Equality act 2010 A quick guide in 20 slides This guide is a brief overview and must NOT be taken or used as legal advice. For specific queries, always discuss matters with a qualified adviser. Mahtab Khan ©Change Agency & Associates Ltd 2013 This guide is a brief overview and must NOT be taken or used as legal advice. For specific queries, always discuss matters with a qualified adviser.

Equality Act 2010 a quick guide 9 protected characteristics 6 prohibited acts / conduct Age Disability Gender reassignment Race Religion / belief Sex Sexual orientation Marriage & Civil Partnership Pregnancy & maternity Direct discrimination Associative discrimination Perceptive discrimination Indirect discrimination Harassment Victimisation

Age This refers to a person belonging to a particular age group which can mean people of the same age e.g. 30-year-olds or range of ages e.g. 18-25 year-olds or people over 55

Disability A person has a disability if s/he has a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on that person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. (12 months)

Gender reassignment This applies to a person proposing to undergo, is undergoing or has undergone a process to change their sex. The process of changing or transitioning from one gender to another. This may be a woman who has transitioned or is transitioning to be a man, or a man who has transitioned or is transitioning to be a woman. The person is not required to be under medical supervision

Race This refers to individuals and groups of people defined by their colour, nationality, (including citizenship) ethnic or national origins

Religion or Belief Religion has the meaning usually given to it but belief includes religious and philosophical beliefs including lack of belief e.g. atheism. Generally, a belief should affect your life choices or the way you live for it to be included in the definition

Sex This refers to whether a person is a man or a woman (of any age)

Sexual Orientation Refers to whether a person’s sexual attraction is towards their own sex, the opposite sex or to both sexes

Marriage & Civil Partnership Marriage is defined as a ‘union between a man and a woman’. Same-sex couples can have their relationships legally recognised as ‘civil partnerships’. Civil partners must not be treated less favourably than married couples

Pregnancy and Maternity Pregnancy is the condition of being pregnant or expecting a baby. Maternity refers to the period after the birth, and is linked to maternity leave in the employment context. In the non-work context, protection against maternity discrimination is for 26 weeks after giving birth, and this includes treating a woman unfavourably because she is breastfeeding

Prohibited Conduct 6 types of discrimination

Direct discrimination Direct discrimination occurs when someone is treated less favourably than another person because of a protected characteristic they have or are thought to have (see perceptive discrimination), or because they associate with someone who has a protected characteristic (see associative discrimination – next slide)

Associative discrimination (one kind of direct discrimination) How will they be with me if I’m seen with her? This is direct discrimination against someone because they associate with another person who possesses a protected characteristic

Perceptive discrimination (another kind of direct discrimination) e.g. ‘I saw them holding hands, so s/he must be…’ This is direct discrimination against an individual because others think they possess a particular protected characteristic. It applies even if the person does not actually possess that characteristic

Indirect discrimination e.g. a no headwear policy adversely affects Sikh men Indirect discrimination can occur when you have rules, policies or even a practice in your organisation that applies to everyone but particularly disadvantages people who share a protected characteristic

Objective justification Indirect discrimination may be justified if you can show that you acted reasonably in managing your business, i.e. that it is ‘a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim’. A legitimate aim might be any lawful decision you make in running your business or organisation, but if there is a discriminatory effect, the sole aim of reducing costs is likely to be unlawful. Being proportionate really means being fair and reasonable, including showing that you’ve looked at ‘less discriminatory’ alternatives to any decision you make

+ the other protected characteristics Workplace harassment (different from the criminal act definition in Protection From Harassment Act) + the other protected characteristics unwanted conduct related to a relevant protected characteristic, which has the purpose or effect of: violating an individual’s dignity OR creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for that individual”

Victimisation Under Equality Act or company procedure TU rep detrimental treatment is covered under separate legislation Victimisation occurs when an employee is treated badly because they have made or supported a complaint or raised a grievance under the Equality Act; or because they are suspected of doing so. (Not protected from victimisation if they have maliciously made or supported an untrue complaint)

Equality act 2010 A quick guide This guide is a brief overview and must NOT be taken or used as legal advice. For specific queries, always discuss matters with a qualified adviser. Mahtab Khan ©Change Agency & Associates Ltd 2013 This guide is a brief overview and must NOT be taken or used as legal advice. For specific queries, always discuss matters with a qualified adviser.