| Act of Parliament | |||||
 | |||||
| Long title | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||
| Citation | 2010 c. 15 | ||||
| Introduced by | Harriet Harman | ||||
| Territorial extent | England and Wales; Scotland; section 82, 105 (3) and (4) and 199 also apply to Northern Ireland | ||||
| Dates | |||||
| Royal assent | 8 April 2010 | ||||
| Commencement | 1 October 2010 | ||||
| Other legislation | |||||
| Repeals/revokes | |||||
| Amended by | Budget Responsibility and National Audit Act 2011 Charities Act 2011 Education Act 2011 Localism Act 2011 Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 Public Bodies Act 2011 Financial Services Act 2012 Health and Social Care Act 2012 Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 Crime and Courts Act 2013 Energy Act 2013 Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 Financial Services (Banking Reform) Act 2013 Justice and Security Act 2013 Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 Mobile Homes (Wales) Act 2013 Public Audit (Wales) Act 2013 School Standards and Organisation (Wales) Act 2013 Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 Bishops and Priests (Consecration and Ordination of Women) Measure 2014 Care Act 2014 Children and Families Act 2014 Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 Armed Forces (Service Complaints and Financial Assistance) Act 2015 Deregulation Act 2015 Qualifications Wales Act 2015 Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016 Scotland Act 2016 Bus Services Act 2017 Higher Education and Research Act 2017 National Citizen Service Act 2017 Policing and Crime Act 2017 Wales Act 2017 Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Act 2018 Gender Representation on Public Boards (Scotland) Act 2018 European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020 Health and Social Care (Quality and Engagement) (Wales) Act 2020 Armed Forces Act 2021 Curriculum and Assessment (Wales) Act 2021 Environment Act 2021 Forensic Science Regulator Act 2021 Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 Medicines and Medical Devices Act 2021 Trade Act 2021 Advanced Research and Invention Agency Act 2022 Health and Care Act 2022 Nationality and Borders Act 2022 Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (Disabled Persons) Act 2022 Finance (No. 2) Act 2023 Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 Media Act 2024 Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 | ||||
Status: Amended | |||||
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |||||
| Revised text of statute as amended | |||||
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The Equality Act 2010[1] (c. 15), often erroneously called the Equalities Act 2010, is an act of Parliament of the United Kingdom passed during the Brown ministry with the primary purpose of consolidating, updating and supplementing the numerous prior Acts and Regulations, that formed the basis of anti-discrimination law in mostly England, Scotland and Wales; some sections also apply to Northern Ireland. These consisted, primarily, of the Equal Pay Act 1970, the Sex Discrimination Act 1975, the Race Relations Act 1976, the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and three major statutory instruments protecting discrimination in employment on grounds of religion or belief, sexual orientation and age.[2]
The act has broadly the same goals as the four major EU Equal Treatment Directives, whose provisions it mirrors and implements.[3] However, the Act also offers protection beyond the EU directives, protecting against discrimination based on a person's nationality and citizenship[4][5] and also extending individuals' rights in areas of life beyond the workplace in religion or belief, disability, age, sex, sexual orientation and gender reassignment.[6][7]
The act protects people against discrimination, harassment or victimisation in employment, and as users of private and public services based on nine protected characteristics: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation. The Act includes provisions for single-sex services where the restrictions are "a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim".[8] In the case of disability, employers and service providers are under a duty to make reasonable adjustments to their workplaces to overcome barriers experienced by disabled people. In this regard, the Equality Act 2010 did not change the law. Under s.217, with limited exceptions the Act does not apply to Northern Ireland.[9]
- ^ "Equality Act 2010". The National Archives. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
- ^ E McGaughey, A Casebook on Labour Law (Hart 2019) chs 12–14. S Deakin and G Morris, Labour Law (Hart 2012) ch 6. 'Equality Act 2010 Explanatory Notes/Introduction/Background and summary'
- ^ see EU Directive 2000/78/EC, 2000/43/EC, 2006/54/EC
- ^ "Race discrimination". Equality and Human Rights Commission.
- ^ What is race discrimination? – Equality law: discrimination explained. Equality and Human Rights Commission. 29 May 2018. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021 – via YouTube.
- ^ "Your rights under the Equality Act 2010". Equality and Human Rights Commission.
- ^ "Non-discrimination". European Commission.
- ^ Equality Act, schedule 3, part 7, para 28.
- ^ Equality Act, s.217.