Great Britain • England, Wales & Scotland • Northern Ireland has entirely separate law
This is general legal information, not legal advice.

Discrimination at Work — Plain-English Guide (UK)

Nine protected characteristics • five statutory tests • reasonable adjustments • who is liable • burden of proof • the three-month clock
Quick summary: the Equality Act 2010 protects nine characteristics and defines discrimination in several distinct ways — direct, indirect, harassment, victimisation, and, for disability, discrimination arising from disability and the failure to make reasonable adjustments.
Each has its own statutory test, and they do not all cover all nine characteristics. Getting the right label on what happened to you is the difference between a claim that works and one that never gets off the ground — and the dates in your own written record decide whether it is in time.
Specialty: Great Britain workplace discrimination — identifying which statutory test actually fits your facts, understanding who is on the hook, and keeping a dated record that survives contact with a tribunal.
If you are being treated differently, refused an adjustment, harassed, or punished for complaining, this page tells you what the law actually asks — and what your record needs to capture, incident by incident.
What Dogetlawyer can do here (fastest path)
  • Build a discrimination incident log — structured so each entry captures what the statutory tests actually need.
  • Work out which test fits — direct, indirect, harassment, victimisation, disability-related, or adjustments.
  • Map the dates — so a course of conduct is dated correctly rather than from the first incident.
This is general legal information, not legal advice.
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Incident log
Which test fits
Adjustments
Deadline check
Best for people saying:
  • “I’m being treated differently and I don’t know if it’s legal.”
  • “They keep refusing my adjustments.”
  • “The comments are constant but nobody wrote anything down.”
  • “Since I complained, everything has changed.”
  • “It was a colleague — is the company responsible?”
  • “Am I already out of time?”
You can start with one paragraph. We’ll ask only what’s needed.

How this guide helps

Three steps — clear, practical, evidence-aware.
1) Name the characteristic
There are nine, and only nine. Which one is in play changes which tests are even available to you.
Example: “It started when I told them I was pregnant.”
2) Match it to the right test
Direct, indirect, harassment, victimisation, disability-related treatment, or a failure to make adjustments. Different wording, different proof.
Some can be justified. Most direct discrimination cannot.
3) Write it down, dated, as it happens
A contemporaneous log is how you put facts in front of a tribunal — and the dates decide whether older incidents are in time.
Memory fades. A dated entry does not.

The nine protected characteristics

Set out in the Equality Act 2010. If what happened to you is not connected to one of these, it may still be unfair — but it is not discrimination under this Act.
Age • disability • gender reassignment • marriage and civil partnership • pregnancy and maternity • race • religion or belief • sex • sexual orientation.
  • Age covers a particular age or a range of ages.
  • Disability means a physical or mental impairment with a substantial and long-term adverse effect on your ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. The Act also applies to someone who has had a disability, as it applies to someone who has one.
  • Gender reassignment covers proposing to undergo, undergoing, or having undergone a process (or part of a process) for the purpose of reassigning sex by changing physiological or other attributes of sex. The wording does not require medical supervision.
  • Race includes colour, nationality, and ethnic or national origins.
  • Religion or belief includes a lack of religion and a lack of belief, and covers philosophical as well as religious belief.
  • Sexual orientation covers orientation towards the same sex, the opposite sex, or either sex.
The Act applies before you are hired, too: an employer must not discriminate in the arrangements for deciding whom to offer employment, in the terms offered, or by not offering employment.

The tests — and why they are not interchangeable

This is the part most guides skip. Each definition has its own wording, its own defences, and its own list of which characteristics it covers.
Direct discrimination
Treating you less favourably than others are treated or would be treated, because of a protected characteristic. A hypothetical comparator is allowed. Generally it cannot be justified — the only justification defence inside the section is for age. For race, less favourable treatment includes segregating you; for sex, it includes treating a woman less favourably because she is breast-feeding.
Indirect discrimination
A provision, criterion or practice applied to everyone that puts people sharing your characteristic at a particular disadvantage, puts you at that disadvantage, and which the employer cannot show to be a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. It does not cover pregnancy and maternity.
Harassment
Unwanted conduct related to a protected characteristic that has the purpose or effect of violating your dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment. Intent is not required. Sexual harassment is unwanted conduct of a sexual nature with the same purpose or effect. It does not cover marriage and civil partnership, or pregnancy and maternity.
Victimisation
Subjecting you to a detriment because you did a protected act — or because the employer believes you have done or may do one. Bringing proceedings, giving evidence, doing anything else in connection with the Act, or making an allegation that someone has contravened it, all count. A false allegation made in bad faith is not a protected act.
Discrimination arising from disability
Treating you unfavourably because of something arising in consequence of your disability — absence, a performance dip, a need for equipment — where the employer cannot show it was a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. No comparator is needed. But there is a knowledge defence: it does not apply if the employer shows it did not know, and could not reasonably have been expected to know, that you were disabled.
Pregnancy and maternity
Has its own work-cases test: unfavourable treatment in or after the protected period because of the pregnancy, or because of an illness suffered in that period as a result of it; and unfavourable treatment because you took, or sought to take, ordinary or additional maternity leave. The protected period begins when the pregnancy begins.
How “effect” is judged in a harassment case is fixed by statute: the tribunal must take into account your perception, the other circumstances of the case, and whether it is reasonable for the conduct to have that effect. All three — which is exactly why a log that records how something made you feel at the time is worth more than a recollection given two years later.

