Protected characteristics

The Equality Act 2010 names nine personal attributes an employer cannot lawfully hold against you — and the protection runs from the job advert through to dismissal. Here is what each one covers, and how direct and indirect discrimination differ.

Being treated worse because of your age, or the age group you are seen as belonging to. It protects older and younger workers alike, and is the one characteristic where even direct discrimination can sometimes be justified.

A physical or mental impairment with a substantial, long-term adverse effect on your ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. Some conditions — including cancer, HIV and multiple sclerosis — count as a disability from the point of diagnosis.

Protection for anyone who is proposing to undergo, is undergoing, or has undergone a process to reassign their sex. It does not depend on any medical treatment or supervision.

Marriage and civil partnership

Protection for people who are married or in a civil partnership. It does not protect single people, and it does not cover less favourable treatment based on who you are married to.

Pregnancy and maternity

Protection during pregnancy and the maternity leave period. Unfavourable treatment because of pregnancy, or because you took or sought maternity leave, cannot be justified.

Colour, nationality, and ethnic or national origins. It covers a broad range of treatment, including conduct linked to language, accent or cultural background.

Any religion, or a philosophical belief — and equally the absence of belief. To qualify, a belief must be genuinely held and meet a threshold of seriousness, coherence and importance.

Being treated worse because you are a man or a woman. It is the basis of equal pay claims and of much sexual harassment at work.

Orientation towards people of the same sex, the opposite sex, or both. It covers treatment based on assumptions about orientation as well as known orientation.

How many protected characteristics are there?

There are nine protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation. Discrimination in employment because of any of them is unlawful. The list is closed — an attribute that is not on it is not protected in the same way.

What is the difference between direct and indirect discrimination?

Direct discrimination is treating someone less favourably because of a protected characteristic — for example, not promoting someone because she is pregnant. Indirect discrimination is applying a rule or practice that looks neutral but puts people who share a characteristic at a particular disadvantage. Direct discrimination generally cannot be justified; indirect discrimination can be, if the employer shows it is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.

Can direct discrimination ever be justified?

Almost never. The single exception is direct age discrimination, which an employer can justify if it is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. Direct discrimination because of any other characteristic — including disability — cannot be justified. Disability does have a separate concept, discrimination arising from disability under section 15, which can be justified, but that is not the same as direct discrimination.

Does discrimination have to be intentional?

No. Discrimination is unlawful whether or not the employer meant to discriminate. Indirect discrimination in particular is often unintentional — a rule applied for ordinary business reasons that happens to disadvantage a protected group. What matters is the effect of the treatment, not the motive behind it.

Am I protected if I am discriminated against because of someone else's characteristic?

Often, yes. Direct discrimination is unlawful where you are treated less favourably because of a protected characteristic, even where it is not your own — for example being treated worse because you care for a disabled relative. This is known as discrimination by association, established for UK law in the Coleman v Attridge Law litigation. You are also protected where an employer wrongly perceives you to have a characteristic.

Do I need a minimum length of service to bring a discrimination claim?

No. A discrimination claim under the Equality Act 2010 has no qualifying period of service. The protection applies across the whole working relationship, including to job applicants at the recruitment stage. There is still a strict time limit for bringing a claim — normally three months less one day from the act complained of, subject to ACAS Early Conciliation and the tribunal's discretion to extend.

Is being single, or being a parent, a protected characteristic?

No. Marriage and civil partnership is a protected characteristic, but it protects people who are married or in a civil partnership — being single is not covered. Being a parent or carer is not itself a protected characteristic either, although unfair treatment connected to it can sometimes amount to sex discrimination or to discrimination by association with a disabled person.

Protected characteristics

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Protected characteristics

Last reviewed: May 2026

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protected characteristic

is one of the nine personal attributes the Equality Act 2010 makes it unlawful to discriminate against at work: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation. The list is

, and the protection covers the whole working relationship.

