Lesson video

Hi, I'm Miss Kumar, and I'm really pleased that you've made a choice to learn with me today.

Today, we will be learning about the Equality Act and modern Britain, which is within our unit, Communities: How can we understand and respect different types of relationships? Some parts of the lesson might feel upsetting or uncomfortable.

We recommend that you are accompanied by an adult.

If at any stage you do feel uncomfortable or upset, close the screen and speak to a trusted adult.

The lesson outcome for today is, "I can describe the key points of the Equality Act of 2010 and its impact on modern Britain." Now, before we begin any learning, let's just remind ourselves of those all important ground rules.

Laura reminds us to listen to others.

It is okay to disagree with each other, but we should listen properly before making assumptions or deciding how to respond.

When disagreeing, let's make sure that we challenge the statement and not the person themselves.

Andeep reminds us to respect one another's privacy.

We can discuss examples, but don't use names or descriptions that identify anyone, including ourselves.

Jacob reminds us no judgement.

We can explore beliefs and misunderstandings about a topic without fear of being judged.

And finally, Izzy reminds us to choose our own level of participation.

Everyone has the right to choose whether or not to answer a question or join a discussion.

We should never put anyone on the spot.

Throughout the lesson today, you'll see that there are some words in bold font.

These are our keywords.

Before we begin our learning, let's take a quick look at these keywords and their definitions.

Equality Act of 2010.

This is a U.

K.

law passed in 2010 that aims to protect individuals from unjust treatment.

Protected characteristics.

These are nine specific attributes such as age, disability, and race, which are safeguarded by the Equality Act of 2010.

Discrimination.

This is the unjust treatment of different categories of people, especially on the grounds of race, age, sex, or disability.

And finally, harassment.

This is the aggressive pressure or intimidation often based on protected characteristics.

Today's lesson is split into three parts.

Let's start with part one, what are the key provisions of the Equality Act? The Equality Act 2010 was created to prevent harassment, discrimination, and victimisation against protected characteristics.

We all have at least one of the nine protected characteristics.

Many of us have more than one.

Sofia tells us, "My protected characteristic is my disability.

I am deaf and have a cochlear implant." That's just one example of a protected characteristic.

There are nine protected characteristics.

I wonder how many of these nine you already know.

The nine protected characteristics are age, disability, gender reassignment, this is the gender that somebody chooses to identify as, and it can be different to the gender that they were assigned at birth, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity or paternity, maternity are the rights of the mother, paternity are the rights of the father, race, religion or belief, sex, this is usually determined by the reproductive organs that a baby is born with, so it's usually male or female at birth, and sexual orientation.

Sexual orientation means who somebody is attracted to emotionally and physically.

Sofa asks, "Why do you think these are protected characteristics?" Feel free to pause the video, have a think, and then press Play when you're ready to move on.

How did you get on? The reason that these are protected characteristics is because historically, it's people from these groups that have been harassed or discriminated against, so it's really important that they are given that protection.

Have one last look at that list of nine protective characteristics because you might need to know that information for our first check for understanding.

Here's our first check for understanding.

Which two protected characteristics are missing? Feel free to pause the video, have a little think, and press Play when you're ready to move on.

How did you get on? The two protected characteristics that are missing are disability and race.

Well done if you got those right.

The Equality Act applies to various areas, including housing, this is making sure that people are given the same fair chance when it comes to finding a home, regardless of whether they have one or more of the nine protected characteristics.

Education.

This is making sure that children and young people are treated fairly throughout their school life and given access to the same level of education regardless of whether they have one or more of the nine protected characteristics.

Employment.

This is making sure that people have the same job opportunities regardless of whether they have one or more of the nine protected characteristics.

And finally, access to goods and services.

This could be access to your local supermarket or your doctor's surgery or even public transport.

Again, this is making sure that all people are given the same fair access to goods and services regardless of whether they have one or more of the nine protected characteristics.

Let's have a look now at different situations where you're protected by the Equality Act.

Number one, in the workplace.

