It's unlawful to discriminate against employees with protected characteristics. Below, we unpack these traits and how to improve workplace diversity.
Creating a fair and inclusive workplace is more than just a legal requirement - it's essential for fostering a positive and productive environment. Under the UK Equality Act 2010, nine protected characteristics ensure employees and job applicants are treated fairly, regardless of personal traits or circumstances.
Understanding these characteristics and the protections they afford can help businesses comply with the law and build a culture where everyone feels valued.
This guide provides an in-depth explanation of the nine protected characteristics, outlines the types of discrimination, and offers practical steps for employers to promote equality in the workplace.
Protected characteristics are specific attributes or traits legally safeguarded under the Equality Act 2010. They apply in employment, education, and public services, ensuring people are not unfairly treated because of who they are.
It simplifies previous anti-discrimination laws into a single framework, making it easier for organisations to comply. The nine protected characteristics are:
These characteristics represent the cornerstone of a fair and inclusive workplace.
Each of the nine protected characteristics addresses an aspect of a person's identity that could be the reason for unfair treatment, discrimination or harassment. Employers must need to ensure all employees are treated equally and not discriminated against based on these protected characteristics.
This characteristic protects individuals of all ages from discrimination. Age bias can occur at any stage of employment, from recruitment to retirement. Employers can mitigate age discrimination by using inclusive language in job postings and ensuring equal access to training and development opportunities.
Example: A job advertisement specifying a preference for "recent graduates" may indirectly exclude older candidates, constituting indirect discrimination.
Disability protection covers physical, mental, and sensory impairments that have a substantial, long-term impact on daily activities. Employers are legally required to make reasonable adjustments for disabled employees. By creating an accessible work environment, organisations demonstrate their commitment to equality.
Example: Providing ergonomic office equipment or allowing flexible hours to attend medical appointments demonstrates reasonable adjustments.
This characteristic protects individuals who are transitioning, have already, or are planning to. It also applies to non-binary and gender-diverse individuals. Employers should provide training to promote understanding and respect for gender diversity.
Example: Refusing to allow an employee to use facilities aligned with their gender identity could constitute discrimination.
This protects employees who are married or in a civil partnership from unfair treatment in the workplace. While it primarily applies to employment, it’s important for policies to be inclusive of all forms of legal unions.
Example: Denying spousal benefits to employees in a civil partnership would breach this protection.
Pregnancy and maternity protection ensures women are not unfairly treated due to their pregnancy, childbirth or maternity leave. It extends to recruitment, promotion, and redundancy. Supportive policies, such as enhanced parental leave and return-to-work programmes, can help foster loyalty and trust.
Race protection covers colour and nationality (including citizenship), as well as ethnic or national origins. Employers must ensure their policies and practices promote racial equality. Organisations should regularly review hiring practices to identify and eliminate unconscious bias.
Example: Requiring a specific accent for customer-facing roles without valid justification could amount to indirect discrimination.
This characteristic protects individuals with religious or philosophical beliefs, or those lacking. Employers are expected to make reasonable accommodations where possible. Clear policies around inclusivity and respect can help avoid misunderstandings.
This protects individuals from discrimination based on their gender. It includes issues such as unequal pay, sexual harassment and gender stereotypes. Employers should conduct regular pay audits and create transparent promotion criteria to ensure fairness.
Example: Offering leadership training exclusively to male employees creates an unfair barrier for female ones.
This covers all orientations, ensuring no one faces discrimination for who they are or whom they love. Workplaces should promote acceptance by supporting LGBTQ+ initiatives and fostering open dialogue.
Example: Ignoring homophobic comments in the workplace could contribute to a hostile environment, breaching the Equality Act.
The Equality Act identifies several forms of discrimination:
Treating someone less favourably because of a protected characteristic.
Example: Refusing to hire a candidate because of their age.Policies or practices that disadvantage individuals with a protected characteristic.
Example: A policy requiring employees to work late may disadvantage parents with childcare responsibilities.Unwanted behaviour related to a protected characteristic that creates an intimidating or hostile environment.
Example: Making derogatory remarks about someone’s religion.
Unfairly treating someone because they’ve made a complaint or supported someone else’s.
Example: Excluding an employee from meetings after they raised a discrimination complaint.Employers play a key role in promoting equality and preventing discrimination. Steps to ensure compliance include:
Businesses should make employees' rights clear through regular communication and accessible policies. Staff are entitled to:
The law protects employees against discrimination, harassment, unfair treatment and exclusion in the workplace. This includes recruitment, training and promotion, pay and benefits, performance management, redundancy and dismissal.
If an employee is unfairly treated, directly or indirectly, employers could face a tribunal claim for unlawful discrimination.
However, fostering an inclusive workplace isn’t just about compliance, but creating an environment where everyone can thrive. By respecting and accommodating the nine protected characteristics, employers demonstrate a commitment to fairness, which can:
We all have unconscious biases. Acknowledging that is important and the first step towards embracing diversity at work. There are benefits aplenty to having an inclusive company, such as being 87% more likely to make better decisions and 70% more likely to capture new markets.
There are several ways to encourage and promote inclusion and diversity in the workplace.
It is a challenge to be one hundred per cent inclusive all day, every day. However, a little effort goes a long way in building a diverse workplace where employees feel included, and businesses reap the rewards of having a content workforce.
Employees, contractors, workers, applicants, interns, apprentices and former employees.
No. In the EU, political opinion and trade union membership (in some states) are included, and in the US, characteristics such as genetic information and veteran status.
To all employment stages, from job adverts, interviews and onboarding to training, promotion and dismissal, as well as education, housing, provision of goods and services, and clubs and associations
Our Essentials Library contains e-learning content designed to help organisations meet fundamental compliance requirements. If you are looking for focused training, our DEI training package - Diversity & Equality Training Package offers a complete solution for your compliance programme. Courses in the libraries include:
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