Where this comes from

Equality Act 2010, s.4

— lists the nine protected characteristics.

Equality Act 2010, s.13

— direct discrimination.

Equality Act 2010, s.19

— indirect discrimination and the justification defence.

gov.uk — Discrimination: your rights

ACAS — Discrimination and the law

What a protected characteristic is

UK equality law does not stop an employer treating people unfairly in general. A manager can be difficult, play favourites or make a poor decision, and none of that is, by itself, unlawful discrimination. The Equality Act 2010 protects against a specific thing: being disadvantaged

one of nine named personal attributes. Those attributes are the protected characteristics, and they are set out in section 4 of the Act.

Two features of the list matter. First, it is

— there are nine characteristics and no more. Being treated badly for a reason that is not on the list, such as social background or being new to a job, is not discrimination under the Act, however unfair it feels. Second, the protection covers the

whole working relationship

: recruitment, pay, training, promotion, day-to-day treatment and dismissal. It reaches job applicants too, so an employer can discriminate unlawfully against someone it never even employed.

Here are the nine, and what each one covers in an employment context:

Direct and indirect discrimination

The Act recognises several kinds of discrimination, and two carry most claims.

Direct discrimination

, in section 13, is treating someone less favourably than others

a protected characteristic — refusing to promote a woman because she is pregnant, or rejecting an applicant because of their race. The comparison can be with a real colleague or with a hypothetical person in the same position. The treatment can even be because of a characteristic you do not have:

discrimination by association

, where you are treated worse because of a relative's disability, or

, where the employer wrongly assumes you have a characteristic. Direct discrimination generally

, however reasonable the employer's commercial logic. The one exception is age — direct age discrimination is lawful only if the employer proves it is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.

Indirect discrimination

, in section 19, is subtler. It happens when an employer applies a provision, criterion or practice that is the same for everyone but puts people who share a protected characteristic at a particular disadvantage. Unlike direct discrimination, indirect discrimination

— the employer escapes liability if it shows the rule is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. Indirect discrimination applies to every protected characteristic except pregnancy and maternity, which is dealt with through the direct route.

(section 26) — unwanted conduct related to a characteristic that violates someone's dignity or creates a hostile, degrading or offensive environment — and

(section 27), which protects you from being treated badly for complaining about discrimination or supporting someone else's complaint. For disabled employees there is also a positive duty to make reasonable adjustments, and a separate route,

discrimination arising from disability

under section 15, which — unlike direct disability discrimination — the employer can justify.

How it works in practice

A care provider changes the rota for a 60-person team so that everyone must work one Saturday in three. The rule is applied to all staff equally. But nine members of the team observe a Saturday sabbath — some are Seventh-day Adventist, some are observant Jewish staff — and for religious reasons cannot work Saturdays at all.

Staff in the affected team

Staff who observe a Saturday sabbath

Of those 9, unable to work the new rota

Of the other 51, unable to work it

The rota is a neutral rule, applied to everyone. But it puts the group who share the protected characteristic of

at a clear particular disadvantage — effectively all of them are disadvantaged, against a handful of everyone else. That is the shape of

indirect discrimination

It does not end there. Because this is indirect discrimination, the employer can still

the rota — if it shows the rule is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. Weekend cover that is genuinely necessary for resident safety is a legitimate aim. But proportionality asks whether there was a less discriminatory way to reach it. If Saturdays could be covered by asking for volunteers, recruiting weekend staff, or letting the nine swap shifts, a tribunal is unlikely to accept that a blanket rule was proportionate. A real business need is the start of the defence, not the end of it.

Common pitfalls for claimants

Frequently asked questions

Sources & further reading

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Last reviewed: May 2026.

Statutory references checked against the Equality Act 2010 as in force on 21 May 2026.

This page is explanatory only and is not legal advice. Start My Claim is self-service software, not a law firm — the Employment Tribunal tools help you build and run your own case.