Equality, diversity and inclusion policy

There’s no specific legal requirement for you to have an equality, diversity and inclusion policy. However, discrimination because of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation are all unlawful and implementing an equality, diversity and inclusion policy statement will help demonstrate that you took all reasonable steps to prevent acts of unlawful discrimination.

Unlawful discrimination

Under the Equality Act 2010, it’s unlawful to discriminate against an employee or job applicant because of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race (including colour, nationality and ethnic or national origins), religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation. You will also be vicariously liable for any acts of unlawful discrimination committed by your employees against other employees in the course of their employment unless you can show that you took all reasonable steps to prevent those acts from occurring. As there’s no limit on the amount of compensation an employee can receive for unlawful discrimination, and it can include compensation for injury to feelings, it’s important that you take equality seriously. Putting in place our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy statement - and ensuring you follow its terms and give regular training to your staff and managers on their rights and obligations relating to equality, diversity and inclusion - means that not only is it likely to assist in reducing the risk of unlawful discrimination occurring in the first place, but also you have a much greater chance of being able to successfully rely on the statutory “reasonable steps” defence. Be aware that just having a policy statement won’t be enough - it’s essential that the policy is disseminated to all staff and that they are given appropriate, high-quality compulsory training to support the policy, and then you must refresh that training at regular intervals, e.g. annually.