What is Equal Opportunity in Employment in England and Wales?

Every employer in England and Wales should be aware of their legal obligations towards their staff and workplace. One legal requirement is to ensure equal opportunities in your employment. If you do not provide an equal employment opportunity between staff, you could discriminate against them. Unlawful discrimination results in your business having to pay out money, tarnishing your reputation as a business and an employer. Furthermore, creating equal employment opportunities is in your best interests as it benefits you as an employer.

This article will explain what equal opportunities in employment means and its implications for you as an employer. It will also explain how you should create equal opportunities in the workplace and how you might promote these.

What Does Equal Opportunity in Employment Mean?

Equal opportunity in employment means that you treat everyone equally, ensuring that your prejudices do not disadvantage anyone when making employment decisions. It means that there is no employment discrimination, such as race or sex discrimination. Thus, you will want to aim for equal opportunities and equal employment in the workplace. 

Equal opportunity in employment means that you must ensure that everyone has what they need to have equal opportunities, which might mean adjusting to someone with a disability (termed a ‘reasonable adjustment’).

What Does Equal Opportunity in Employment Mean for Employers?

The law requires you to ensure equal opportunities for everyone in your workplace. In addition, you are required to meet specific standards in terms of your relationships with your employees. Therefore, you must treat everyone equally and fairly.

Thus, it is considered unlawful discrimination if an employer discriminates based on one of these protected groups. The nine protected characteristics are:

• race;
• sex;
• disability;
• age;
• religious background;
• sexual orientation;
• pregnancy or maternity;
• gender identity; and
• marital status.

Thus, you should always follow the law by creating equal opportunities in your workplace. Not discriminating against those in your workplace is likely to create a positive work environment, raise morale and keep staff motivated. If your staff are happy, this, in turn, should help your business progress. 

How Should Employers Help Create Equal Opportunities in the Workplace?

As an employer, you must ensure that you create equal opportunities in the workplace by not discriminating based on the nine protected characteristics. 

Creating equal employment opportunities in the workplace is required at each stage of your employee’s employment, including recruitment. Therefore, you are required to ensure equal opportunities when, for example:

• allocating jobs;
• allocating workloads;
• granting training opportunities;
• giving the availability of benefits and conditions;
• offering promotions; and
• terminating employment, such as in terms of redundancy.

As an employer, you should also ensure that any discrimination, harassment and bullying do not occur within your workplace and that you deal with complaints and grievances fairly. To ensure that discrimination, harassment, and bullying do not take place in your workplace, you should, for example:

• educate your workforce about protected characteristics which they should not discriminate against; and
• explain to your staff the benefits of a diverse workforce.

How Could Employers Promote Equal Opportunities in the Workplace?

Apart from ensuring that equal opportunities in employment apply in your employment, it is also good practice to promote it within your workplace. Some ways you might do this are:

• creating workplace policies around equal opportunities;
• taking personal details off job candidate CVs to prevent potential bias towards protected groups during selection;
• making sure that pay is equal between staff in similar roles; and 
• developing your staff when discussing career progression, involving training and support requirements.

Key Takeaways

Employers are legally required to ensure equal opportunities in the workplace, which means that you must treat people equally and not discriminate against staff when making employment decisions. You should also make sure there is no bullying or harassment in your workplace. The duty to create equal opportunity in your employment is a requirement at all stages of employment. For example, you must treat people equally when you are recruiting and promoting staff and offering training opportunities. 

If you need help understanding equal employment opportunities in England and Wales, our experienced employment lawyers can assist as part of our LegalVision membership. For a low monthly fee, you will have unlimited access to lawyers to answer your questions and draft and review your documents for a low monthly fee. So call us today on 0808 196 8584 or visit our membership page.

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