Employment tribunal equality claims

This subtopic covers issues arising in relation claims for prohibited conduct (discrimination, harassment and victimisation) claims and equal pay (equality of terms) under the Equality Act 2010 (EqA 2010)

Territorial extent and scope of the Equality Act 2010

The provisions of an Act of Parliament will have:

•
territorial extent—this is the area within which those provisions are law, and
•
territorial application—this means the persons and matters in relation to which the provisions operate

EqA 2010 declares its territorial extent expressly, clearly and unequivocally, but is silent as to its territorial application or scope.

The Explanatory Notes to EqA 2010 say as follows:

'As far as territorial application is concerned, in relation to Part 5 (work) and following the precedent of the Employment Rights Act 1996, the Act leaves it to tribunals to determine whether the law applies, depending for example on the connection between the employment relationship and Great Britain.'

The reference in those notes to the 'precedent of the Employment Rights Act 1996' is to the development of the case law following the repeal of section 196

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Employment weekly highlights—5 June 2025

This edition of Employment weekly highlights includes: (1) an analysis of the recent immigration White Paper by Ben Maitland of Vanessa Ganguin Immigration Law, (2) an analysis of reforms to reduce discrimination in the Local Government Pension Scheme by David Gallagher and Daniel Fowler at Fieldfisher, (3) an EAT decision that a claimant’s aversion to wearing a mask lacked the necessary cogency, seriousness, and cohesion to qualify as a protected philosophical belief, (4) an ET decision that a teacher’s dismissal was not the result of her whistleblowing over the school’s policy on trans children, (5) an analysis of a Court of Appeal decision that UK gender recognition certificates do not allow gender to be recorded as non-binary by Harini Iyengar at 11KBW, (6) a report from the Institute for Public Policy Research on the challenges surrounding surveillance in the workplace, (7) the publication of the latest UK Stewardship Code by the Financial Reporting Council, (8) new guidance and legislation on amendments to non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) under the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024, (9) a successful appeal to the EAT against a ‘gisting order’ in an unfair dismissal claim amid national security concerns, (10) two new Practice Notes on providing toilet, washing and changing facilities in the workplace following the Supreme Court decision in For Women Scotland v Scottish Ministers, and on the right to disconnect produced in partnership with Rosie Moore and Simon Swaine of Lewis Silkin, (11) dates for your diary, and (12) other news items of interest to employment practitioners.

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