Discrimination at Work: Protected Characteristics and How to Make a Claim
The Equality Act 2010 protects you from day one against unfair treatment because of nine protected characteristics. Claims go to the employment tribunal after Acas early conciliation, within six months for acts from 1 October 2026.
Key points
- The Equality Act 2010 protects nine characteristics: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.
- There is no qualifying period: job applicants, employees, workers and contractors are protected from their first contact with an employer and after the job ends.
- For acts on or after 1 October 2026 you have six months less one day to start Acas early conciliation; earlier acts keep the three-month limit.
- Compensation is uncapped and includes lost earnings plus an award for injury to feelings, currently £1,300 to £62,900 under the Vento bands reviewed each April.
- Since 30 October 2026 employers must take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment and are liable for harassment of staff by customers and other third parties.
- Tribunal claims are free to bring but final hearings often take more than a year, so raise a grievance early and keep dated evidence from the start.
If you are treated worse at work because of a protected characteristic, the Equality Act 2010 gives you a claim in the employment tribunal from your first day, with no minimum service and no cap on compensation. The Act protects nine characteristics and bans four main kinds of conduct: direct discrimination, indirect discrimination, harassment and victimisation, with an extra duty on employers to make reasonable adjustments for disabled workers. This guide covers who is protected, what counts as discrimination, the time limits (now six months for acts on or after 1 October 2026), evidence, the claim process, compensation and how people pay for advice in England and Wales.
The nine protected characteristics
Section 4 of the Equality Act 2010 lists the characteristics the Act protects. They are age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation. Unfair treatment for any other reason is not discrimination under the Act, though it may still be an unfair dismissal or a breach of contract.
You do not have to have the characteristic yourself. Direct discrimination includes treatment because of a characteristic someone wrongly believes you have (perception) and treatment because of someone you are connected with, such as a disabled child you care for (association). Disability has its own definition: a physical or mental impairment with a substantial and long-term adverse effect on normal day-to-day activities, where long-term means it has lasted or is likely to last at least twelve months. Cancer, HIV and multiple sclerosis count from diagnosis.
What counts as discrimination
Direct and indirect discrimination
Direct discrimination (section 13) is being treated less favourably than someone else was or would be treated because of a protected characteristic, for example in recruitment, promotion, redundancy selection or dismissal. It can almost never be justified; the one exception is age, where an employer may show the treatment was a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. Discrimination arising from disability (section 15) covers unfavourable treatment because of something connected with a disability, such as sickness absence, unless the employer can justify it.
Indirect discrimination (section 19) is a rule, policy or practice that applies to everyone but puts people who share a characteristic at a particular disadvantage, and puts you at that disadvantage, unless the employer can justify it. A requirement to work full time, a fixed shift pattern or a rule about uniforms are typical examples. Since 1 January 2024, section 19A also protects someone who suffers the same disadvantage as the group even though they do not share the characteristic.
Harassment
Harassment (section 26) is unwanted conduct related to a protected characteristic that violates your dignity or creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for you. It includes conduct of a sexual nature and less favourable treatment because you rejected or submitted to it. Your employer is legally responsible for harassment by colleagues done in the course of their employment unless it took all reasonable steps to prevent it, and the individual harasser can be named in the claim as well.
Two duties now sit alongside this. Since 26 October 2024 employers have been under a positive duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their staff. From 30 October 2026 the Employment Rights Act 2025 strengthened that duty to all reasonable steps, and made employers liable again for harassment by third parties such as customers, clients and patients, with no requirement that it has happened before. There is no free-standing claim for breach of the duty, but a tribunal can add up to 25 per cent to compensation in a successful sexual harassment claim where it was breached, and the Equality and Human Rights Commission can enforce it directly.
Victimisation and reasonable adjustments
Victimisation (section 27) is being subjected to a detriment because you did a protected act: made or supported a discrimination complaint, gave evidence, or said you intended to. It protects colleagues who support a complaint too, and needs no protected characteristic of your own.
