Equality Act 2010

The Equality Act provides a legal framework to protect the rights of individuals and advance equality of opportunity for all.

The Equality Act became law in October 2010, replacing previous equality legislation (such as the Race Relations Act 1976 and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995), bringing together separate pieces of legislation into one law to ensure consistency and a single framework for tackling disadvantage and discrimination.

You can read the full text of the Equality Act on the legislation.gov.uk webpages and learn more about it from the following external sources: Equality and Human Rights Commission, Gov.UK, Acas, and Citizen's Advice.

Learn more about the key elements of the Equality Act below.

Protected Characteristics

The Equality Act covers nine 'protected characteristics':

Age.

This can be specific or broad groups (e.g., people in their mid-30s, people under 50, young people, pensioners, etc.)

Disability.

Defined as a "physical or mental impairment" which has a substantial (i.e., more than minor or trivial impact) and long-term (i.e., lasting for at least 12 months) adverse effect on [a person's ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. The Act also creates a duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people - see our adjustments guidance and process for more information.

Gender Reassignment.

Proposing to undergo, undergoing, or having undergone a process (or part of a process) to change "physiological or other attributes of sex" - the Act does not require someone to undergo medical treatment to be protected.

Marriage and Civil Partnership.

Covering legally married people (both same-gender and differnt-gender couples) and civil partners so they can not be treated less favourably than single people.

Pregnancy and Maternity.

Linked to maternity leave in the employment context or for 26 weeks after birth in non-work contexts and includes protection for breastfeeding.

Race.

Including "colour; nationality; [and] ethnic or national origins". A racial group can be made up of two or more different racial groups (e.g. Black Britons).

Religion or Belief.

This includes holding a religion or philosophical belief and a lack of religion or belief.

Sex.

Defined in the Act as a man or woman.

Sexual Orientation.

Meaning a person's attraction towards "persons of the same sex, persons of the opposite sex, or people of either sex."

Find more on from the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

Prohibited Conduct

The Equality Act outlines the following 'prohibited conduct':

Direct Discrimination.

This is when someone is treated less favourably because of a protected characteristic. This can include direct discrimination:

By association: This is when someone is treated less favourably because of a connection to an individual who has a protected characteristic (for example, a family member, friend, or colleague).
By perception: This is when someone is treated less favourably because they are thought to have a protected characteristic, whether or not this perception is correct.

Indirect Discrimination.

This is when a practice, policy, or rule is applied to everyone but has a worse effect on some.

Harassment.

This is when someone engages in unwanted conduct relevant to a protected characteristic and that conduct has the purpose or effect of violating the recipient's dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for them.

Victimisation.

This is when someone is treated less favourably due to an allegation of discrimination which they made, supported, or gave evidence to.

If you have experienced or witnessed any incident of bullying, harassment, discrimination, sexual misconduct, relationship abuse and/or hate crime, you can report it anonymously or speak to an advisor and request support through Report + Support.

Public Sector Equality Duty

The Equality Act created the Public Sector Equality Duty. The PSED places a responsibility on public bodies to not just avoid discrimination, but to promote equality by having "due regard to the need to":

Eliminate unlawful conduct prohibited by the Act.

Meaning eliminating discrimination, harassment, victimisation, failure to make reasonable adjustments and any other conduct that is prohibited by or under the Act.

Advance equality of opportunity.

By removing or minimising disadvantages experienced by people with protected characteristics, meeting their different needs, and encouraging their participation in areas where it is disproportionately low.

Foster good relations.

Between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and people who don't by tackling prejudice and promoting understanding.

The PSED is supported by the Specific Duties, which help public bodies be transparent about their performance on equality by requiring that we publish equality information at least once a year to show compliance with the PSED and prepare and publish equality objectives at least every 4 years. You can find this information for Warwick on our PSED reporting webpage

Positive Action

The Act allows employers to take 'positive action' to address inequalities, which may involve treating one group more favourably.

There are two types of positive action outlined in the Equality Act:

General.

If an employer reasonably thinks that people with protected characteristics experience disadvantages, have different needs, and/or are underrepresented in certain activities, they can take proportionate actions designed to address this. This could include, for example, providing a leadership scheme to help an underrepresented group reach more senior positions or providing tailored training for a group with specific requirements.

Recruitment and Promotion.

If an employer reasonably thinks that people with a particular protected characteristic are underrepresented in their workforce or experience a disadvantage, they can recruit or promote a candidate with that protected characteristic over another candidate of equal merit who does not have that characteristic.

If you are planning work which includes positive action measures, contact the Legal and Compliance Services team for guidance.

Our talent programmes for disabled, women, LGBTQUIA+, and BAME staff, the PATHWAY Programme addressing underrepresentation of Black Academics, and the Aurora leadership programme for women, are all examples of positive action taking place at Warwick.

Our Dignity Principles set out our expectations of how we behave.

These principles facilitate an environment with the ability to voice ideas at its core, a place in which staff and students operate with mutual respect, with the confidence that equality of opportunity is accessible to all. These principles underpin our desire to give students and staff the best experience possible whilst studying and working here.