Equality at work
In the workplace and society we seek to eliminate discrimination on grounds of gender, age, race or ethnic origin, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity and religion.
Our guide to equality at work will give you an overview of the legal rights that relate to equal opportunities at work.
This article covers gender equality.
- What is the law around gender equality at work
- Our guidance on gender equality at work
- Menopause guide
- What is the gender pension gap?
- What can I do about the gender pension gap?
- Sexual harassment in the workplace
What is the law around gender equality at work
The law on discrimination
According to the Equality and Human Rights Commission, the Equality Act says you must not be discriminated against because:
- You are (or are not) a particular sex
- Someone thinks you are the opposite sex (discrimination by perception)
- You are connected to someone of a particular sex (discrimination by association).
A difference in treatment may be lawful if:
- Being a particular sex is essential for a job. This is called an occupational requirement. This includes some jobs that require someone of a particular sex for reasons of privacy and decency or where personal services are provided. For example: a gym could employ a changing room attendant who is the same sex as the users of that room. Similarly, a women’s refuge that only provides services to women could require its staff to be women
- An organisation is taking positive action to encourage or develop people of a sex that is under-represented or disadvantaged in a role or activity. For example: an engineering firm places a job advert for a trainee engineer stating that applications from women are welcome.
Our guidance on gender equality at work
Prospect is committed to fighting for gender equality both in the workplace and within society generally.
We campaign to ensure that women are equally able to progress their careers by:
- pressing for an end to stereotyped attitudes in the workplace
- the introduction of impartial job appraisal schemes, and
- fair and open promotion opportunities.
Prospect has produced advice and guidance for members and reps on promoting equality for women in the workplace.
Equal pay: Women and men employed on work rated as equivalent, like work or work of equal value, are entitled to equal pay unless the employer has a material reason for the difference in pay. Pay secrecy clauses are unlawful, so any term in a contract that forbids employees from discussing their pay for the purpose of finding out if there is discrimination will be unenforceable.
What is the gender pension gap?
The gender pension gap is the percentage difference in pension income for female pensioners compared to male pensioners.
Our latest research shows that it stands at 32.9%.
The gender pension gap is particularly detrimental because it starts to affect women when there is little they can do about it.
A huge barrier to tackling the gender pension gap is the government’s lack of attention to it. There is no government estimate of the gender pension gap or policies to address it.
Our report shows that the main causes of the gender pension gap are:
- An imbalance in the level of occupational and private pension saving between men and women. This has occurred and continues to be the case for many reasons including:
* The impact of women taking breaks from paid employment or reducing hours worked to look after family
* The cumulative impact over time of women earning less on average than men (the gender pay gap). - The indirect gender discrimination that is built into the pension system itself, including the disproportionate exclusion of women from being automatically enrolled into a pension scheme.
- Inequality in the average level of state pension awarded to men and women. This is not projected to be fully addressed until about 2041 (but only for people reaching State Pension Age from that year)
To tackle the gender pension gap Prospect is calling for:
- A statutory requirement for the government to report to Parliament on the gender pension gap and its plans for tackling it
- Reform of automatic enrolment from the earliest possible date
- An inquiry by the Work and Pensions Committee on the gender pension gap
- An additional state pension credit for those who are not working because they are looking after children under 12
- Measures that make affordable childcare more widely available so that people who want to return to work can do so
- An independent Commission to consider the appropriate level of contributions under automatic enrollment
- A concerted campaign to encourage higher take-up of credits that can boost women’s pension income
- Changes to the tax system to resolve the ‘net pay anomaly’ whereby low earners do not benefit from tax relief on their contributions.
- The union has stepped up campaigning in specific sectors. In December 2025, Prospect and the FDA wrote to government calling for urgent action on the civil service gender pension gap (around 45%), which is even higher than the national average, and launched a petition to address it.
What can I do about the gender pension gap?
Our member guide on tackling the gender pension gap has guidance on what you can do throughout your working life to tackle your personal gender pension gap.
Collectively we need to press government to legislate for reforms that would tackle the systematic gender pension gap we’ve identified. Please visit our latest report on the Gender Pension Gap to find out more about; our campaign to highlight the gap, the causes of the gap and what action needs to be taken to close the gap.
Sexual harassment in the workplace
According to UK law, sexual harassment is unwanted conduct or behaviour related to sex, or of a sexual nature, which has the purpose or effect of:
- violating the other’s dignity, or
- creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating, or offensive environment.
The legal definition also encompasses less favourable treatment because of rejection (or submission) of unwanted conduct of a sexual nature or related to gender reassignment or sex.
See our Bullying and Harassment article for further information on sexual harassment at work.
Get support as a member
Speak with your representatives:
If you work in an organisation that has local Prospect representatives, you should speak to them about any work-related issues.
Call the member contact centre on 0300 600 1878 or email [email protected]