Number two, using public services, for example, visiting the doctor or a library.

Number three, using a business, for example, a shop.

Number four, using transport, for example, buses and trains.

Number five, joining a club or an association, for example, a local football team.

And finally, number six, contact with government bodies, for example, your local council.

Aisha asks, "Can you think of any examples of how a person can face discrimination in these situations?" Feel free to pause the video to have a little think, and when you're ready to move on, press Play and we'll take a look at some examples together.

How did you get on? In the workplace, it might be that an applicant is denied employment because they're pregnant.

If a female is pregnant, it's likely that they will need time away from work to go to medical appointments, or eventually to have the baby.

This could put some employers off so they might discriminate and choose not to employ a female who's pregnant.

There might be bus companies that discriminate against wheelchair users by not having ramps for access.

It could also be in the workplace where a man is paid more than a woman for doing the exact same job.

This is discrimination.

Employers, public bodies, and organisations are asked to put in place reasonable adjustments to remove disadvantages for disabled people and accommodations for other protected characteristics.

Let's take a quick look at how this might be done.

The first example is that an employer might have to instal a lift so that any of their disabled employees can still access upper floors.

It might be that an employer has to allow their employees to have flexible working so that they can take time off to attend medical appointments.

It might be that an employer has to instal visual fire alarms. That's there to help those people that have hearing impairments.

Or it could be to provide a minimum two weeks maternity leave and one week paternity leave if somebody was to have a baby.

Let's now move on to our next check for understanding.

True or false? It is legal to be turned down for a job because you are pregnant.

Feel free to pause the video and have a think, and when you're ready to move on, press Play.

How did you get on? The answer of course is false.

Take a moment to think why.

The reason why is because pregnancy and maternity are protected characteristics.

A person cannot be denied employment because they are pregnant or they have children.

Well done if you got that right.

Now we move on to our first task.

Read the case study below and answer the following questions.

Miriam has applied for a job at a local hairdressers.

At the interview, Miriam is told she wouldn't be right for the job because she wears a hijab.

The salon's policy is that workers should not cover their hair so that they can show off the fashionable hairstyles that the salon offers.

Question one, what protected characteristic is being discriminated against at the salon? And question two, how would the salon need to change their policy to fit the provisions of the Equality Act? Feel free to pause the video, and when you're ready to move on, press Play.

How did you get on? Let's take a look at the answers together.

The first question that you were asked was, what protected characteristic is being discriminated against at the salon? Miriam has faced discrimination based on her religious beliefs, as her hijab is a part of religious dress.

Therefore, it is Miriam's protected characteristic of her religion and beliefs that is being discriminated against at the salon.

Question two asked, how would the salon need to change their policy to fit the provisions of the Equality Act? An exception needs to be made for Miriam so that she can wear her hijab at work as she wears a hair covering for religious reasons, not as a fashion choice like a hat.

The salon instead might encourage Miriam to use social media to promote images of stylish hairstyles, to show off the styles that she has created at the salon.

Well done if your answers were along those lines.

Let's move on to part two of the lesson, what does the Equality Act protect against? There are four types of discrimination, direct, indirect, harassment, and victimisation.

Let's take a look at each one of these in a little bit more detail.

Lucas reminds us that direct discrimination involves treating one person worse than another because of a protected characteristic.

An example of this would be if a landlord or landlady refused to rent a property to somebody because of their religion.

That is an example of direct discrimination.

Andeep reminds us that indirect discrimination involves an organisation putting a policy or provision in place or not putting one in place that impacts a person with a protected characteristic.

An example of this could be if an employer refused to have lift access in the workplace.

That would then stop those people that are wheelchair users or have mobility issues being able to access the upper floors.

That is an example of indirect discrimination.

Sam reminds us that harassment involves aggressive pressure or intimidation and is often related to discrimination based on a protected characteristic.

An example of this could be inappropriate jokes that are offensive to people with protected characteristics.

And finally, victimisation.

Jacob reminds us that this is treating someone unfairly for invoking the Equality Act or for helping someone else who is doing so.

