Equality Act 2010

The Equality Act 2010 provides a new cross-cutting legislative framework to protect the rights of individuals and advance equality of opportunity for all; to update, simplify and strengthen the previous legislation; and to deliver a simple, modern and accessible framework of discrimination law which protects individuals from unfair treatment and promotes a fair and more equal society.

One of the key priorities of the Coalition Government is to support economic recovery and remove unnecessary burdens on business. The Equality Act 2010 is a major simplification of discrimination legislation that makes the law easier to understand and comply with and delivers significant benefits for business, public bodies and individuals.

The provisions of the Equality Act are being brought into force at different times to allow time for the people and organisations affected by the new laws to prepare for them. Most of the provisions came into force on 1 October 2010. The Government is considering how the remaining provisions will be commenced so that the Act is implemented in an effective and proportionate way.

Latest news

On 6 April 2011 Provisions in the Equality Act 2010 related to positive action in recruitment and promotion were commenced. These voluntary provisions cover the use of positive action in matters of recruitment and employment and can be used by an employer to address under-representation or other forms of disadvantage within the workforce. Detailed guidance is available.
On 6 April a new quick start guide was published about the ban on questions about health and disability during recruitment.
On 5 April 2011 the new public sector Equality Duty came into force . The Equality Duty replaces the three previous duties on race, disability and gender, bringing them together into a single duty, and extends it to cover age, sexual orientation, religion or belief, pregnancy and maternity, and gender reassignment (in full).The aim of the Duty is for public bodies to consider the needs of all individuals in their day to day work, in developing policy, in delivering services, and in relation to their own employees.
The new Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) codes of practice on employment, services and equal pay, reflecting the Equality Act 2010 as commenced on 1 October 2010, come into force on 6 April 2011. They will replace five existing codes issued by the predecessor bodies to the EHRC.The new codes are aimed primarily at the specialist reader: courts or employment tribunals; lawyers; HR specialists. For the non-specialist reader there is a range of guidance available from the EHRC and in the form of summary and quick-start guides produced by the Government Equalities Office. The codes are admissible in evidence in civil proceedings. Failure to comply with a code must be taken into account by a court or tribunal, where relevant. Here are the links to the Order revoking the five codes of the former commissions and the Order bringing into effect the three new codes. The three new codes are available on the EHRC website: http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/legal-and-policy/equality-act/equality-act-codes-of-practice/.
On 31 March 2011, Lynne Featherstone announced the start of a consultation about how to implement section 202 of the Equality Act 2010. The consultation ‘Civil partnerships on religious premises: a consultation’ sets out detailed proposals for a voluntary system where faith groups must give their consent before religious premises can apply to be approved by the local authority as places where civil partnership registrations may take place. Further information can be found on the consultation page.
On 23 March 2011, the Government published The Plan for Growth which sets out plans for reducing burdens on business in order to achieve sustainable economic growth. This included announcements about two measures in the Equality Act 2010: - the Government has decided not to bring forward the Equality Act's dual discrimination provisions. - the Government will consult on removing the provisions of the Act which impose liability on employers for harassment of their employees by their parties over whom they have no direct control. The consultation will start in the autumn.
On 17 March the Government confirmed that the public sector Equality Duty will come into force as planned on 5 April 2011, and published a policy review paper proposing new specific duties to support the general duty. The new draft regulations focus on cutting bureaucracy and increasing transparency in order to free up public bodies to do what is appropriate in their circumstances, to take responsibility for their own performance and to be held to account by the public. Comments on the new draft regulations are invited until 21 April 2011. Further information can be found here.
On 3 March 2011, Lynne Featherstone announced the start of a consultation on the age discrimination ban provision in the Equality Act. The consultation ‘Equality Act 2010: Banning age discrimination in services, public functions and associations - A consultation on proposed exceptions to the ban’sets out those areas where we believe that different treatment of people of various ages is justified; and proposes how the legislation will be drafted to take account of these. Further information can be found here.
On 21 January, in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, the Government Equalities Office released its correspondence with the Law Society about the interpretation of Section 147 of the Equality Act 2010 (which sets out the conditions under which a compromise contract settling a discrimination case can be lawful), and a link to two Counsels' opinions obtained by the Law Society.
12 January 2011 the Government confirmed that the new public sector Equality Duty will be brought into force on 5 April 2011. New draft regulations have been published following the consultation in Autumn 2010, setting out new specific duties which will promote better performance of the Equality Duty. The Equality and Human Rights Commission has also published guidance on the duty, explaining the responsibilities of public sector bodies in England and non-devolved bodies in Scotland and Wales. Further information can be found here.
On 16 December 2010 the Government-commissioned research into the prevalence of caste prejudice and discrimination undertaken by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) was published. The report can be seen on our research page and further details can be found here.
On 2 December 2010 the Government announced that it will bring into force section 159 of the Equality Act 2010 in April 2011. This will help employers achieve a more diverse workforce by giving them the option, when faced with candidates of equal merit, to choose a candidate from an under-represented group.
The Government also announced on 2 December that it will not implement the gender pay reporting measures in section 78 of the Act while it is working with business to encourage the publication of equality workforce data on a voluntary basis.
Theresa May, the Home Secretary and Minister for Women and Equalities, announced on 17 November that the Government will not be taking forward the socio-economic duty for public bodies, one of the outstanding provisions in the Equality Act 2010. See below for further details.
The Government’s consultation on specific duties to underpin the new public sector Equality Duty closed on 10 November.
Here is a link to the Commencement Order which brought most of the Equality Act 2010 into force on 1 October 2010. A list of the provisions which came into force on 1 October is below.
You can view here the list of all other statutory instruments that are relevant to the 1 October commencement package.
Information about transitional arrangements - how the Commencement Order deals with discrimination and related claims arising before and after 1 October - can be viewed here: Equality Act 2010: Transitional Arrangements.
You can view the Frequently Asked Questions here.
In addition, the Department for Transport has published guidance about the taxi provisions of the Act which came into force on 1 October.

