The Valla guide to
Protected characteristics
People in England, Scotland and Wales are protected from discrimination by the Equality Act 2010 based on nine ‘protected characteristics’.
It’s illegal for you to be mistreated based on your age, race, disability, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy or maternity, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership.
Where to start
The 9 protected characteristics
The Equality Act 2010 protects people against discrimination. The Act lists 9 ‘protected characteristics’ including age, gender, race, disability, religion and more.
9 minute read
5 Examples of workplace behaviour that’s not okay
Everyone deserves to be treated with respect at work. If you are worried about how you are being treated, here are just a few examples of behaviour that is not ok.
10 minute read
Discrimination guides
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Treated unfairly at work? Here’s how to show your employer you mean business
When you’re treated badly at work and want your employer to make it right, it’s hard to know what to do next. Learn how to show your employer you mean business.
12 minute read
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Healthy vs. toxic work environments: understanding the difference
Are you going through a bad time at work or is it just a bad place to work? Learn the differences between a healthy or toxic workplace culture.
5 minute read
Video lessons from Valla
Examples of real discrimination cases
Real examples of employment tribunal claims for workplace discrimination, and why they succeeded or failed.
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Age
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2 real examples of direct age discrimination and what happened next
We look at a couple of different examples of direct age discrimination that have been brought to the Employment Tribunal, and why the claims failed or succeeded.
7 minute read
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2 real examples of direct age discrimination and what happened next
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Disability
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Two real examples of subtle disability discrimination at work and what happened next
Disability discrimination is not always direct and obvious. We’ll look at some less obvious disability discrimination claims and why the arguments succeeded.
9 minute read
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Two real examples of subtle disability discrimination at work and what happened next
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Race
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Two real examples of racism at work and what happened next
In this article, we look at two real UK examples of direct race discrimination claims. We explore which arguments were successful, which failed, and why.
12 minute read
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Two real examples of racism at work and what happened next
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Sex and Gender
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Two real cases of indirect sex discrimination at work and how things turned out
Sex discrimination can be quite subtle. Here's a few examples of indirect sex discrimination brought to Employment Tribunals in the past.
17 minute read
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Two real cases of indirect sex discrimination at work and how things turned out
How to take action
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Make a tribunal claim for discrimination based off a protected characteristic
Submit a claim to the UK Employment Tribunal against your employer for discrimination based off a protected characteristic.
Templates you can use in discrimination cases
These document and letter templates are useful in cases of discrimination.
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Data Subject Access Request DSAR letter template
Find evidence for your claim by getting your personal data from your employer with a Data Subject Access Request letter.
Free
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ET1 Particulars of Claim template
Get the ET1 form right with our Particulars of Claim template. Set out the background and details of your Tribunal claim, professionally and effectively.
£96.00
Help a friend or colleague
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Become a discrimination first aider
Become a first responder in times of crisis – someone that others can come to for help, trained in the basics of what rights employees have, discrimination law and work and what steps they can take next.
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How to support friends having a tough time at work
Helping your friend or family member through work-related issues can be tricky. Find out how best you can support them during these tough times.
6 minute read