The duty to make reasonable adjustments (sections 20 and 21) applies only to disability. Where a provision, criterion or practice, a physical feature of the premises or the lack of an auxiliary aid puts a disabled worker at a substantial disadvantage, the employer must take reasonable steps to remove it. Adjusted hours, equipment, a transfer to a vacant post, time off for treatment and a changed absence trigger are all adjustments tribunals have found reasonable. The employer must know, or reasonably be expected to know, about the disability, so put it in writing.
Who is protected and from when
There is no qualifying period for discrimination. Protection starts with the advert and the interview and continues after you leave, covering references and post-employment harassment. It extends beyond employees to workers, agency and contract workers, partners, office holders and job applicants.
The Equality Act applies in England, Wales and Scotland, with employment claims going to the employment tribunal in each. Northern Ireland has its own equality legislation and tribunal, so the procedure below does not apply there.
Time limits
For acts of discrimination on or after 1 October 2026 the time limit is six months less one day from the act complained of, following the Employment Rights Act 2025. For anything that happened before that date the old limit of three months less one day still applies. Where the discrimination was a series of connected acts, known as conduct extending over a period, time runs from the last act in the series, but tribunals look hard at whether earlier incidents really are linked, so do not rely on a continuing act argument if you can avoid it. A failure to do something, such as a refused adjustment, is treated as happening when the employer decided not to act.
Notifying Acas (the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) for early conciliation pauses the clock while conciliation runs and gives you at least a month after the certificate is issued, but only if you contact Acas within the original limit. A tribunal can accept a late claim where it is just and equitable, a more generous test than for unfair dismissal, but it is a discretion, not a right. The guide to the employment tribunal process explains the stages and deadlines in more detail.
Evidence and the burden of proof
Discrimination is rarely admitted, so cases are built from circumstantial evidence: what was said, how others were treated, the timing of a decision, the employer's shifting explanations and its departure from its own procedures. Keep a dated note of each incident while it is fresh, save emails and messages to a personal account where your contract allows, and identify comparators, meaning real or hypothetical colleagues without your characteristic who were treated better.
Section 136 of the Act shifts the burden of proof. If you prove facts from which a tribunal could conclude, in the absence of any other explanation, that discrimination occurred, the employer must then prove that it did not discriminate. The old statutory questionnaire procedure was abolished in 2014, but you can still send written questions to your employer and a tribunal may draw inferences from evasive or missing answers.
Making a claim step by step
- Raise it internally. Use the grievance procedure, set out the facts and name the type of discrimination you believe occurred. A tribunal can reduce or increase compensation by up to 25 per cent where either side unreasonably fails to follow the Acas Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures, and a grievance often produces documents and admissions that matter later.
- Contact Acas for early conciliation. Since 1 December 2025 the conciliation period can last up to twelve weeks. Taking part is voluntary for both sides, but you must obtain the early conciliation certificate before the tribunal will accept your claim. Many cases settle at this stage through a settlement agreement.
- Submit the ET1 claim form online through GOV.UK with your certificate number. There is no fee to bring or pursue a tribunal claim. Your employer has 28 days from being sent the claim to file its ET3 response.
- Prepare for the hearings. A preliminary hearing sets the timetable and may deal with issues such as whether you are disabled or whether the claim is in time. You and your employer then exchange documents and witness statements, and the final hearing decides liability and, often at a separate remedy hearing, compensation. Because of the tribunal backlog a final hearing is often more than a year away.
If you resigned because of the discrimination you may also have a claim for constructive dismissal, and if you were dismissed a claim for unfair dismissal, which can run in the same proceedings.
What a tribunal can award
Compensation for discrimination is uncapped. It has two main parts: your financial losses, including lost earnings and pension to the date of the hearing and for a reasonable period afterwards, and an award for injury to feelings. Injury to feelings is set using the Vento bands, which are updated each April. For claims presented on or after 6 April 2026 the lower band for a one-off or less serious act is £1,300 to £12,600, the middle band is £12,600 to £37,700 and the upper band for the most serious cases is £37,700 to £62,900, with awards above that only in the most exceptional circumstances.
