WIREDGOV

Introduction

The Equality Act 2010 replaced all previous anti-discrimination legislation and consolidated it into a single act, making it unlawful to discriminate against an individual because of their sexual orientation or perceived sexual orientation.

Approximately 1.0 per cent of the UK population identifies themselves as gay or lesbian with a further 0.5 per cent identifying as bisexual1. The law will help to ensure that people are treated fairly and not discriminated against because of their sexual orientation.

The new legislation covers England, Wales and Scotland and all facets of employment – including recruitment, terms and conditions, promotions, transfers, dismissals and training.

For Northern Ireland there are two main pieces of legislation on sexual orientation discrimination:

• The Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations (NI) 2003 makes it unlawful for employers and others to discriminate on grounds of sexual orientation in the areas of employment; and vocational training, including further and higher education.

• The Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations (NI) 2006 makes it unlawful to discriminate on grounds of sexual orientation in the provision of: goods, facilities or services; premises; education; and public functions.

What is sexual orientation?

Sexual orientation is defined as:

• orientation towards persons of the same sex (lesbians and gay men)
• orientation towards persons of the opposite sex (heterosexual)
• orientation towards persons of the same sex and the opposite sex (bisexual).

What does the law say about discrimination?

The Act applies to all employers, private and public sector vocational training providers, universities, colleges, trade unions, professional organisations, employer organisations, trustees and those providing goods or services.

The Act makes it unlawful to:

• discriminate directly against anyone because of their sexual orientation
• indirectly discriminate against someone because of their sexual orientation
• subject someone to harassment
• victimise someone because they have made or intend to make a complaint
• refuse to offer someone goods or services because of their sexual orientation2.

Dual discrimination was introduced as a provision within the Equality Act 2010; ministers are still considering when it will come into effect. Dual discrimination can occur when a person is treated less favourably because of a combination of two protected characteristics, for example if a black woman is dismissed from her post because she is a lesbian. This individual may have a claim for both race and sexual orientation discrimination.

It is also against the law for an organisation to have policies which put people at a disadvantage because of their sexual orientation. An example would be an employment policy that restricts employment benefits to opposite sex partners only.

For more information about these terms please refer to our factsheet on discrimination.

Can discrimination ever be justified?

There are circumstances in which an employer can discriminate against you because of an occupational requirement.

• Employers are allowed to recruit staff from a particular sexual orientation if they can show that being of a specific sexual orientation is a requirement for the job.

• If employment is for the purposes of a specific organised religion an employer may apply a sexual orientation requirement to the job in order to comply with the doctrines of that religion, or because of the nature of the employment and the context in which it is carried out, so as to avoid conflicting with the strongly held religious convictions of a significant number of the religion’s followers.

What are organisations required to do?

Organisations should ensure that sexual orientation is included in their equality policy or scheme, ensure that policies and procedures meet current legislative requirements and that consideration is given to sexual orientation when reviewing for impact. Staff should be made aware (through training, notice boards, circulars, contracts of employment, etc) that it is not only unacceptable to discriminate, harass or victimise someone on the grounds of sexual orientation, it is unlawful.

How does this affect my work in the sector?

When carrying out your work, you should be asking yourself some of the following questions:

• Do individuals of a particular sexual orientation have different needs, and is the work I am doing recognising and meeting these different needs?
• How do we recruit staff into the sector and do our policies put individuals of a particular sexual orientation at a disadvantage?
• How can I use the marketing material I produce to promote positive attitudes towards individuals of a particular sexual orientation and challenge negative stereotypes?

Where can I get more information?

A range of other resources on this and other equality areas can be found in our list of useful links.

Please note that this factsheet gives general guidance only and should not be treated as a complete and authoritative statement of the law.

1Office of National statistics

2 Some exceptions apply to religious organisations.