The draft of Equal Opportunities Bill is a proposed legislation that seeks to clearly delineate in Belize’s laws anti-discrimination protections for individuals who possess certain protected characteristics (PC). The proposed law identifies eighteen PCs, including age, breastfeeding, race, political opinion, sexual orientation, and family responsibilities.

The document defines “discriminate against” in its section 3, saying that it “means to make a distinction, create an exclusion, or show a difference in treatment in relation to a person, by reason of that person falling within a particular description by virtue of that person having any” of the protected characteristics.

The legislation, if it becomes law, would have implications for company policies, especially those that relate to recruitment and employers’ relationship with existing employees, and more. These, for example, are delineated in section 7 of the Bill, and speaks to commonplace principles of not discriminating against prospective or current employees based on any one or more of the PCs.

Section 14 of the Bill, which speaks to “Reasonable adjustments by employers for persons with disability” speaks to employers making reasonable accommodations for employees who have disabilities, and is a requirement that can range from simple changes such as changing seating arrangements to possibly more costly physical alterations to premises.

The proposed law also seeks to establish the Equal Opportunities Commission and Tribunal. The former would be the first point of entry for any complaint, and would be tasked with policy making and investigative duties, to name a few. Where matters cannot be resolved at the level of the Commission, it could be advanced to the Tribunal, which is described as a ‘superior court’.

While the BCCI is currently analyzing the document prior to issue a formal position on the Bill, we encourage members to objectively and independently review, and provide feedback to the BCCI’s Secretariat.