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• University of Greenwich
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• Equality legislation in the UK

Equality Act 2010

The stated aim of the Equality Act 2010 is to reform and harmonies discrimination law, and to strengthen the law to support progress on equality. As the Act is brought into force, it will replace all existing equality legislation, including the Equal Pay Act (1970).

Protected characteristics

1. Age
2. Disability
3. Gender reassignment
4. Marriage and civil partnership
5. Pregnancy and maternity
6. Race
7. Religion and belief (including lack of belief)
8. Sex
9. Sexual orientation

Note: Socio-economic status is NOT currently a protected characteristic in HEI.

Prohibited conduct

Direct discrimination

Direct discrimination occurs when a person treats one person less favorably than they would another because of a protected characteristic.

Applies to all characteristics

Association and perception

Direct discrimination can occur when a person is treated less favorably because they are perceived to have a protected characteristic or associate with someone how does.

Applies to all characteristics except marriage and civil partnership

Examples

• a student, whose child has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, is refused access to a graduation ceremony because of fears about the child’s behaviour (association)
• an employee is overlooked for promotion because their partner has undergone gender reassignment (association)
• an employer decides not to promote a female employee because senior staff believe her to be pregnant irrespective of whether she is pregnant or not (perception)

Combined discrimination

• The new combined discrimination section protects people who experience direct discrimination because of a combination of two protected characteristics (marriage and civil partnership, and pregnancy and maternity are not included in these provisions.
• This provision will mean, for example, that a black female member of staff who is discriminated against because she is a black woman – as opposed to a black man or a white woman – could bring a single claim for combined race and sex discrimination.

Indirect discrimination

European definition adopted:

• Indirect discrimination occurs when a provision, criterion or practice is neutral on the face of it, but its impact particularly disadvantages people with a protected characteristic, unless the person applying the provision can justify it as a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.

Applies to all characteristics (including explicitly disability for the first time) except pregnancy and maternity.

Harassment

• unwanted conduct that has the purpose or effect of creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for the complainant, or violating the complainant’s dignity
• unwanted conduct of a sexual nature (sexual harassment)
• treating a person less favorably than another person because they have either submitted to, or did not submit to, sexual harassment or harassment related to sex or gender reassignment.

Applies to all protected characteristics apart from pregnancy and maternity, and marriage and civil partnership

The perceptions of the recipient of the harassment are very important and harassment can have been deemed to have occurred even if the intention was not present, but the recipient felt they were being harassed

Victimisation

• Victimization takes place where one person treats another less favourably because he or she has asserted their legal rights in line with the Act or helped someone else to do so.

Further information