The Equality Act 2010

– please note that the Act is subject to change at the moment and we will endeavour to keep this page as up to date as possible, E&D team, January 2012

The Equality Act became law in October 2010. It streamlines current anti-discrimination legislation (such as the Race Relations Act 1976 and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995) and ensures consistency in what you need to do to make your workplace a fair environment and to comply with the law.

The Equality Act introduces protected characteristics, which are the grounds upon which discrimination is unlawful. They are age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief (including lack of belief), sex and sexual orientation.

It also introduces the public sector equality duty which is a duty on public bodies, including HEI’s and others carrying out public functions. It is designed to help HEI’s fulfil the requirements of the Equality Act by taking proactive steps to:

• combat discrimination, victimisation and harassment
• advance and promote equality of opportunity between different groups
• foster good relations between people from different groups

It aims to do this by ensuring that equality considerations are embedded into day to day work.

For guidance and more information on:

The Equality Act – go to Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and Equality Challenge Unit (ECU) websites

Public Sector Equality Duty – see our MMU fact sheet or go to EHRC and ECU websites