British employment equality law is a body of law which legislates against prejudice-based actions in the workplace. As an integral part of UK labour law it is unlawful to discriminate against a person because they have one of the "protected characteristics", which are, age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, race, religion or belief, sex, pregnancy and maternity, and sexual orientation. The primary legislation is the Equality Act 2010, which outlaws discrimination in access to education, public services, private goods and services, transport or premises in addition to employment. This follows three major European Union Directives, and is supplement by other Acts like the Protection from Harassment Act 1997. Furthermore, discrimination on the grounds of work status, as a part-time worker, fixed term employee, agency worker or union membership is banned as a result of a combination of statutory instruments and the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, again following European law. Disputes are typically resolved in the workplace in consultation with an employer or trade union, or with advice from a solicitor, ACAS or the Citizens Advice Bureau a claim may be brought in an employment tribunal. The Equality Act 2006 established the Equality and Human Rights Commission, a body designed to strengthen enforcement of equality laws.The EHRC replaced the Commission for Racial Equality, the Equal Opportunities Commission, and the Disability Rights Commission.
Discrimination is unlawful when an employer is hiring a person, in the terms and conditions of contract that are offered, in making a decision to dismiss a worker, or any other kind of detriment. "Direct discrimination", which means treating a person less favourably than another who lacks the protected characteristic, is always unjustified and unlawful, with the exception of age. It is lawful to discriminate against a person because of their age, however, only if there is a legitimate business justification accepted by a court. Where there is an "occupational requirement" direct discrimination is lawful, so that for instance an employer could refuse to hire a male actor to play a female role in a play, where that is indispensable for the job. "Indirect discrimination" is also unlawful, and this exists when an employer applies a policy to their workplace that affects everyone equally, but it has a disparate impact on a greater proportion of people of one group with a protected characteristic than another, and there is no good business justification for that practice. Disability differs from other protected characteristics in that employers are under a positive duty to make reasonable adjustments to their workplace to accommodate the needs of disabled staff. For age, belief, sex, race, gender reassignment and sexuality there is generally no positive obligation to promote equality, and positive discrimination is generally circumscribed by the principle that merit must be regarded as the most important characteristic of a person. In the field of equal pay between men and women, the rules differ in the scope for comparators. Any dismissal because of discrimination is automatically unfair and entitles a person to claim under the Employment Rights Act 1996 section 94 no matter how long they have worked.
History Anti-discrimination law is a recent development. Religious discrimination was first tackled by laws aimed at Roman Catholics. The Papists Act 1778 was the first act that addressed legal discrimination against Roman Catholics, but it was not until the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 that Catholics were considered fully emancipated. A year later, in 1830, debates began on the subject of making similar provisions for Jews. A strong Tory lobby in Parliament prevented any furtherance of this cause until the Religious Opinions Act 1846, although this only went some way towards acceptance of all religious viewpoints. It was only the Reform Act 1867 that saw extension of the vote to every male householder. Women were also marginalised from general social participation. The first changes came at municipal level, particular in the Birmingham Municipal Council from the 1830s. The Chartists from the mid 19th century, and the Suffragettes after the turn of the 20th century lobbied for universal suffrage against a conservative judiciary and a liberal political establishment. In Nairn v The University Court of the University of St Andrews (1907), Lord McLaren even proclaimed that it is
"a principle of the unwritten constitutional law of this country that men only were entitled to take part in the election of representatives to Parliament."(1907) 15 SLT 471, 473
The Representation of the People Act 1918 gave the universal franchise to men, and knocked away the last barriers of wealth discrimination for the vote. But for women, only those over 30 were enfranchised, and the judiciary remained as conservative as ever. In Roberts v Hopwood (1925) a metropolitan borough council had decided to pay its workers a minimum of £4 a week, whether they were men or women and regardless of the job they did. The House of Lords approved the district auditor's surcharge for being overly gratuitous, given the fall in the cost of living. Lord Atkinson said
"the council would, in my view, fail in their duty if ... [they] allowed themselves to be guided in preference by some eccentric principles of socialistic philanthropy, or by a feminist ambition to secure the equality of the sexes in the matter of wages in the world of labour."Roberts v Hopwood AC 578, 594 Though Lord Buckmaster said "Had they stated that they determined as a borough council to pay the same wage for the same work without regard to the sex or condition of the person who performed it, I should have found it difficult to say that that was not a proper exercise of their discretion."Roberts v Hopwood AC 578 (HL), at 590
After a decade, the Representation of the People Act 1928 finally gave women the vote on an equal footing.
The Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 received Royal Assent on 23 December 1919. Its basic purpose was "… to amend the Law with respect to disqualification on account of sex" "from the exercise of any public function, or from being appointed to or holding any civil or judicial office or post, or from entering or assuming or carrying on any civil profession or vocation, or for admission to any incorporated society (whether incorporated by Royal Charter or otherwise)".
Attitudes to racial prejudice in the law were set to change markedly with the proverbial "winds of change" sweeping through the Empire after World War II. As Britain's colonies won independence, many immigrated to the motherland, and for the first time communities of all colours were seen in London and the industrial cities of the North. The Equal Pay Act 1970, the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 and the Race Relations Act 1976 were passed by Harold Wilson's Labour government.
In 1975, Britain became a member of the European Community, which became the European Union in 1992 with the agreement of the Maastricht Treaty. The Conservative government opted out of the Social Chapter of the treaty, which included provisions on which anti-discrimination law would be based. Although they passed the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, it was not until Tony Blair's "New Labour" government won the 1997 election that the UK opted into the social provisions of EU law. In 2000, the EU overhauled and introduced new Directives explicitly protecting people with a particular sexuality, religion, belief and age, as well as updating the protection against disability, race and gender discrimination. The law is therefore quite new and is still in a state of flux. Between the EU passing directives and the UK government implementing them, it is apparent that the government has often failed to offer the required minimum level of protection. More changes are likely soon to iron out the anomalies.
Equality framework Equality legislation in the UK, formerly in separate Acts and regulations for each protected characteristic, is now primarily found in the Equality Act 2010. Particularly since the United Kingdom joined the Social Chapter of the European Union treaties, it mirrors a series of EU Directives. The three main Directives are the Equal Treatment Directive (Directive 2006/54/EC, for gender), the Racial Equality Directive (2000/48/EC) and the Directive establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation (2000/78/EC, for religion, belief, sexuality, disability and age).
Direct discrimination
Direct discrimination occurs when an employer treats someone less favourably on the ground of a protected characteristic. It is unlawful under section 13 of the Equality Act 2010. A protected characteristic (age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation) must be the reason for the different treatment, so that it is because of that characteristic that the less favourable treatment occurs. Generally, the law protects everyone, not just a group perceived to suffer discrimination. Therefore, it is unlawful to treat a man less favourably than a woman, or a woman less favourably than a man, on the ground of the person's sex. However people who are single are not protected against more favourable treatment of people in marriage or civil partnership, and non disabled people are not protected if a disabled person is treated more favourably.
In Coleman v Attridge Law in the European Court of Justice confirmed that a person may claim discrimination even if they are not the person with the protected characteristic, but rather they suffer unfavourable treatment because of someone they associate with.
For the protected characteristic of Age, it is a defence to a claim of direct discrimination that the discrimination is "justified" by some reason. There is no defence of justification for other protected characteristics.
Harassment
Under the Equality Act 2010 section 26,Formerly the SDA 1975 s 4A, RRA 1976 s 3A, DDA 1995 s 3B, EE(SO)R 2003 r 5, EE(RB)R 2003 r 5, EE(A)R 2006 r 6 a person harasses another if he or she engages in unwanted conduct related to a relevant protected characteristic, and the conduct has the purpose or effect of violating the other's dignity, or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for the other. It is also harassment if a person treats another less favourably because the other has rejected or submitted to unwanted conduct of a sexual nature.
Victimisation
The definition of "victimisation" is found in the Equality Act 2010 section 27.Formerly the SDA 1975 s 4(1), RRA 1976 s 2, DDA 1995 s 55, EE(RB)R 2003 r 4, EE(SO)R 2003 r 4, EE(A)R 2006 r 4 It refers to subjecting a person to a further detriment after they try to complain or bring proceedings in connection with discrimination, on their own behalf or on behalf of someone else.
Indirect discrimination
"Indirect" discrimination is unlawful under the Equality Act 2010 section 19.Formerly SDA 1975 ss 1(1)(b) and 1(2)(b), RRA 1976 ss 1(1)(b) and 1(1A), EE(RB)R 2003 r 3(b), EE(SO)R 2003 r 3(b), EE(A)R 2006 r 3(b) It involves the application of a provision, criterion or practice to everyone, which has a disproportionate effect on some people and is not objectively justified. For instance, a requirement that applicants for a job be over a certain height would have a greater impact on women than on men, as the average height of women is lower than that of men. It is a defence for the employer to show that the requirement is “a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim”.
Ojutiku v Manpower Services Commission EWCA Civ 3, ICR 661 R (Schaffter) v Secretary of State for Education IRLR 53 Rainey v Greater Glasgow Health Board AC 224