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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Equality act wording at work AIBU

23 replies

damnteeth · 22/08/2023 12:28

Hi all

I work for a large public sector organisation

I saw today in my organisations "diversity policy" that under the section describing the equality act 2010 it says, this act protects the following 9 categories from discrimination etc.

Age
Disability
Gender identity or reassignment
Sex (in organisationnamehere we refer to gender)

Are they allowed to change the wording of the protected characteristic of sex to gender however they wish? This doesn't seem right to me. They couldn't say, Age (in organisationnameheee we refer to how youthful you feel) could they? How is sex any different?

YABU - you are wrong, your employer can choose how they refer to one of the 9 categories covered by the Equality act
Or
YANBU - Somebody needs to raise this point with HR as Sex is fact and gender is not the same thing

OP posts:
Namechange62846 · 22/08/2023 12:31

No they can't the protected characteristic is Sex. Gender is covered under identity and reassignment.

Clarice99 · 22/08/2023 12:34

I encountered similar a few months back. Large public sector organisation. I emailed HR, quoted the EA and said that the wording they used did not reflect the EA, which is law. They changed the wording to reflect the EA.

BellaJuno · 22/08/2023 12:35

I’m a bit confused by your post, I thought sex was one of the 9 protected characteristics and should be listed separately to gender? Can you post exactly what they’ve listed?

GeraldTheGoodMouse · 22/08/2023 12:41

Gender identity is also not a PC.

catgirl1976 · 22/08/2023 12:48

HR person here that list is crap and they need to change it. Gender identity is not a Pc and they should be calling sex, sex not bloody gender.

catgirl1976 · 22/08/2023 12:49

And they could do to list all the missing PCs as well.

Soontobe60 · 22/08/2023 12:50

BellaJuno · 22/08/2023 12:35

I’m a bit confused by your post, I thought sex was one of the 9 protected characteristics and should be listed separately to gender? Can you post exactly what they’ve listed?

Gender is as much one of the protected characteristic as unicorn is.

Soontobe60 · 22/08/2023 12:51

BellaJuno · 22/08/2023 12:37

Did you actually read the link you posted? Here’s a screenshot of the protected characteristics from that list.

Equality act wording at work AIBU
popebishop · 22/08/2023 12:58

They are being transphobic by saying gender is the same as sex. That would mean by Stonewall's definition, trans people would not exist. They need to change that pronto. Sex is the PC.

Also "gender reassignment" is the PC, not gender identity. They should not conflate them.

popebishop · 22/08/2023 13:00

Soontobe60 · 22/08/2023 12:51

Did you actually read the link you posted? Here’s a screenshot of the protected characteristics from that list.

Show quote history

I think that poster was asking literally how the OP's list differs because it's not that clear from the OP. (Eg some of the 9 are missing but that might be because they match so not being commented on).

Delphigirl · 22/08/2023 13:02

damnteeth · 22/08/2023 12:28

Hi all

I work for a large public sector organisation

I saw today in my organisations "diversity policy" that under the section describing the equality act 2010 it says, this act protects the following 9 categories from discrimination etc.

Age
Disability
Gender identity or reassignment
Sex (in organisationnamehere we refer to gender)

Are they allowed to change the wording of the protected characteristic of sex to gender however they wish? This doesn't seem right to me. They couldn't say, Age (in organisationnameheee we refer to how youthful you feel) could they? How is sex any different?

YABU - you are wrong, your employer can choose how they refer to one of the 9 categories covered by the Equality act
Or
YANBU - Somebody needs to raise this point with HR as Sex is fact and gender is not the same thing

Absolutely not. The protected characteristic of sex is the protected characteristic of sex, not if gender. Point it out as a misstatement of the law.

CaptainSeven · 22/08/2023 13:04

No organisations should not say that they use the word gender instead of sex when it comes to the protected characteristics.

The PCs are legally definable that's the whole point of them.

It's LAW not opinion. Challenge them. Get them to refer to it correctly.

Freepo · 22/08/2023 13:05

It doesn’t matter what someone’s opinion is of what the law should be, or on issues of sex and gender. The Equality Act says what it says and statutory language can’t be overridden by anyone choosing to refer to different language.

Mirandathepandaisontheverandah · 22/08/2023 13:09

The protected characteristic is "sex" though many lawyers have pointed out that the definition of "sex" in the act is unclear. Some older bits of legislation from a simpler time also use "sex" and "gender" interchangeably. So it's possible it's just a mistake rather than malicious.

cariadlet · 22/08/2023 13:13

I would raise it.

They might decide to give additional protections (eg to protect gender and gender identity) but can't misrepresent the Equality Act as that is tantamount to misrepresenting the law.

Bex5490 · 22/08/2023 13:16

It appears that they have added the (identity or) to gender (identity or) reassignment.

Gender reassignment is a protected characteristic and gender identity is not.

BellaJuno · 22/08/2023 13:17

popebishop · 22/08/2023 13:00

I think that poster was asking literally how the OP's list differs because it's not that clear from the OP. (Eg some of the 9 are missing but that might be because they match so not being commented on).

Show quote history

Yes this, maybe I’m having a thick moment but the OP’s list mentions both gender and sex, as does the link I posted so am struggling to understand the issue. Is it that the OP’s employer has changed gender reassignment to gender identity and reassignment in their list?

In any case, if it’s wrong then flag it to the employer.

popebishop · 22/08/2023 13:20

Is it that the OP’s employer has changed gender reassignment to gender identity and reassignment in their list?

Yes, and additionally that they have noted that they treat both sex and gender as "gender". So a trans person would be someone who, in the organisation's view, had a gender different from their gender, which is impossible, so they are essentially saying there are no trans people.

They are also saying that sex is irrelevant, which it very much isn't, but that's a far bigger issue. Legally, sex must be recognised.

BellaJuno · 22/08/2023 13:33

popebishop · 22/08/2023 13:20

Is it that the OP’s employer has changed gender reassignment to gender identity and reassignment in their list?

Yes, and additionally that they have noted that they treat both sex and gender as "gender". So a trans person would be someone who, in the organisation's view, had a gender different from their gender, which is impossible, so they are essentially saying there are no trans people.

They are also saying that sex is irrelevant, which it very much isn't, but that's a far bigger issue. Legally, sex must be recognised.

Thank you for clarifying 🙂

Original poster
damnteeth · 22/08/2023 21:40

catgirl1976 · 22/08/2023 12:49

And they could do to list all the missing PCs as well.

They are all there but I only spotted an issue with Sex. Didn't want to list all 9

OP posts:
Original poster
damnteeth · 22/08/2023 21:42

popebishop · 22/08/2023 13:20

Is it that the OP’s employer has changed gender reassignment to gender identity and reassignment in their list?

Yes, and additionally that they have noted that they treat both sex and gender as "gender". So a trans person would be someone who, in the organisation's view, had a gender different from their gender, which is impossible, so they are essentially saying there are no trans people.

They are also saying that sex is irrelevant, which it very much isn't, but that's a far bigger issue. Legally, sex must be recognised.

Interesting. I'll raise it at work with HR

OP posts:
FOJN · 22/08/2023 21:47

If they have specifically referenced the EA 2010 they cannot change the protected characteristics to suit their own ideology and they could make themselves very vulnerable by doing so. Gender identity IS NOT a protected characteristic and sex is defined in the EA 2010 but gender is not. A man is a male of any age and a woman is a female of any age, this makes sure that children are also protected. Male and female denote sex not gender.

They can have policy documents which add different characteristics but that does not change the law. The PC in the EA are the law.

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