L.R.O. 1/2012
LAWS OF GUYANA
EQUAL RIGHTS ACT
CHAPTER 38:01
Act
19 of 1990
(inclusive) by L.R.O.
Pages Authorised
Current Authorised Pages
1 – 6 ... 1/2012
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Note
on
Subsidiary Legislation
This Chapter contains no subsidiary legislation.
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CHAPTER 38:01
EQUAL RIGHTS ACT
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
SECTION
1. Short title.
2. Equal rights and opportunities for women and men.
3. Amendment of enactments.
4. Penalty; civil liability.
5. Power to make regulations.
SCHEDULE
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19 of 1990 An Act to make provision for the enforcement of the
principles enshrined in article 29 of the Constitution so
as to secure equality for women and for matters
connected therewith.
[31st DECEMBER, 1990]
Short title.

Equal rights
and
opportunities
for women and
men
1. This Act may be cited as the Equal Rights Act.
2. (1) Women and men have equal rights and the same
legal status in all spheres of political, economic and social life.
(2) All forms of discrimination against women or
men on the basis of their sex or marital status are illegal.
(3) Women and men shall be paid equal
remuneration for the same work or work of the same nature.
(4) No person shall be ineligible for, or
discriminated against in respect of, any employment,
appointment or promotion in, or to, any office or position on
the ground only of sex.

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(5) No person shall, on the ground only of sex, be
denied—
(a) access to academic, vocational and
professional training; or
(b) equal opportunities in social, political
or cultural activity.
(6) Without prejudice to the generality of the
foregoing provisions of this section it shall be discriminatory
against women where in relation to employment—
(a) in arrangements made for the purpose
of determining who should be offered
employment;
(b) in the terms on which employment is
offered;
(c) by the refusal or deliberate omission
to offer employment;
(d) in the way access is afforded to
opportunities for promotion, transfer
or training or to any other benefits,
facilities or services.,
men are afforded more favourable opportunities or
conditions than women or preference is given to men.
(7) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to
prevent any employer from making special labour and health
protection measures for women, or from making provision
for conditions enabling mothers to work or for material and
moral support for mothers and children, including paid leave
and other benefits for mothers and expectant mothers.

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Amendment of
enactments.
Schedule.
Penalty; civil
liability.
Power to make
regulations.
(8) Where any written law makes provision for the
search of any person, a woman shall be searched only by
another woman and a man shall be searched only by another
man.
(9) This section shall have effect notwithstanding
anything contained in any other written law or contract to the
contrary.
(10) In this section “remuneration” means any
money or other thing, whether called salary, wage, allowance
or by any other name, had or contracted to be paid, delivered
or give as a recompense, reward or remuneration for any
work or labour done or to be done, whether within a certain
time or to a certain amount, or for a time or an amount
uncertain, and includes merit increment or other increment in
such remuneration.

3. The enactments specified in the first column of the
Schedule are hereby amended in the manner specified in the
corresponding entry in the second column of that Schedule.
4. Any person who contravenes section 2(2), (3), (4),
(5), (6) or (8) shall, without prejudice to any civil liability, be
liable on summary conviction to a fine of five thousand
dollars and imprisonment for six months and in the case of a
continuing offence to a further fine of five hundred dollars for
each day, after the first day, during which the offence
continues.
5. (1) The Minister may make regulations for carrying
out the purposes of this Act.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the
foregoing, and in particular, the Minister may make
regulations to provide for all or any of the following
matters—

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(a) the principles for determining
whether any work is of the same
nature as any other work, or
specifying that any work is of the
same nature as any other work;
(b) any other matter that is required to
be, or may be, prescribed by the
Minister by regulations made under
this Act.
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SCHEDULE
[ Omitted]
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