Human Resources Division

Protected characteristics

The Equality Act 2010 replaces the previous equalities legislation that evolved over the past 45 years. It replaces nine statutes (e.g. The Equal Pay Act 1970, the Sex Discrimination Act 1975, the Race Relations Acts, 1975 and 2000, the Disability Discrimination Acts 1995 and 2005) and over 100 other pieces of legislation.

The protected characteristics under Section 4 of the Equality Act 2010 are:

• Age
• Disability
• Gender Reassignment
• Marriage and Civil Partnership
• Pregnancy and Maternity
• Race
• Religion or Belief (including lack of belief)
• Sex
• Sexual Orientation

ACAS has produced a summary table that details the employment protections for different protected groups.