Sexual Orientation
The Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003
The Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003 prohibit discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation in employment and vocational training. The regulations cover direct and indirect discrimination, harassment, and victimisation.
The law protects lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and heterosexuals. It also prohibits discrimination against people because of their perceived sexual orientation, as well as discrimination by association (for example, discrimination against someone because of the sexual orientation of one of their friends).
Forms of harassment include the telling of homophobic jokes. Organisations may be held responsible for the actions of their staff if they don’t take proper action to prevent or tackle offending behaviour.
For more information, please see the Acas website at www.acas.org.uk.
