Employment law – Discrimination
Step 1: Who is protected?
Employees – s 39
Job applicants – s 39
Contract workers – s 41
Office holders – s 50
Trade union members – s 57
Employees after their employment has ended – s 108
S 83(2) defines ‘Employment’ as: “employment under a contract of employment, a contract of apprenticeship or a contract
personally to do work”
Step 2: identify the protected characteristic
Gender reassignment – s 7
Marriage and civil partnership – s 8
Race – s 9
Religion or belief – s 10
Sex – s 11
Sexual orientation – s 12
Pregnancy and maternity – s 18
Gender reassignment – s 7
Defined in s 7 – if the person is proposing to undergo, is undergoing or has undergone a process (or part of the
process) for the purpose of reassigning the person’s sex by changing physiological or other attributes of sex
Marriage and civil partnership – s 8
Defined in s 8 – if the person is married or in a civil partnership
Explanatory note – person who is engaged is not married
A divorcee or a person whose civil partnership has been dissolved is not married or in a civil partnership
therefore does not have this protected characteristic
Race – s 9
Defined non-exhaustively in s 9 as including colour, nationality and ethnic or national origins
Explanatory notes = colour includes being black or white. Nationality includes being a British, Australian or
Swiss citizen, ethnic or national origin includes being from a Roma background or of Chinese heritage
Religion or belief – s 10
Religion or belief defined in s 10 – any religion and reference to religion includes a reference to a lack of religion
Belief means any religious or philosophical belief and a reference to a belief includes a reference to a lack of belief –
s 10(b)
Explanatory notes = The Baha’I faith, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Judaism, Rastafarianism,
Sikhism and Zoroasrianism are all religions for the purposes of this provision
Beliefs such as humanism and atheism would be beliefs for the purposes of this provision
Step 1: Who is protected?
Employees – s 39
Job applicants – s 39
Contract workers – s 41
Office holders – s 50
Trade union members – s 57
Employees after their employment has ended – s 108
S 83(2) defines ‘Employment’ as: “employment under a contract of employment, a contract of apprenticeship or a contract
personally to do work”
Step 2: identify the protected characteristic
Gender reassignment – s 7
Marriage and civil partnership – s 8
Race – s 9
Religion or belief – s 10
Sex – s 11
Sexual orientation – s 12
Pregnancy and maternity – s 18
Gender reassignment – s 7
Defined in s 7 – if the person is proposing to undergo, is undergoing or has undergone a process (or part of the
process) for the purpose of reassigning the person’s sex by changing physiological or other attributes of sex
Marriage and civil partnership – s 8
Defined in s 8 – if the person is married or in a civil partnership
Explanatory note – person who is engaged is not married
A divorcee or a person whose civil partnership has been dissolved is not married or in a civil partnership
therefore does not have this protected characteristic
Race – s 9
Defined non-exhaustively in s 9 as including colour, nationality and ethnic or national origins
Explanatory notes = colour includes being black or white. Nationality includes being a British, Australian or
Swiss citizen, ethnic or national origin includes being from a Roma background or of Chinese heritage
Religion or belief – s 10
Religion or belief defined in s 10 – any religion and reference to religion includes a reference to a lack of religion
Belief means any religious or philosophical belief and a reference to a belief includes a reference to a lack of belief –
s 10(b)
Explanatory notes = The Baha’I faith, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Judaism, Rastafarianism,
Sikhism and Zoroasrianism are all religions for the purposes of this provision
Beliefs such as humanism and atheism would be beliefs for the purposes of this provision