For example, if someone in the workplace tried to support their colleague who is being discriminated against, they themselves could find that they are limited in their opportunities because they might be then seen as a troublemaker for doing the right thing.

Let's move on to another check for understanding.

True or false? A person in a wheelchair being unable to access a council building because they do not have wheelchair ramps is an example of harassment.

Feel free to pause the video to have a think, and then press Play when you're ready to move on.

How did you get on? The answer is false.

Think about why it might be false.

Again, feel free to pause the video, and press Play when you're ready to move on.

How did you get on? This is an example of indirect discrimination.

This is because the person in the example is being discriminated against due to something that the council has failed to put in place, whereas harassment involves being violent or aggressive.

Well done if you've got the answer right.

The Equality Act prevents everyone from being treated unfairly because of a protected characteristic.

The equality Act doesn't just apply in the workplace, it applies in wider society too.

And the whole point, the purpose of the Equality Act is to ensure that everyone is treated equally, that everyone is treated the same.

Lucas asks, "Why do you think this is important?" Feel free to pause the video to have a little think, and press Play when you're ready to move on.

How did you get on? Hopefully, you've remembered what we learned earlier in today's lesson.

Historically, people that have got one or more of the protected characteristics have been more likely to be discriminated against or harassed.

The Equality Act is there to protect those people.

So well done if you got that right.

Let's move on to another check for understanding.

Laura and Izzy have been asked, "Who is protected by the Equality Act?" Which one is correct? Laura says, "Only employees are protected by the Equality Act." Izzy says, "Everyone is protected by the Equality Act." Feel free to pause the video to have a think, and press Play when you're ready to move on.

How did you get on? Izzy is correct.

Everyone has at least one protected characteristic safeguarded by the Equality Act.

Well done if you got that right.

The Equality Act also encourages positive action.

Positive action allows employers and other organisations to think about equality when hiring or providing services.

Organisations are encouraged to provide training or services in lots of different ways so that it suits the needs of everyone.

Examples of positive action that a company or organisation could take include adverts aimed at people of different ethnicities to encourage diversity in the workplace.

It could be additional seating in public parks, perhaps for older people.

Meals on Wheels is an initiative, where food is made and delivered by the council for those people that can't cook for themselves.

It could be that councils are encouraged to think about following religious dietary requirements such as halal or kosher.

It could also be publishing pay data to show how much money is paid to men and women in the same or similar roles.

Let's move on to another check for understanding.

Which of the following is not an example of positive action? Is it A, a council's Meals on Wheels providing kosher or halal meals for the elderly? Is it B, publishing pay data to show equal pay between men and women? Or is it C, an office banning employees from using hair dye so that everyone looks equal? Feel free to pause the video, have a think, and press Play when you're ready to move on.

How did you get on? The answer is C, an office banning employees from using hair dye so that everyone looks the same is not an example of positive action.

Well done if you've got that right.

Now, it's time for Task B.

Fill in the missing examples of discrimination and the possible changes that could be made.

You've got places, including place of work, public transport, and school.

Then you've got discrimination.

In a place of work, this could be a pregnant person being denied a job because they're pregnant.

At school, it could be a Muslim pupil not getting halal meals at their school canteen.

So for those two, think about the possible changes that could be made.

And for public transport, you've been given a possible change, which is a ramp is fitted onto the bus and accessible seating is placed at the front.

So what discrimination could that be a response to? Feel free to pause the video.

When you are ready to move on, press Play.

How did you get on? Let's take a look at the answers together.

Your completed table could have looked like this.

For place of work, where the discrimination is against a pregnant person, the possible changes that could be made include an employer not asking an employee about pregnancy or childcare arrangements at job interviews.

For school, where a Muslim pupil has been discriminated against by not providing halal meals, a possible change might include that the school asks pupils about special dietary requirements before they start at the school to ensure that all preferences are accounted for.

