Paul Reeves, employment partner at international law firm Stephenson Harwood LLP, comments on the Government's plans for the abolition of statutory discrimination questionnaires.

“From 6 April 2014, statutory discrimination questionnaires will be abolished, which will impact all discrimination claims taking place on or after that date. At present an individual may submit a questionnaire requesting information relating to their belief that they have been discriminated against under the Equality Act 2010. The employer is then given a period of eight weeks in which to respond and if they fail to do so or fail to provide clear answers, the ET may draw negative inferences from this.

Under this change, the statutory discrimination questionnaire will be abolished. Although employers may welcome this news, particularly in light of the time needed to respond to such questionnaires, the actual benefits of this change are negligible. An individual may still submit informal questions as a pre-action request and the ET may still draw adverse inferences from an employer's refusal to respond or failure to provide clear answers.”

In an attempt to clarify how an individual should formulate informal questions and guide employers in responding to such questions, ACAS have issued their guidance. The guidance is silent as to the timeframe employers have in which to respond. Our advice is that you do not unreasonably delay in responding and in any event within eight weeks of receipt. Although the aim of the abolition of questionnaires is to move away from the prescribed form that is currently being used, it would appear that there is nothing preventing individuals from using the current questionnaire template when formulating their “informal” questions from 6 April 2014.”