Discrimination

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The Equality Act 2010 consolidated nine pieces of existing anti-discrimination legislation into one single Act. In doing so, it also simplified and strengthened the previous legislation in order to reduce discrimination and inequality.

Under the Act, it is unlawful to discriminate against any employee or customer (that is to treat them less favourably) on the basis of nine protected characteristics:

• Disability;
• Gender reassignment;
• Pregnancy and maternity;
• Marriage and civil partnership;
• Race – this includes ethnic or national origins, colour and nationality;
• Religion or belief;
• Sex;
• Sexual orientation;
• Age – this applies to those aged 18 or above.

It should be noted that in 2023, the Equalities Act 2010 (Amendment) Regulations 2023 were introduced to the legislation clarify and strengthen various parts of the Equalities Act 2010.

These regulations clarify and strengthen:

• Direct discrimination related to pregnancy, maternity and breastfeeding;
• Indirect discrimination where a person without a relevant protected characteristic suffers substantively the same disadvantage as those with that protected characteristic;
• Direct discrimination in the context of access to employment and occupation as regards public statements outside a recruitment process;
• The right to equal pay and employment terms;
• The definition of disability in relation to employment and occupation.

Note: In April 2025 the Supreme Court ruled that in the Equality Act 2010, ‘sex’ means biological sex and that if somebody identifies as trans, they do not change sex for the purposes of the Act, even if they have a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC). It should be noted that trans people remain protected by the Equality Act 2010 under the protected characteristic of Gender Reassignment. The Equality and Human Rights Commission is updating their guidance in response to the ruling. Read the interim guidance. 

You are required to treat all employees and job applicants the same. This covers all areas of employment, including recruitment, terms and conditions, promotion and transfers, training and development and the dismissal process. This requirement applies to all employers regardless of the size of the business.

There are rules against employers asking job applicants protected characteristic-related questions, and you are required to make reasonable adjustments to help people with protected characteristics fulfil the job they are employed to undertake or are applying for. For example, you would not be allowed to reject an applicant who uses a wheelchair for a receptionist position on the grounds that the reception desk was too high or remove an employee from a position because they were pregnant. Rather, you are required to make modifications to the work environment or practices to enable people to undertake their roles.

You are required to protect your staff from harassment at all times. This means taking steps to protect staff from harassment by other staff members, suppliers and customers. Further, an employee may claim harassment even if they are not the person that is being harassed. This can happen, for example:

• Where witnessing the harassment of another employee results in the creation of an intimidating environment for the witness.
• Where an employer has been informed that an employee has been harassed on two or more occasions by a third party, such as a customer or supplier, and does nothing to prevent further harassment.
• Where unwanted conduct relates to the sex of a person, even if it is not prompted by the complainant’s sex.

The new Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 came into force on 26 October 2024. This new legislation requires employers to pro-actively address sexual harassment in the workplace by taking “reasonable steps” to safeguard employees.

What this means is that, rather than reacting to complaints regarding sexual harassment, employers have to consider scenarios where their employees could be exposed to sexual harassment and put in place policies and procedures that minimise the risk. This means undertaking a sexual harassment risk assessment in the same way was you would undertake a health and safety or fire risk assessment, and then undertaking mitigating actions based on the findings.

There is no legal requirement for this assessment to be written but, because any legal action will be based on whether the employer took reasonable steps to ensure that their employees were protected, it is important that you have a written record of the assessment you undertook and the mitigation actions that you put in place to show that you fulfilled your legal obligations under this legislation.

It is important to note that this requirement only relates to sexual harassment rather than to harassment related to other protected characteristics such as disability or religious beliefs.

The Equalities and Human Rights Commission has produced detailed guidance on complying with this requirement in Chapter 3 of their Sexual harassment and harassment at work: technical guidance publication.

Employers face unlimited fines under the legislation if they are found not to be protecting staff from harassment or treating them in a discriminatory manner. For more details and guidance on discrimination legislation, see the Equality Act 2010adviceon Gov.uk.

As with employment, it is illegal to discriminate on the basis of the nine protected characteristics when providing goods and services to customers, unless there is objective justification for doing so. This means that there have to be valid, justifiable reasons why a service cannot be provided to certain groups. For example, there may be medical reasons for not providing certain goods or services.

TheEquality Act 2010 makes it easier for customers to require you to make reasonable adjustments in the way that you provide goods or service. For example, making sure that there are suitable options on the menu for people who do not eat certain foods for religious beliefs. The test will be whether the way that you provide goods or services places a person with a protected characteristic at a substantial disadvantage to other customers.

However, the act does enable businesses to undertake positive action to target their goods, facilities or services to a particular group that is either disadvantaged or currently under-represented in their consumer base, or that has particular needs. For example, discounts could be given to disabled customers or their carers.

Harassment and victimisation

The Equality Act also protects customers from experiencing harassment or victimisation while on your premises. Harassment includes any behaviour that makes the person feel intimidated, humiliated, or degraded, or that creates a hostile environment. For example, if a barman makes comments or jokes about a person’s disability or that fact that they are pregnant. It applies even if these comments are made to a third person.

Victimisation occurs when a customer is treated unfairly as a result of making a complaint about discrimination or their complaint is dismissed without due consideration.

You are legally required to allow assistance dogs (commonly known as guide dogs) onto your premises, even if you do not allow guests to bring pets. A person does not need to provide you with proof that their dog is an assistance dog.

In 2012 the Government introduced age discrimination legislation. This makes it illegal to provide a different product or service, charge a different price, or to apply different terms and conditions to any customer over 18 years old on the basis of age unless:

• There is an ‘Objective Justification’. Objective Justification means that there is a valid objective reason for doing so (for example, charging different premiums for travel insurance could be justified on the basis of different levels of risk).
• The discrimination is beneficial: this means that offering discounts to people that allow them improved access to goods and services would be acceptable (for example, discounts for retired people would be acceptable as it would increase social inclusion).