EHRC guidance on EqA 2010 single-sex services exceptions—analysis

Article summary

Employment analysis: In 2011 the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) issued a statutory Code of Practice and non-statutory guidance on, among other matters, the single-sex exceptions relating to the provision of services in the Equality Act 2010 (EqA 2010). Following a challenge in judicial review proceedings and an enquiry by the Women and Equalities Select Committee (WESC), new guidance, ‘Separate and single-sex service providers: A guide on the Equality Act sex and gender reassignment provisions’, was published on 4 April 2022. Akua Reindorf, a Commissioner and Board Member of the EHRC, barrister at Cloisters and member of the Lexis®PSL Employment Consulting Editorial Board, considers (writing in her personal capacity) the new guidance and how it will impact service providers.