The Equality Act 2010: protected characteristics, disability and discrimination

What the Equality Act 2010 is

The Act is dated 8 April 2010 (2010 c. 15). Its long title says that it reforms and harmonises equality law and restates the greater part of the enactments relating to discrimination and harassment related to certain personal characteristics (Equality Act 2010). It has 16 Parts, from socio-economic inequalities in Part 1 to general and miscellaneous provisions in Part 16 (Equality Act 2010, contents). The commencement notes show that section 27, on victimisation, and section 114, on the county court, came into force on 1 October 2010, and that parts of Schedule 1, on disability, had already come into force for certain purposes on 6 July 2010 (Equality Act 2010, section 27, commencement information; Equality Act 2010, section 114, commencement information; Equality Act 2010, Schedule 1, commencement information).

Schedule 27 lists what the Act repealed. Part 1 of it repeals the whole of the Equal Pay Act 1970, the Sex Discrimination Act 1975, the Race Relations Act 1976 and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (Equality Act 2010, Schedule 27). Disability discrimination is now dealt with by the Equality Act: the definition of disability is in section 6, discrimination arising from disability in section 15, and the duty to make reasonable adjustments in sections 20 and 21 (Equality Act 2010, section 6; Equality Act 2010, section 15; Equality Act 2010, section 20).

The sections this guide cites are marked E+W+S on legislation.gov.uk: they extend to England, Wales and Scotland (Equality Act 2010, section 4). The guide does not cover Northern Ireland, and it does not cover the Act’s rules on work, which have their own Part and their own tribunals.

Disability: the definition in section 6 and Schedule 1

Section 6 gives the test: a person has a disability if they have a physical or mental impairment, and the impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities (Equality Act 2010, section 6, subsection 1). A reference to a disabled person is a reference to a person who has a disability (Equality Act 2010, section 6, subsection 2). Schedule 1 adds the detail, and a Minister of the Crown may issue guidance on matters to take into account when deciding whether the test is met (Equality Act 2010, section 6, subsections 5 and 6).

Within the Act itself, only those three conditions and severe disfigurement are named: for any other impairment, whether the test in section 6 is met depends on the impairment and what it does to the person’s day-to-day activities. Regulations can also say that a prescribed condition is, or is not, an impairment, and can treat prescribed groups of people as having disabilities (Equality Act 2010, Schedule 1, paragraphs 1 and 7). For work, since 1 January 2024 a person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities is read as including their ability to participate fully and effectively in working life on an equal basis with other workers (Equality Act 2010, Schedule 1, paragraph 5A).

The sight rule is the one most relevant to readers of Braillito Maps. The rule that counts an impairment by what it would do without treatment or an aid is set aside for a sight impairment, to the extent that the impairment is correctable by spectacles or contact lenses or in other prescribed ways (Equality Act 2010, Schedule 1, paragraph 5(3)(a)).

Where the Act applies

The Act is organised by area of life, and each Part says who must not discriminate, against whom and in what. Services are the area this site’s guides touch most, because they decide what a visitor to a shop, a café or a museum can expect.

In services, section 29 forbids a service provider to discriminate by not providing the service, in the terms on which it is provided, by ending it or by any other detriment, and forbids harassment and victimisation (Equality Act 2010, section 29, subsections 1 to 5). For what a shop or a restaurant has to change in its building, see reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010. For the rules on assistance dogs in taxis and private hire vehicles, see guide dogs and where they can go and wheelchair accessible taxis.

Which court, and how long a claimant has

Part 9 deals with enforcement. The county court, or in Scotland the sheriff, has jurisdiction to determine a claim about a contravention of Part 3 (services and public functions), Part 4 (premises), Part 6 (education) or Part 7 (associations), with exceptions for immigration cases, education cases and the political party rule in section 106 (Equality Act 2010, section 114, subsections 1 to 4). Claims about work go to employment tribunals, which have their own chapter of Part 9 (Equality Act 2010, contents, sections 120 to 126).

Section 118 sets the time limit for the county court claims in section 114. The starting point is that proceedings may not be brought after the end of 6 months starting with the date of the act the claim is about, or after such other period as the county court or sheriff thinks just and equitable (Equality Act 2010, section 118, subsection 1). The section adds some rules for working out the date:

• conduct extending over a period is treated as done at the end of the period (Equality Act 2010, section 118, subsection 6(a));
• a failure to do something is treated as occurring when the person decided on it (Equality Act 2010, section 118, subsection 6(b)), and in the absence of evidence to the contrary a person is taken to decide on a failure when they do an act inconsistent with doing it, or otherwise when the period in which they might reasonably have been expected to do it ends (Equality Act 2010, section 118, subsection 7);
• the period becomes 9 months where the claim relates to the act of a qualifying institution, which has the meaning given in the Higher Education Act 2004, and a complaint about the act is referred under the student complaints scheme within the first 6 months (Equality Act 2010, section 118, subsections 2, 3 and 8).

Section 118 is expressed to be subject to section 140AA, which is headed as an extension of time limits because of alternative dispute resolution in certain consumer contract disputes (Equality Act 2010, section 118, subsection 1; Equality Act 2010, contents, section 140AA). This guide describes what the section says; it cannot say when time starts to run in a particular case.

What the Equality Act means at the door, and Braillito Maps

A law that bans discrimination does not tell a disabled customer whether a particular café has a step at the door. Braillito Maps is a free community map that answers ten questions about each place: step-free entrance or ramp, wide doorway, accessible toilet, accessible parking, tactile paving, braille signage, braille menu, audible signals, guide dogs welcome and a quiet environment.

Each question is answered yes or no, or stays without data until someone knows. A yes means that someone who went reported it; it is not an assessment of whether a place meets the Equality Act. The score of a place is the number of yes answers out of ten, always shown with its number, never by colour alone. If a place is missing, add it with its answers; if what a place says is wrong, it can be reported. Meet Braillito Maps.

More accessibility guides

• Equality Act reasonable adjustments: the three requirements of section 20, why the duty is anticipatory, who pays, and what a shop, restaurant or service can change in its building.
• Public sector equality duty: what section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 asks of public authorities: the three aims, who is covered, what due regard means, the exceptions and how it is enforced.
• Accessibility laws by country: the ADA, the UK Equality Act, the Accessible Canada Act, Australia’s DDA and the EU rules, and what each covers.
• Guide dogs: how they work, where they can go under the ADA, and how to act around one.
• Wheelchair accessible taxis: what the ADA requires of cabs and drivers: no refusals, no higher fares, help stowing your wheelchair, and which vans need a ramp or a lift.
• Accessible restaurants: what to check before you go: the entrance, the tables, the restroom, the menu and service animals.
• Universal design: the seven principles, with an example from a building for each.
• Accessibility symbols: what the wheelchair symbol means, where it is required and the other access symbols.
• All accessibility guides