Prohibited conduct (discrimination etc)

The Equality Act 2010 (EqA 2010) provides protection against discrimination and other prohibited conduct relating to protected characteristics which people may possess. Some protections relate specifically to only one of those characteristics.

This topic provides information on the conduct that is prohibited under EqA 2010. EqA 2010 divides the types of prohibited conduct into the following categories:

  1. discrimination, which includes:

    1. direct discrimination

    2. indirect discrimination

    3. discrimination arising from disability

    4. failure to make reasonable adjustments for a disabled person

    5. pregnancy and maternity discrimination

    6. gender reassignment discrimination: cases of absence from work

  2. other prohibited conduct, which includes:

    1. harassment

    2. victimisation

Direct discrimination

A person directly discriminates against another person where:

  1. they treat them less favourably than they treat or would treat others, and

  2. they do so because of a protected characteristic

Direct age discrimination can be justified if the respondent can show that the provision, criterion or practice (PCP) amounting to discrimination was a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. Other forms of direct

To view the latest version of this document and thousands of others like it, sign-in with LexisNexis or register for a free trial.

Powered by Lexis+®
Latest Employment News

Right to work guidance updated on Digital Verification Service checks

The Home Office has issued an updated version of its ‘Employer’s guide to right to work checks’ document, with the changes primarily related to simplifying the information on digital checks for employers of British and Irish citizens who have a valid passport (or Irish passport card). The new version has removed various technical details which were previously intended for providers of these digital verification services, and revised the relevant terminology, so that ‘Digital Verification Service (DVS)’ now includes both the terms Identity Service Providers (IDSPs) and Identity Document Validation Technology (IDVT). This is stated to align the guidance with the terminology used in the UK digital identity and attributes framework and the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025. Guidance and requirements specifically for DVS are now set out in a separate, supplementary code for digital right to work checks. The relevant guidance for employers has been revised. Although it is not currently mandatory for employers to use a DVS certified against the ‘trust framework’ and the supplementary code, this position will change ‘in the near future’, and it will become mandatory to use a DVS listed on the register of certified DVS (maintained by the Office for Digital Identities and Attributes (OfDIA)). In other changes, the new version reiterates that an original expired BRP is not proof of a right to work, and instead an online check must be taken. It also confirms that short-term entry clearance vignettes are being phased out, and that increasingly persons recently issued entry clearance will only have their eVisa to rely on for these purposes, so will need to create a UKVI account as soon as possible and can do this from overseas. In relation to asylum seekers with a pending claim, the guidance now states that they can also volunteer whilst their claim is considered without being granted permission to work, but they can only carry out 'paid' work if they have been granted permission to work under the Immigration Rules, Part 11, paras 360 or 360C. Previously the reference in our quotation marks to ‘paid’ work stated ‘voluntary’ work

View Employment by content type :

Popular documents