Reasonable adjustments — a duty, not a favour

The Equality Act 2010 places a duty to make reasonable adjustments on an employer. Failing to comply with that duty is itself discrimination against the disabled person.
The duty comprises three requirements. Where a disabled person is put at a substantial disadvantage compared with people who are not disabled, the employer must take such steps as it is reasonable to have to take to avoid the disadvantage — and that applies where the disadvantage is caused by:
  • a provision, criterion or practice — a rule, a policy, a way of doing things;
  • a physical feature — the building, the workstation, the access route;
  • the absence of an auxiliary aid — equipment or support that would remove the disadvantage.
Where the first or third requirement relates to providing information, the reasonable steps include providing it in an accessible format.
The practical point: put the request in writing, to a named person, with a date — and record the date of any refusal. The knowledge defence to disability-related discrimination turns on what the employer knew and when, and the time limit for a refused adjustment runs from when the employer decided against it, not from when you finally gave up asking.

Who is liable — the colleague, or the company?

Usually both. “It was one individual, not us” is not the defence employers think it is.
Anything done by a person in the course of their employment must be treated as also done by the employer — and it does not matter whether it was done with the employer’s knowledge or approval. The same applies to an agent acting for a principal with that principal’s authority.
The employer’s escape route is narrow and it has to be proved: in proceedings against the employer it is a defence to show it took all reasonable steps to prevent the employee from doing that thing, or anything of that description. “We have a policy” is the start of that argument, not the end of it.
Separately, since 26 October 2024, an employer must take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of its employees in the course of their employment — a preventative duty inserted into the Equality Act 2010 by the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023. Note carefully: there is no free-standing employee claim for breach of that preventative duty on its own. It is enforceable by the equality regulator as an unlawful act, or by an employment tribunal only in the specific way the Act provides. Checked 9 August 2026 — this duty is changing. Acas states that the Employment Rights Act 2025 strengthens the sexual-harassment prevention duty from October 2026, with further regulations on what the steps must be expected in 2027. The wording above is the wording in force on the date checked; confirm the current version on legislation.gov.uk before you rely on it.
What the employer must not do to you, as an employee, is spelled out: discriminate as to your terms of employment; in access, or non-access, to promotion, transfer, training or any other benefit, facility or service; by dismissing you; or by subjecting you to any other detriment. The same four-limb structure applies to victimisation.

Who has to prove what — and why the log is the whole game

Discrimination is rarely admitted. The Act deals with that by moving the burden.
If there are facts from which the tribunal could decide, in the absence of any other explanation, that the employer contravened the provision concerned, the tribunal must hold that the contravention occurred — unless the employer then shows that it did not contravene the provision. In other words: you get the facts to the door, and the employer has to explain them away.
That is what an incident log is for. Each entry should capture:
  • The exact date of the incident — and, for a running course of conduct, the date of the most recent one.
  • Exactly what was said or done, and by whom — the words used, not your characterisation of them.
  • Who else was present. Potential witnesses are facts.
  • The effect on you at the time, written at the time.
  • How you were treated compared with others, or how you say others would have been treated.
  • The rule, requirement or practice being applied, and who else it disadvantages.
  • What you told the employer about a disability, when, and to whom.
  • Any detriment that followed a complaint, and its date.
Keep it factual, keep it dated, and keep it somewhere you will still have access to it if you leave.

Time limits — and why they are not the unfair-dismissal ones

People conflate these constantly. They are different rules with different tests.
  • Three months starting with the date of the act complained of — or such other period as the tribunal thinks just and equitable. That is a broader test than the “not reasonably practicable” test that applies to unfair dismissal. It is still discretionary. Do not plan around it.
  • Conduct extending over a period is treated as done at the end of the period. For an ongoing course of conduct, dating your claim from the first incident can wrongly convince you that you are out of time.
  • A failure to do something is treated as occurring when the person decided on it — and, absent evidence to the contrary, a person is taken to decide on a failure when they do something inconsistent with doing it, or on the expiry of the period in which they might reasonably have been expected to do it. This is the rule that dates a refused reasonable adjustment.
  • You must contact ACAS first. A prospective claimant must give prescribed information to ACAS before presenting a claim, and may not present it without the conciliation certificate. The clock then stops between the day after you contact ACAS and the day you receive the certificate; and if the limit would otherwise expire in the window ending one month after that certificate date, it expires at the end of that window instead.
  • An internal grievance does not extend anything. There is no grievance-based extension in the time-limit provisions at all. The only levers are early conciliation and the tribunal’s just-and-equitable discretion.

