Website of the UK government

Please note that this website has a UK government accesskeys system.

Public services all in one place

Main menu

Employees

Employees

Sex discrimination and equal pay

It's unlawful for an employer to treat you differently from others because of your sex, because you are married, or if you've had, are having or are going to have gender reassignment. Find out about your rights and what to do if you feel you're being discriminated against.

What is sex discrimination?

Equal opportunities laws aim to create a 'level playing field' so that people are employed, paid, trained and promoted only because of their skills, abilities and how they do their job.

Under the 1975 Sex Discrimination Act it's unlawful for an employer to discriminate against you because of your sex or because you are married. It's also unlawful to discriminate against you because you've had, are having or intend to have, gender reassignment. This means someone, supervised by a doctor, who changes their gender.

The discrimination can be 'direct' or 'indirect', deliberate or accidental. If someone is disadvantaged at work because of their sex, marital status or gender, it is unlawful, and the employer should stop the discrimination.

Sex discrimination laws cover almost all workers (men and women) and all types of organisation in the UK.

Equal pay

The 1970 Equal Pay Act makes it unlawful for employers to discriminate between men and women in terms of their pay and conditions where they are doing the same or similar work; work rated as equivalent in a job evaluation study by the employer; or work of equal value.

Different kinds of sex discrimination

Sex discrimination at work is unlawful in all parts of employment. The law covers recruitment, terms and conditions, pay and benefits, status, training, promotion and transfer opportunities, right through to redundancy and dismissal.

However, in some cases, a job can be offered to someone of a particular sex, because of what is called a 'genuine occupational qualification'. Examples could include:

  • some jobs in single-sex schools
  • jobs in some welfare services
  • acting jobs that need a man or a woman

Different types of discrimination

There are four types of discrimination:

  • direct discrimination - treating you differently because of your sex, because you are married or because of your gender reassignment (eg paying men more than women for doing the same job, promoting someone because they are single instead of an equally qualified person, or sacking a woman because she says she is pregnant or might start a family.
  • indirect discrimination - putting you at a disadvantage because of certain working practices or rules (eg setting a minimum height, which might discriminate against most women, or an employer's refusal to recruit part-time workers without good reason)
  • harassment - behaving in an offensive manner, or encouraging or allowing other people to do so (for example, making sexual remarks or gestures, allowing displays or distribution of sexually explicit material, or giving someone a potentially offensive nickname because of their gender)
  • victimisation - treating you unfairly for making a complaint about discrimination (for example, preventing you from going on training courses, taking unfair disciplinary action against you, or excluding you from company social events)

Employers who don't stop sex and gender discrimination by their employees may themselves be discriminating unlawfully.

What is 'positive action'?

In some circumstances, an employer may encourage or offer support specifically to men or women, and this 'positive action' is allowed under sex discrimination laws.

For example, an employer who has no women managers might offer some training in management skills only to women or encourage them to apply for management posts. Positive action applies only to training and encouragement to apply for posts, so when it comes to choosing who is to get a post the employer must consider all candidates on their suitability alone.

What to do if you're discriminated against

If you think that you’re suffering sex discrimination at work, you should talk to your employer, explaining what you see as discrimination. If necessary, put your complaint in writing. An employee representative (such as a trades union official) may be able to help you. Your employer may have an equal opportunities policy - ask to see it.

If this doesn’t help, you may need to make a complaint using your employer’s grievance procedure. You shouldn't be victimised for making a complaint, as this would count as discrimination.

If you’re still unhappy,  you can apply to an Employment Tribunal – you’ll need to do this within three months of the discrimination taking place or within six months if it is about unequal pay. Tribunals can award compensation for unlawful sex discrimination.

Where to get help

The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) offers free, confidential and impartial advice on employment rights issues. You can call the Acas help line on 08457 474 747 from 8.00 am to 6.00 pm Monday to Friday.

Your local Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) can provide free and impartial advice. You can find your local CAB office in the phone book or online.

If you are a member of a trade union, you can get help, advice and support from them.

More useful links

In this section...

Additional links

Access keys