Your Rights under the Equality Act 2010

The Equality Act became law in 2010. It covers everyone in Britain and protects people from discrimination, harassment and/or victimisation.

The information on the Your Rights pages is here to help you understand if you have been treated unlawfully.

Who is protected by the Equality Act?

Everyone in Britain is protected. This is because the Act protects people against discrimination because of the protected characteristics that we all have. Under the Act, there are nine protected characteristics:

There are some important differences depending on which protected characteristic you have. If you click on one of the links above you can learn more about how you are protected.

Situations in which you are protected from discrimination

Under the Equality Act you are protected from discrimination:

  • When you are in the workplace.
  • When you use public services like health care (e.g. visiting your GP or local hospital) or education (e.g. your school or college).
  • When you use businesses and other organisations that provide services and goods (like shops, restaurants, and cinemas).
  • When you use transport.
  • When you join a club or association (e.g. your local tennis club); and
  • When you have contact with public bodies like your local council or government departments

How can you be discriminated against?

There are four main types of discrimination.

Direct discrimination
This means treating one person worse than another person because of a protected characteristic. For example, a promotion comes up at work. The employer believes that people’s memories get worse as they get older so doesn’t tell one of his older employees about it, because he thinks the employee wouldn’t be able to do the job.

Indirect discrimination
This can happen when an organisation puts a rule or a policy or a way of doing things in place which has a worse impact on someone with a protected characteristic than someone without one. For example a local authority is planning to redevelop some of its housing. It decides to hold consultation events in the evening. Many of the female residents complain that they cannot attend these meetings because of childcare responsibilities.

Harassment
This means people cannot treat you in a way that violates your dignity, or creates a hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment. For example a man with Down’s syndrome is visiting a pub with friends. The bar staff make derogatory and offensive comments about him, which upset and offend him.

Victimisation
This means people cannot treat you unfairly if you are taking action under the Equality Act (like making a complaint of discrimination), or if you are supporting someone else who is doing so. For example, an employee makes a complaint of sexual harassment at work and is dismissed as a consequence.

What else does the Equality Act do?

Public Sector Equality Duty
The Act also requires public bodies (like local councils, hospitals, and publicly-funded service providers) to consider how their decisions and policies affect people with different protected characteristics. The public body also should have evidence to show how it has done this.

  • For example, a local authority wants to improve its local bus service. It carries out a survey of people who use public transport and finds that very few women use buses at night because they are worried about sexual harassment. The local authority decides to work with the police and the transport provider, as well as local residents, to find ways to address this problem and make the bus service more inclusive.

Further Advice

If you think you might have been treated unfairly and want further advice you can contact the Equality Advisory Support Service.

  • Freephone 0808 800 0082
  • Textphone 0808 800 0084

Or write to them at

  • Freepost Equality Advisory Support Service FPN4431

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has also produced a range of legal guidance on the Equality Act which you can find here.

Where else can I find information?

You can also access advice from Citizens Advice.

If you are concerned about your treatment at work, you can visit ACAS for more information.

If you are in a union, your union rep should also be able to help you with discrimination advice.

Last Updated: 05 Oct 2015