Who is protected by the Equality Act 2010?

As was the case under the laws that it replaced, the Equality Act 2010 (EA 10) prohibits discrimination against:

• All employees, job applicants and former employees;

• Contract workers, sub-contract workers, temps, casual workers, apprentices, people on vocational training or work experience;

• Police officers;

• Partners;

• Barristers;

• Office holders.

“Employment” is defined in section 82(2)(a) of the EA 10 as “employment under a contract of employment, a contract of apprenticeship or a contract personally to do work”. To be protected, a worker must be contracted to perform work personally. Agency workers can claim if they suffer acts of discrimination by the agency or the end user/hirer. This was established in London Borough of Council v Pegg ([2012] UKEAT/0590/11/LA).