Marriage and civil partnership

To be protected because of marriage or civil partnership, an individual must be married or have a civil partner. Someone who is intending to take this step but has not yet done so is not protected. Neither is someone who is cohabiting, widowed, single, engaged or divorced (section 8 EA 10). The protection is against discrimination because of marital status. It is not protection from discrimination because you are married to a particular person (Hawkins v Atex Group Limited and Others [2011] UKEAT0302/11/1303).