A tribunal can add aggravated damages where the employer behaved in a high-handed or malicious way, damages for any psychiatric injury, and interest. It can also make a declaration of your rights and a recommendation that the employer takes steps to reduce the effect of the discrimination on you. Each side normally pays its own legal costs whatever the result; costs orders are made only where a party has acted unreasonably or a claim had no reasonable prospect of success.
Costs, funding and what a solicitor does
An employment solicitor will assess which types of claim you have, identify comparators, draft the grievance and the ET1 so that nothing is left out that cannot be added later, handle disclosure and witness statements, negotiate through Acas and represent you or instruct a barrister at the hearing. A solicitor will also tell you early if the claim is weak.
Firms charge by the hour, by fixed fee for defined stages such as drafting the claim form or reviewing a settlement agreement, or under a no win no fee arrangement where the fee is a percentage of compensation, capped by law at 35 per cent in employment cases. Check whether a home insurance policy includes legal expenses cover, whether a trade union will fund representation, and whether you qualify for legal aid, which remains available for discrimination advice on a means-tested basis through the Civil Legal Advice service. The Equality Advisory and Support Service runs a free helpline, Citizens Advice and law centres can help with the early stages, and the guide on free legal help lists other options. Many firms offer a free or fixed-price first meeting; compare employment law solicitors in Birmingham or use the solicitors near me search to find one, and read the overview of employment law and the changes brought in by the Employment Rights Act 2025 alongside this guide.
Frequently asked questions
Can I claim discrimination if I have worked somewhere for less than two years?
Yes. Discrimination claims have never had a qualifying period. You are protected from the moment you apply for a job, throughout your employment and after it ends, whatever your length of service or your status as employee, worker or contractor. The two-year rule (six months from 1 January 2027) applies only to ordinary unfair dismissal, so a dismissal in the first months of a job that was because of a protected characteristic can still be challenged as discrimination.
What is the difference between bullying and harassment?
Bullying is not a legal term and there is no free-standing claim for it. Harassment under the Equality Act is unwanted conduct related to a protected characteristic that violates your dignity or creates a hostile environment. Bullying that has nothing to do with a protected characteristic may still breach your contract, support a constructive dismissal claim or, in serious cases, amount to harassment under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, which is a civil court claim rather than a tribunal one.
Do I have to raise a grievance before going to the tribunal?
It is not a legal requirement, and your claim will not be rejected because you skipped it. However, the Acas Code of Practice expects you to try to resolve the problem internally, and a tribunal can cut your compensation by up to 25 per cent if you unreasonably failed to raise a grievance. Acas early conciliation, by contrast, is compulsory: you must have an early conciliation certificate before you can submit a claim.
How much compensation do discrimination claims pay?
There is no cap. The award is built from your actual financial loss, such as wages and pension lost because you were dismissed or not promoted, plus injury to feelings within the Vento bands, which for claims from 6 April 2026 run from £1,300 for a minor one-off incident to £62,900 for the most serious cases. Most awards fall in the lower or middle band. Interest, aggravated damages and compensation for personal injury can be added in appropriate cases.
Can my employer punish me for complaining about discrimination?
No. Treating you badly because you made or supported a discrimination complaint, gave evidence or alleged a breach of the Act is victimisation under section 27, which is unlawful in itself. That includes dismissal, demotion, a poor reference or being frozen out. You do not need a protected characteristic of your own, and the protection extends to colleagues who back your complaint. Victimisation claims have the same six-month time limit and uncapped compensation as other discrimination claims.
What if the discrimination happened before 1 October 2026?
The six-month time limit introduced by the Employment Rights Act 2025 applies only to acts on or after 1 October 2026. Earlier acts keep the old limit of three months less one day, paused while Acas early conciliation runs. If the treatment continued across that date as a connected series, time runs from the last act and the six-month limit will apply, but a tribunal decides whether the acts really were linked, so act promptly rather than relying on that.
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This guide describes the law in England and Wales as at 30 October 2026. It is general information, not legal advice about your situation; the law and the figures it quotes change, so check the position with a solicitor before acting. LawFirms.co.uk is a directory and does not provide legal services.