Protected Characteristics

The Equality Act 2010 protects people against discrimination at work.

It's important to understand what the law says about discrimination, so everyone knows their rights and responsibilities.

What discrimination means

Discrimination means treating someone 'less favourably' than someone else, because of characteristics of which there are 9 major examples:

• AGE applies to all ages. Young people experience difficulty accessing employment because of 'lack of experience' whilst older people worry about finding work because of social perceptions of older people - 'can't keep up with the latest technology'. In the UK there is no longer a default retirement age and so theoretically people can continue to work for as long as they wish. 
• DISABILITY is defined as, ' any physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term effect on a person's ability to carry out normal day to day activities.
• GENDER REASSIGNMENT is when someone decides to live in the gender they identify as rather than the gender they were assigned at birth. At birth our genitalia are used to determine our gender, however our gender identity is personal to us as individuals and is not about the physical sex we are but about how we feel in ourselves.
• MARRIAGE AND CIVIL PARTNERSHIP is about the rights afforded by marriage or civil partnership and in this respect is generally held to be rights for people within a formal legal partnership, whether same sex or opposite sex. This includes same sex marriage. It does not offer protection for those who cohabit. 
• PREGNANCY AND MATERNITY provides protection for the pregnant women from direct and indirect discrimination and for anyone caring for a new-born or very young child. The legislation protects someone from exercising their rights to maternity leave as well as the rights to apply for appointment, promotion and access to development opportunities whilst pregnant.
• RACE covers discrimination because of ethnicity, nationality, national identity, skin colour and caste. Ethnicity is determined by a long and shared history, often religion and language. Certain religious groups, such as Jews and Sikhs are protected by race because of their long shared single history and culture which in itself determines their ethnicity.
• RELIGION OR BELIEF covers all the recognised faith groups and also covers those who do not follow any religion or belief system. Religion and belief are often used as a motivation for extremist behaviour. However, it is important to remember that those who do participate in such behaviour do not reflect the majority within that faith group.
• SEX is simply the fact males and females have equal rights e.g., for pay and annual leave.
• SEXUAL ORIENTATION protects all people from discrimination because of actual or perceived sexual orientation or discrimination by association. There are strong social influences that impact on people because of their sexuality. These have been part of our society for centuries and historically the consequences for people of any sexual orientation other than heterosexual have been extremely damaging.

These are called 'protected characteristics'.

Less favourable treatment can be anything that puts someone with a protected characteristic at a disadvantage, compared to someone who does not have that characteristic.

There's no legal definition of 'putting someone at a disadvantage'. But it might include:

• excluding someone from opportunities or benefits e.g., no disabled access into the pharmacy so someone in a wheelchair can't pick up their prescription. 
• making it harder for someone to do their job e.g. not acknowledging a counter staff member might suffer from a mental health disorder e.g., depression. Remember not all disabilities are visible.
• causing someone emotional distress
• causing someone financial loss

Remember it can still be discrimination even if the less favourable treatment was not intended.

When less favourable treatment might not be discrimination

Sometimes, less favourable treatment can be justified and is not unlawful discrimination.

For example, an employer might be able to use:

• positive action – to help a disadvantaged or underrepresented group e.g., encouraging recruitment of employees from an ethnic minority background
• objective justification – when an employer can prove a legitimate need for less favourable treatment
• a disability exception – to specifically recruit a disabled person without the risk of disability discrimination
• occupational requirement – recruiting someone with a certain protected characteristic to do a particular job