Equality and diversity policy

An employer is liable for discrimination by its staff unless it took all reasonable steps to prevent it, and the equality policy is the first of those steps: it names the protected characteristics, explains the forms discrimination takes, tells managers what the law requires in recruitment, promotion, pay and dismissal, and sets the adjustments, the monitoring and the complaints route. A policy that is written, communicated, trained and applied is the defence; one that sits in the handbook is not. I draft the policy for the employer as part of the handbook and core policies for a fixed fee of £995, delivered in five working days.

Who this is for

Employers in England and Wales of any size who want a policy that managers understand and a tribunal will treat as a reasonable step, and employers whose policy is a statement of values with no procedure behind it.

What matters in an equality and diversity policy

The protected characteristics and the forms of discrimination

The Equality Act 2010 protects age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation, and prohibits direct discrimination under section 13, indirect discrimination under section 19 (a provision, criterion or practice that disadvantages a group and cannot be justified), harassment under section 26, victimisation under section 27, and discrimination arising from disability under section 15; the policy should explain each in plain terms with examples from the business's own context, because managers who understand that a requirement to work full time can be indirect sex discrimination make better decisions than managers who have read a list of characteristics.

The employer's liability and the reasonable steps defence

Under section 109 of the Equality Act 2010 an employer is liable for discrimination and harassment by its employees in the course of employment whether or not it knew or approved, unless it shows that it took all reasonable steps to prevent the employee doing it, and the steps a tribunal expects are a policy, its communication to staff, training that is refreshed, a complaints procedure that is used, and action taken when complaints are upheld; the policy should be drafted as the first step and should refer to the others, and the employer should keep the records that prove each, because the defence is evidenced rather than asserted.

Recruitment, promotion and the decisions the policy governs

The policy should set the standards for recruitment (job descriptions and criteria that are necessary, advertising that reaches a diverse pool, interview questions that avoid protected characteristics, pre-employment health questions limited as section 60 of the Equality Act 2010 permits, adjustments for disabled candidates), for promotion, training and pay (objective criteria, recorded decisions), for the management of absence, performance and discipline (consistency, adjustments), and for dismissal and redundancy selection (criteria that are not indirectly discriminatory, the protection for pregnancy and family leave), because those are the decisions that produce claims.

Reasonable adjustments and the duty that goes further

The duty under section 20 of the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments for disabled workers and applicants is a duty to act rather than a duty not to discriminate, triggered where a provision, criterion or practice, a physical feature or the absence of an auxiliary aid puts a disabled person at a substantial disadvantage, and the policy should set the process (identifying the disadvantage, consulting the employee, considering occupational health advice, deciding and recording the adjustments, reviewing them), with examples (hours, duties, equipment, location, absence triggers, the application of procedures), and should say that cost is one factor among several in reasonableness.

Monitoring, data and positive action

The policy should say whether the employer monitors the diversity of its workforce and applicants, which requires the collection of special category data under the UK GDPR with the equality of opportunity condition in the Data Protection Act 2018, anonymised and voluntary, and what the employer does with the results; it should explain positive action under sections 158 and 159 of the Equality Act 2010 (measures to overcome disadvantage or encourage participation, and the tie-break in recruitment and promotion) and distinguish it from positive discrimination, which remains unlawful; and it should address the gender pay gap reporting duty where the employer has the headcount for it.

Complaints, training and the evidence a tribunal looks for

The policy should set the complaints route (the grievance procedure, with a route around the line manager where the complaint concerns them), the protection from victimisation for those who complain or give evidence, the investigation and the sanctions, the training all staff and managers receive on induction and at intervals with records kept, and the review of the policy; a tribunal asked whether the employer took all reasonable steps looks for the policy, the training records, the complaints handled and the sanctions imposed, and the policy should be written so that each of those exists.

What it costs

Staff handbook and core policies, £995. Five working days.

Employment contract, £595. One template you can reuse for a grade of staff. Five working days.

Buying online forms the engagement on payment. The scope is what the employment contracts and handbooks page describes, you accept the Terms of Service at checkout, and I email you within four working hours to get started. If you would rather ask something first, email me.

What you get

• A bespoke contract drafted for how you employ people
• Restrictive covenants drafted at a scope a court will uphold
• Confidentiality and intellectual property provisions that put ownership where it belongs
• The statutory particulars, so the document does the job section 1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 requires it to do
• Flexibility clauses where you genuinely need them, drafted to survive challenge
• Core policies: disciplinary, grievance, sickness absence, equal opportunities, data protection and, increasingly, AI use
• One round of amendments

What is not included

• Acting for employees
• Employment tribunal representation
• Payroll, pensions auto-enrolment and tax
• Immigration and sponsor licence work
• Day to day HR handling, disciplinaries, grievances and redundancy processes

Questions I am often asked

We have an equality statement on our website. Is that a policy?

A statement of values is not a procedure. The defence needs a policy that explains the law, sets the process for recruitment, adjustments and complaints, and is trained and applied. The policy is drafted to do that work.

Can we recruit a woman over a man to improve our balance?

Only as a tie-break between candidates of equal merit where women are under-represented, under the positive action provisions, and the decision must be recorded. Preferring the less qualified candidate is unlawful.

Do we have to collect diversity data?

Not unless the gender pay gap duty applies to the headcount. If the employer monitors, it must do so under the data protection conditions, anonymised and voluntary, and the policy sets that out.

Related guidance and services

• Employment contracts and handbooks, £995, the service this page describes
• Consultancy and contractor agreements, £595
• Anti-harassment policy
• Disciplinary and grievance policy

This page is general guidance for businesses in England and Wales, not advice on your own circumstances. Last reviewed: October 2026. Email geoffrey@caesar.co.uk.