Protected characteristics

UK businesses isolating Hindu employees

A lack of representation is leading Hindu employees to feel isolated at work.

Lessons learned from the RAF’s position on positive discrimination

It was reported this year that the RAF’s head of recruitment refused to follow an order that she should prioritise women and ethnic minority candidates over white men, which she said was unlawful, and...

Rangers fan who claimed football as important as religion loses tribunal

An employee who believed he was discriminated against because of the football team he supports was unsuccessful in his lawsuit against his former employer.

Employee asked to wear period sticker shows need for workplace boundaries

A cafe owner in Australia has caused controversy after asking female employees to wear red stickers to show when they are on their period.

Domino's Pizza job candidate awarded £4,000 after being asked age

A woman has won £4,250 from a Domino's Pizza store owner in an age discrimination dispute, after being asked her age during an interview.

Protected beliefs: what’s in and what’s out?

Like buses, cases on UK religious and philosophical beliefs tend to come in groups. You’ll have seen several of these in the news recently, and it’s not easy to decode what is and isn’t now protected....

Should socio-economic background be a protected characteristic?

Socio-economic background is not a protected characteristic under the Equality Act. This means if people face discrimination because of their class, or assumptions made about it, they do not have the...

The Equality Act: one year on

In October 2010, the implementation of the Equality Act 2010 (EqA) marked the arrival of the most important piece of anti-discrimination legislation in forty years.