Equality Act provisions which came into force on 1 October 2010

The basic framework of protection against direct and indirect discrimination, harassment and victimisation in services and public functions; premises; work; education; associations, and transport.
Changing the definition of gender reassignment, by removing the requirement for medical supervision.
Levelling up protection for people discriminated against because they are perceived to have, or are associated with someone who has, a protected characteristic, so providing new protection for people like carers.
Clearer protection for breastfeeding mothers;
Applying the European definition of indirect discrimination to all protected characteristics.
Extending protection from indirect discrimination to disability.
Introducing a new concept of “discrimination arising from disability”, to replace protection under previous legislation lost as a result of a legal judgment.
Applying the detriment model to victimisation protection (aligning with the approach in employment law).
Harmonising the thresholds for the duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people.
Extending protection from 3rd party harassment to all protected characteristics.
Making it more difficult for disabled people to be unfairly screened out when applying for jobs, by restricting the circumstances in which employers can ask job applicants questions about disability or health.
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 which benefit the wider workforce.
Harmonising provisions allowing voluntary positive action.

Equality Act provisions which came into force in April 2011

Positive action in recruitment and promotion
Public sector Equality Duty

Equality Act provisions the Government is still considering

Duty to make reasonable adjustments to common parts of leasehold and commonhold premises and common parts in Scotland
Provisions relating to auxiliary aids in schools
Diversity reporting by political parties
Provisions about taxi accessibility
Prohibition on age discrimination in services and public functions
Family property
Civil partnerships on religious premises

Ministers are considering how to implement these remaining provisions in the best way for business and for others with rights and responsibilities under the Act. Their decisions will be announced in due course.

Equality Act Provisions that the Government has decided not to take forward

Socio-economic Duty on public bodies
Gender pay gap reporting
Dual discrimination

Further details are available on the FAQs webpage

Guidance

Our webpage Equality Act 2010: What do I need to know? contains summary guides to the Act explaining how the changes to the law affect different people and organisations and providing practical examples. It also contains "Quick Start" guides to help people understand the particular measures being commenced in October. Further quick-start guides are due to be published shortly.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has published detailed guidance on equality law and good practice.

Codes of practice

The Equality and Human Rights Commission is producing statutory Codes of Practice on the Equality Act 2010.

Downloads

Historical Information

The Equality Bill was published on 27 April 2009 and became an Act of Parliament on 8 April 2010.

The Parliament website contains links to all relevant documents (including evidence by stakeholders, Hansard records of debates, other proceedings) relating to the passage of the Equality Bill through each House of Parliament.

You can view the dates for all stages of the passage of the Equality Bill, including links to Hansard records of the debates in the Houses of Parliament.

Also available are the earlier drafts of the Equality Bill (on introduction, and as amended at subsequent stages), earlier drafts of the Explanatory Notes, amendment papers, Public Bill Committee and Report stage proceedings, research papers and Select Committee reports

You can also find archived information and material on the Equality Bill.

How to contact us

If you have any questions about the Equality Act and how it affects you please contact us at enquiries@geo.gsi.gov.uk