs to submit the work of all of their excellent researchers, including those whose ability to produce four outputs or work productively throughout the assessment period had been constrained for reasons covered by equality legislation. Table 2: Summary of equality legislation Age All employees within the higher education sector are protected from unlawful age discrimination in employment the Equality Act 2010 and the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006. Individuals are also protected if they are perceived to
orientation or because they are pregnant or have recently given birth. In addition, in Northern Ireland, HEIs must ensure that their procedures do not discriminate on the grounds of political opinion. When developing their REF procedures, HEIs will also need to be mindful that under the fixed-term employee and part-time workers regulations, fixed-term employees and part-time workers have the right not to be treated by an employer any less favourably than the employer treats comparable employees on open contracts or workers. The relevant regulations are: Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000 Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000 Fixed-term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2002 Fixed-term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002. As public sector organisations, in order to show compliance with the requirements of the public sector equality duty of the Equality Act 2010, HEIs in England, Scotland and Wales need to consider and understand the effect of their REF policies on equality. Equalities legislation in Northern Ireland and Wales places a specific duty on HEIs to conduct equality impact assessments on new and existing policies. Consequently, the funding bodies require all HEIs to conduct equality impact assessments on their policies for selecting staff for the REF. Summary of legislation A summary of the equality legislation with which institutions have to comply generally, and which they should take into account when preparing REF 2014 submissions is included in Table 2. Panel chairs, members and secretaries have received a briefing about this legislation (see ‘Equality briefing for REF panels’ available at under ‘Publications). The briefing instructs them to develop working methods and assessment criteria that encourage HEIs to submit the work of all of their excellent researchers, including those whose ability to produce four outputs or work productively throughout the assessment period had been constrained for reasons covered by equality legislation. Table 2: Summary of equality legislation Age All employees within the higher education sector are protected from unlawful age discrimination in employment the Equality Act 2010 and the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006. Individuals are also protected if they are perceived to