There is various legislation covering all aspects of discrimination in the UK – they apply equally to employees, workers and those who are self-employed (in most cases).

Your employer must, by law, have an Equal Opportunities policy.

The legislation that applies is:

• Right to apply for flexible working for parents – click here

• Prevention of less favourable treatment for part-time workers – click here

• Prevention of less favourable treatment for Fixed Term employees – cilck here

• Maternity Rights – click here

• Sex Discrimination act – which makes it unlawful for your employer to discriminate against you (either directly or indirectly) on grounds of sex or marital status.  This covers discrimination, victimisation and harassment on the grounds of gender, marriage, pregnancy, maternity leave and gender reassignment.

• Equal Pay Act – gives individuals the rights to receive the same contractual pay and benefits as a person of the opposite sex where they are employed to do the same or broadly similar work.

• Race Relations Act – makes it unlawful to discriminate (either directly or indirectly) on the grounds of race, colour, nationality/citizenship, ethnic or national origin. This covers discrimination, victimisation and harassment.

• Disability Discrimination Act – makes it unlawful to discriminate on the grounds of disability, and covers discrimination and victimisation in recruitment, terms and conditions of employment, training, promotion and dismissal, for those employers with over 15 employees.  This Act also imposes duties on employers to make reasonable adjustments to practices, policies, procedures and their premises in order to ensure that disabled people are not at a substantial disadvantage.

Disability is defined as a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long term adverse effect on a persons ability to carry out normal day to day activities.

• Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 – introduced from 1st October 2006 these regulations make it unlawful to discriminate on the grounds of age (either directly or indirectly) and cover discrimination, harassment or victimisation in recruitment, terms and conditions, promotions, dismissal and training. These regulations have introduced a national default retirement age of 65, making compulsory retirement below 65 unlawful unless objectively justified by the employer.  Employees now have a right to request to work beyond 65 (or any other retirement age set by the company) and your employer has a duty to consider these requests.

• The Civil Partnership Act 2004 allows two non-related adults of the same sex to register a civil partnership.  Employers must provide the same benefits to employees whether they are married or civil partners – e.g. access to flexible working, paternity pay, health insurance and other benefits.

• Plus two Employment Equality Regulations of 2003 that protect people from discrimination on the grounds of all religions and beliefs, and grounds connected with sexual orientation.  The law requires that your employers recruitment and selection procedures and all employment practices must treat everyone fairly and make direct and indirect discrimination, harassment and victimisation unlawful.

• In addition there is specific legislation in Northern Ireland that amends the Race Relations Act by identifying the Irish Traveller community as a racial community; and makes it unlawful to discriminate against someone on the grounds of religious belief or political opinion.  They cover direct and indirect discrimination and victimisation.

The Equal Opportunities Commission, the Disability Rights Commission and the Commission for Racial Equality were merged in October 2007 to form a single equality body called the Commission for Equality and Human Rights  (click here). It offers various publications and advice to explain the above in more detail.

Image by R. Sandman

If you work in the UK Media Industries and have a question about this or any other topic, please e-mail us at workline@freelanceadvisor.co.uk

Please note that the advice given on this website and by our Advisors is guidance only and cannot be taken as an authoritative interpretation of the law. It can also not be seen as specific advice for individual cases. Please also note that there are differences in legislation in Northern Ireland.