Six things people get wrong

Each of these is a widely repeated assumption that the statute does not support.
  • “All nine characteristics are covered by every type of discrimination.” They are not. Harassment excludes marriage and civil partnership, and pregnancy and maternity. Indirect discrimination excludes pregnancy and maternity, which has its own test.
  • “I have to prove they meant it.” Harassment turns on purpose or effect, and the burden shifts to the employer once you show facts from which a tribunal could decide there was a contravention.
  • “It was a colleague, so the company isn’t liable.” Acts done in the course of employment are treated as also done by the employer, knowledge or approval irrelevant. The employer must prove it took all reasonable steps to escape that.
  • “Direct discrimination is fine if there’s a good business reason.” Generally no. The justification defence inside the direct discrimination section is for age only. Indirect discrimination and disability-related unfavourable treatment can be justified as a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim; direct discrimination on the other characteristics cannot.
  • “Raising a grievance protects my deadline.” It does not. See the time-limit section above.
  • Dating the claim from the first incident. For a course of conduct the statute treats it as done at the end of the period — get the last date right.
One more, in the other direction: complaining internally about discrimination is capable of being a protected act. If you are treated badly because you complained, that can be a separate victimisation claim in its own right — so log what changed after the complaint, and when.
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Quick start message for the chat (copy)
“I think I am being discriminated against at work in [England / Wales / Scotland]. The characteristic is [age / disability / race / sex / religion or belief / pregnancy / other]. The first incident was on [date] and the most recent was on [date]. What happened was […]. Witnesses: [names]. I want to build an incident log.”

Long FAQ (discrimination at work — Great Britain)

Tap to expand. Plain English, Great Britain only.
1) What are the protected characteristics?
Age; disability; gender reassignment; marriage and civil partnership; pregnancy and maternity; race; religion or belief; sex; sexual orientation. Nine, and only nine.
2) Does every type of discrimination cover all nine?
No. Harassment does not cover marriage and civil partnership, or pregnancy and maternity. Indirect discrimination does not cover pregnancy and maternity — pregnancy and maternity at work has its own separate test.
3) Do I need to name someone who was treated better than me?
Not always. Direct discrimination allows a hypothetical comparator — the statute says “treats or would treat others”. Discrimination arising from disability needs no comparator at all: the word there is “unfavourably”, not “less favourably”.
4) Do I have to prove they intended to discriminate?
For harassment, no — the test is whether the unwanted conduct had the purpose or the effect described in the Act. And once you put forward facts from which a tribunal could decide there was a contravention, the tribunal must find it occurred unless the employer shows otherwise.
5) Is “I didn’t mean to offend” a defence to harassment?
Not on its own. Where the case is put on “effect”, the tribunal must take into account your perception, the other circumstances of the case, and whether it is reasonable for the conduct to have had that effect — all three.
6) What is a reasonable adjustment?
A step it is reasonable for the employer to have to take to avoid a substantial disadvantage a disabled person faces because of a provision, criterion or practice, a physical feature, or the absence of an auxiliary aid. Employers owe this duty, and failing to comply with it is itself discrimination.
7) My employer says it never knew I was disabled.
That matters. For discrimination arising from disability there is a defence where the employer shows it did not know, and could not reasonably have been expected to know, that you were disabled. This is precisely why telling them — in writing, dated, to a named person — is worth doing.
8) It was a colleague, not the company. Is the employer liable?
Anything done by a person in the course of their employment is treated as also done by the employer, whether or not the employer knew about or approved it. The employer has a defence only if it proves it took all reasonable steps to prevent it.
9) What is victimisation?
Being subjected to a detriment because you did a protected act — or because the employer believes you have done, or may do, one. Making an allegation that someone has contravened the Act counts. An allegation known to be false and made in bad faith does not.
10) How long do I have to bring a discrimination claim?
Three months starting with the date of the act complained of, or such other period as the tribunal thinks just and equitable. You must contact ACAS before presenting a claim, which stops the clock for the conciliation period and can add a further month. Take advice early rather than relying on the discretion.
11) Does raising a grievance protect my deadline?
No. There is no grievance-based extension anywhere in the time-limit provisions. Run the grievance and watch the clock at the same time.
12) Does my employer have to stop sexual harassment before it happens?
Since 26 October 2024 an employer must take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of its employees in the course of their employment. There is no free-standing employee claim for breaching that duty on its own — it is enforced by the equality regulator, or by a tribunal only in the way the Act provides.
13) Does this apply in Northern Ireland, Ireland, the US, Australia or Canada?
No. The Equality Act 2010 forms part of the law of England and Wales, and of Scotland — but only three narrow provisions of it form part of the law of Northern Ireland, and none of them is the employment framework described here. Northern Ireland has its own separate anti-discrimination legislation, its own enforcement body and its own tribunal. Ireland, the US, Australia and Canada are entirely separate legal systems. Nothing on this page states the position in any of them.

 

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This is general legal information, not legal advice.