Sex Discrimination Act 1975

These regulations apply to all employment and include recruitment, terms and conditions, pay and benefits, status, training, promotion and transfer opportunities, right through to redundancy and dismissal.

The Regulations make it unlawful on the grounds of sex or marital status to:

• discriminate directly against anyone - that is to treat them differently because of their sex, because they are married or because of their 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);
• discriminate indirectly against anyone - that is to put them 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);
• subject someone to 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);
• victimise someone by treating them unfairly for making a complaint about discrimination (for example, preventing them from going on training courses, taking unfair disciplinary action against them, or excluding them from company social events).

Sex Discrimination Act 1975 in full. This Act is reproduced with amendments as at 1st October 2003
Sex Discrimination Act 1975 pdf (303kb)