Legislation now exists to protect people in the workplace from discrimination or less favourable treatment on the grounds of gender, race, disability, sexual orientation, age and religion or belief.

There has been a great deal of change to equality and discrimination legislation over the last few years and these pages aim to cover the basics of employee’s rights, employer’s duties and how to identify and tackle discrimination.

A review of discrimination law is currently underway, with the aim of producing a Single Equality Bill. The consulation on the green paper, “A Framework for Fairness”, ended on September 4th 2007 but there will be further opportunities to influence the changes that lie ahead. All rights under current legislation are outlined on the website, and this will be updated with any changes.

Everybody is covered by and has responsibilities under all equality legislation.

Gender
Gender discrimination, equal pay, flexible working, maternity and paternity rights, transgender rights, Gender Equality Duty

Race
Discrimination on the grounds of race, colour, nationality and ethnic or national origin, Race Equality Duty

Disability
Disability discrimination, reasonable adjustments, Disability Equality Duty

Age
Age discrimination, younger and older workers, retirement, training

Sexual Orientation
Discrimination on the grounds of actual or perceived sexual orientation

Religion or Belief
Discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief or similar philosophical belief, or no belief

Employment Law
The wider framework of European and domestic legislation

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