And for public transport, where we've seen a possible change is a ramp being fitted, the discrimination that that might be responding to is a person in a wheelchair who cannot access their local bus service because there are no ramps because it is not accessible.

Well done if you've got those right.

That brings us to the third and final part of our lesson, what is the impact of the Equality Act? The government introduced the Equality Act of 2010.

The Equality Act brought together many of the previous equality acts under one simple law.

Before the Equality Act, there were lots of different laws, including the Equal Pay Act of 1970, the Race Relations Act of 1976, the Disability Discrimination Act of 1995, the Employment Equality Regulations of 2003 and 2006, and the Equality Act of 2006 Part 2.

You can see for yourselves that this was quite confusing, and the Equality Act of 2010 just brought all of these different legislations and law into one simple place.

Here's a check for understanding.

True or false? The Equality Act brought together some existing laws.

Feel free to pause the video, have a little think, and press Play when you're ready to move on.

How did you get on? The answer is true.

Well done if you got that right.

Employers and service providers have specific duties under the Equality Act.

Public bodies have two specific duties.

The first is a socio-economic duty and the second is the equality duty.

We're going to have a look at these two in a little bit more detail now.

Socio-economic is a term used when talking about how a person's financial situation, that's how much money they have, can impact them in society.

If you have a look at the word socio-economic, you can see that it's made up of two parts.

The first part, socio, means anything to do with society or different groups of people.

The second part, economic, means anything to do with money, or in this case, the amount of money that a person has.

Public bodies are encouraged under the socio-economic duty to think about whether their services are viable in poorer areas.

That means are their services going to be used in poorer areas, and is there anything that they can do to make those services more accessible.

Public bodies might also be urged to think about how they can help people from different backgrounds.

Some examples include perhaps a service provider puts on free frequent buses to a hospital from a deprived area, where it is a known fact that people might not be able to afford the bus fare and get to medical appointments.

It might also be, for example, providing financial help or bursaries to help people in deprived areas to get a driving licence.

The equality duty, on the other hand, encourages services to think about how they can treat people of a different race, gender, and age more fairly.

For instance, it might be making sure that public services employ a diverse range of people so that it better represents society.

Lots of changes have come about since the introduction of the Equality Act.

The gender pay gap is closing gradually so that men and women in similar or same jobs are being paid the same.

The reported incidents of discrimination have decreased.

They have gone down.

Services have made reasonable adjustments for people with disabilities.

And more people with disabilities are in employment.

These are all really positive changes, but there is still work to be done.

That brings us to our final check for understanding.

True or false? The Equality Act has fully closed the gender pay gap.

Feel free to pause the video, think about your answer, and press Play when you're ready to move on.

How did you get on? Unfortunately, the answer is false.

Think about why.

Although the Equality Act has reduced the gender pay gap, there is still a difference in pay between men and women even when working in the same job.

Well done if you got the answer right.

That brings us to our final task of the lesson, Task C.

Write a paragraph explaining how society has changed since the introduction of the Equality Act of 2010.

Where possible, use these terms in your answer, protected characteristics, discrimination, impact of the Equality Act.

Feel free to pause the video, spend some time writing your answer, and then press Play when you're ready to move on.

How did you get on? Let's take a look at the answers together.

You were asked to write a paragraph explaining how society has changed since the introduction of the Equality Act of 2010.

You might have included the following ideas.

The Equality Act protects people with protective characteristics against discrimination in work and the wider society.

Since the introduction of the Equality Act, more people with disabilities are in employment and the gender pay gap is closing gradually.

Well done if you've got something along those lines.

That brings us to the end of our lesson.

Let's take a quick look at the lesson summary.

The Equality Act applies to various areas and aims to make employment, education, access to goods and services, and housing more equal.

Protected characteristics include age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity or paternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.

The Equality Act aims to protect individuals in the workplace and wider society from different forms of discrimination.

Employers, service providers, and public bodies have specific duties under the Equality Act to promote equality and prevent discrimination.

Well done on your learning this lesson.

You've worked incredibly hard, and I hope that you've learned something.