Equality Act

This Act is a comprehensive act that replaced several pieces of legislation, including the Sex Discrimination Act of 1975. In general, The Equality Act 2010 legally protects people from discrimination in the workplace and in wider society, and provides equality provisions, including the following:

• the basic framework of protection against direct and indirect discrimination, harassment and victimization in services and public functions, work, education, associations and transport
• changing the definition of gender reassignment, by removing the requirement for medical supervision
• protection for people discriminated against because they are perceived to have, or are associated with someone who has, a protected characteristic
• clearer protection for breastfeeding mothers
• applying a uniform definition of indirect discrimination to all protected characteristics
• harmonizing provisions allowing voluntary positive action
• allowing claims for direct gender pay discrimination where there is no actual comparator
• making pay secrecy clauses unenforceable
• extending protection in private clubs to sex, religion or belief, pregnancy and maternity, and gender reassignment
• introducing new powers for employment tribunals to make recommendations that benefit the wider workforce