The Equality Act

The Law

In 2010, a new law was passed. The Equality Act aimed to bring together and update several older laws that prevent discrimination:

In the 1960s new laws said people of different races must be treated fairly.
In the 1970s new laws said men and women must be treated equally and get the same pay for the same job.
In the 1990s new laws said disabled people must be treated fairly.
In 2004 new laws gave lesbian, gay and bisexual people the right to become partners, like married people.

The Act tells some public bodies (these include government departments, schools, hospitals and
councils.) to do 2 new things to help make equality happen:

Some public bodies will have to think about how they can help to stop people doing less well than other people because of their family background or where they were born.
All public bodies must think about treating people from different groups fairly and equally.

The Act will mean public bodies have to think about equality when they are buying things.
The Act has new rules to make sure older people are treated fairly.
The Act has new ideas to make men and women's wages easier to compare.
The Act allows employers to use positive action if they want to make sure their workers are diverse.
The Act lets employment tribunals do new things to help people get fair treatment.
The Act protects people who are looking after someone, like carers, from being treated unfairly.
The Act makes it clear that women can breast-feed their babies in shops, cafés and other places.
The Act makes sure clubs do not treat people unfairly.
The Act includes more to stop disabled people being treated unfairly.