The Equality Act 2010, Explained Simply: What Employers Need to Know
Most employers know they have obligations under "the Equality Act". Far fewer could say, in plain terms, what those obligations are, or when they apply. That’s not unusual – the Act is broad, its language is legal, and HR and reward teams are often expected to apply it correctly without ever having read it.
This guide sets out what the Equality Act 2010 requires of employers, in plain English. It's here to help you understand your obligations, not to advise on how the law applies to any specific employee or situation. If you're dealing with a live case, independent legal advice is the right next step, and we'll come back to that at the end.
What is the Equality Act 2010?
The Equality Act 2010 is the law that protects people from discrimination in the UK, including at work. It sets out who's protected, what counts as unlawful treatment, and what employers are required to do as a result.
Before the Act existed, this protection was spread across several separate laws – among them the Sex Discrimination Act, the Race Relations Act and the Disability Discrimination Act. The Equality Act 2010 brought all of this together into a single piece of legislation covering nine protected characteristics. That history is probably why some people still search for it as "the UK Discrimination Act 2010".
Who does it protect, and when does it apply at work?
The Equality Act protects people across the whole employment relationship, not just once someone's on the payroll. In practice, that means it applies:
1. During recruitment - Job adverts, interview questions and selection decisions
2. Throughout employment - Day-to-day treatment, promotion, pay and performance management
3. When employment ends - Dismissal, redundancy, and even afterwards, for example when giving a reference
It protects employees, job applicants and in most cases, contractors and self-employed people hired to do work personally.
Protection is built around nine "protected characteristics" – personal characteristics the law says cannot be a reason to treat someone differently. We introduce all nine below, and cover them in more depth in our dedicated guide on recognising protected characteristics.
The nine protected characteristics
The Equality Act protects nine characteristics. Here's what each one means, in a workplace context:
1. Age – treating someone differently because of how old, or young, they are
2. Disability – covered in more detail below; broadly, a physical or mental condition with a substantial, long-term impact on daily life
3. Gender reassignment – protection for anyone proposing to undergo, undergoing, or who has undergone gender transition
4. Marriage and civil partnership – protection from being treated differently because someone is married or in a civil partnership
5. Pregnancy and maternity – protection during pregnancy and the period after giving birth, including maternity leave
6. Race – covers colour, nationality, and ethnic or national origin
7. Religion or belief – includes a lack of religious or philosophical belief, as well as having one
8. Sex – protection from being treated worse because of someone's sex
9. Sexual orientation – protection whoever someone is attracted to
What counts as a disability under the Act?
Of all nine characteristics, disability is where employers most often need extra clarity. Under the Equality Act 2010, someone is considered disabled if they have a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. A few of those terms in more detail:
"Substantial" means more than a minor or trivial effect – it doesn't have to be severe.
"Long-term" generally means the effect has lasted, or is likely to last, 12 months or more.
"Normal day-to-day activities" is broad. It covers things like concentrating, communicating, following instructions and managing time, not only physical tasks.
This matters for neurodivergent employees in particular. Conditions such as autism, ADHD, dyslexia and dyspraxia can meet this legal definition of disability, even where the person doesn't think of themselves as disabled. ACAS is clear on this point: being neurodivergent will often amount to a disability under the Equality Act 2010, whether or not someone identifies with that word.
The key word is "can" – not "does", and not "always". Whether someone meets the legal threshold depends on the individual impact of their condition on their day-to-day life, not on the diagnosis itself. Two employees with the same condition can have very different experiences of it, and one may meet the threshold while the other doesn't. This is a case-by-case judgement, not a checklist. If you're weighing this up for someone in your organisation, that's a conversation for HR and, where needed, independent legal advice, rather than something to decide alone.
What counts as unlawful behaviour under the Act?
"Discrimination" isn't one single behaviour or action under the Equality Act – it defines several distinct types of unlawful behaviour, each with its own test. Many employers know the word "discrimination" without realising quite how much ground it covers.
Direct discrimination – treating someone worse because of a protected characteristic. For example, withdrawing a job offer after learning the candidate is disabled.
Indirect discrimination – a policy or practice that applies to everyone but disadvantages people who share a protected characteristic. For example, a fixed lunch-break policy that disadvantages someone who needs to eat at set times to manage a health condition.
Harassment – unwanted behaviour related to a protected characteristic that violates someone's dignity or creates an intimidating, hostile or humiliating environment. For example, ongoing jokes about a colleague's known condition.
Victimisation – treating someone unfairly because they've made or supported a discrimination complaint. For example, sidelining someone from a promotion process after they raised a grievance.
Discrimination arising from disability – treating a disabled employee unfavourably because of something connected to their disability, rather than because of the disability itself. For example, disciplining someone under a standard absence policy for time off linked to a disability-related appointment.
Failure to make reasonable adjustments – not putting in place the changes a disabled employee needs to remove a disadvantage at work. This one deserves its own space, so we cover it separately below.
That fifth type, discrimination arising from disability, sits closest to the section above – it's often the one that catches out employers managing autistic or ADHD employees, because it's about the knock-on effects of a condition, not the condition itself.
Do employees need a formal diagnosis for adjustments to apply?
No. The duty to make reasonable adjustments applies once an employer knows, or could reasonably be expected to know, that an employee has a disability. A formal diagnosis isn't a legal precondition.
In practice, that means the duty can be triggered by:
- an employee telling you they're struggling with a particular part of their job;
- a pattern you notice yourself, even without being told directly;
- someone asking for support or adjustments, in whatever words they use.
Waiting for paperwork before acting isn't a safe approach, and it isn't what the law asks of you. If someone has raised a difficulty, or you can reasonably see one, that's enough to start the conversation – regardless of whether there's a diagnosis or not.
Your key duties as an employer
Once the Act applies, employers are responsible for:
- Not discriminating, in any of the ways set out above, across recruitment, employment and beyond.
- Making reasonable adjustments for disabled employees and job applicants, once you know, or ought to know, about a disability.
- Preventing harassment and victimisation, including behaviour between colleagues, not just decisions you make directly.
- Considering equality proactively, rather than only responding once something has already gone wrong.
- Keeping decisions defensible, with clear records of why decisions were made, particularly around recruitment, performance and adjustments.
For the practical detail of how to meet the adjustments duty day-to-day, see our guide to reasonable adjustments.
What happens if employers get this wrong?
Getting this wrong carries risk. Non-compliance can lead to internal grievances, employment tribunal claims, and reputational damage – and neurodivergence-related claims are a growing part of that picture. Analysis of tribunal data by law firm Irwin Mitchell found that employment tribunal cases linked to neurodivergent conditions rose from 265 in 2020 to 517 in 2025 – a rise of around 95% in five years.
Most of these cases don't come from deliberate discrimination. More often, they come from a lack of awareness – a manager who didn't recognise a disability, or a policy applied without thinking through its impact on someone.
This guide gives you the general picture, not a view on specific circumstances. If you're facing a live situation, or you're unsure how the law applies to a particular case, it's worth taking independent legal advice.
What this means for your organisation
Understanding the Equality Act is about recognising an obligation clearly enough to act on it early, supporting people proactively rather than responding reactively once something has already gone wrong.
The nine protected characteristics and your key duties are the foundation. From here, the practical next steps are understanding protected characteristics in more depth, and knowing how to put the reasonable adjustments duty into practice.
About Brain in Hand
Brain in Hand is a coaching platform that helps neurodivergent people, including autistic and ADHD people, achieve more in work, education and life. It brings together always-available digital support with specialist human coaching and chat, so support is there when people need it. If you'd like to see how it works for your organisation, take a look at our workplace support page.
