The Equality Act covers nine 'protected characteristics'

• Age, including age group - this can be specific or broad (e.g., people in their mid-30s, people under 50, young people, pensioners, etc.)
• Disability, is 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, by 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.
• 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, including holding a religion or philosophical belief or a lack of.
• 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 protected characteristics from the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

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 discrimination, harassment, victimisation.
• 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, e.g., survey results, copies of workplace policies, updates on any positive action programmes, or data on the representation of people with different protected characteristics among staff and students.
• Prepare and publish equality objectives at least every 4 years.

You can find this information for Warwick on our PSED reporting webpage.

The Equality Act allows for Positive Action

The Act recognises that people with protected characteristics may experience disadvantages, have different needs, or be underrepresented in certain activities and allows employers to take 'positive action' to address this, 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 one or more of the above issues applies 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.

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.