The law
The pages within this section provide details on equalities law as it relates to gender and employment. Here you can find information on the principal piece of equalities legislation, the Equality Act 2010, the enactment of which simplified and strengthened existing equalities law. There is also information on the public sector equality duty, and the specific duties in Scotland which were created by secondary legislation in the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) (Scotland) Regulations 2012 as amended. The specific duties initially came into force in 2012, and were amended in 2015 and 2016 to extend the scope and content of the duties. The section also includes information on the Equal Pay Act 1970, the first legislation enshrining equal pay.
You can also find out about provisions under human rights legislation.
Last updated May 2016.
Related publications
One year on and little change: An assessment of Scottish employer gender pay gap reporting
This briefing follows on from our 2018 assessment of employer gender pay gap reporting, examining the quality of 2019 reporting and analysing employer repsonses to their gender pay gaps.
Response to the draft regulations on mandatory pay gap reporting
This is Close the Gap's response to the UK Government's consultation on the draft regulations to require large private and third sector organisations report on their gender pay gap.
Supplementary evidence to Women & Equalities Committee inquiry into the pay gap
This supplementary written evidence to the UK Women & Equalities Committee inquiry into the gender pay gap for women aged over 40 years focuses on recommendations for key stakeholders.
What equality law means for you as an employer: pay and benefits
This guidance from the EHRC sets out ways that employers can avoid all the different types of unlawful discrimination with regard to basic pay, non-discretionary bonuses, overtime rates and allowances, performance-related benefits, severance and redundancy pay, access to pension schemes, hours of work, company cars, sick pay, and 'fringe benefits' such as travel allowances.
