What does the Equality and Human Rights Commission do?

If you face discrimination at work, your own claim and the EHRC’s enforcement are separate routes. Start today: write down what happened and when, save messages and rotas, and contact Acas about your tribunal deadline. Do not wait for the regulator. It cannot award you compensation, and an EHRC report will not stop the clock.

What the EHRC is and who runs it

EHRC stands for Equality and Human Rights Commission. It is a statutory non-departmental public body created by the Equality Act 2006. It began operating on 1 October 2007, replacing the Commission for Racial Equality, the Equal Opportunities Commission and the Disability Rights Commission.

It regulates the Equality Act 2010 across England, Wales and Scotland. Dr Mary-Ann Stephenson became chair in December 2025. The Office for Equality and Opportunity in the Cabinet Office sponsors it, and the Minister for Women and Equalities appoints its commissioners. It accounts to Parliament for its use of public money.

That choice has a cost. Parliament funds a regulator whose budget has stayed flat in real terms since 2012, while workers face employers with time, lawyers and control over shifts. The law gives the EHRC powers; it does not give every worker a caseworker on demand. The EHRC’s 2025–26 annual report confirms the budget has remained static in real terms since 2012.

Think regulator, not ombudsman. The EHRC chooses where to use its enforcement powers. Reporting discrimination does not give you a right to an investigation or a representative for your case.

Its human rights work includes encouraging public authorities to comply with the Human Rights Act 1998, examining wider problems and bringing or intervening in legal proceedings. It also publishes guidance, issues statutory codes of practice and advises government on the law. Its remit extends beyond employment to services, housing and education.

EHRC enforcement versus your tribunal claim

The two routes can run at the same time. Section 24A(4) of the Equality Act 2006 preserves your right to bring proceedings. An EHRC investigation does not stop the clock on your claim.

For example, the EHRC could investigate a company’s repeated refusal to make reasonable adjustments. A disabled worker at that company can still bring their own tribunal claim for the refusal that affected them. They need not wait for the Commission’s report.

Outside work, claims about discrimination in services or housing generally go to the county court in England and Wales or the sheriff court in Scotland. The right forum depends on the claim, so do not use the workplace process for every equality dispute.

What the EHRC can actually do to an employer

Its enforcement toolkit sits in Part 1 of the Equality Act 2006, sections 16 to 32. Each tool has strict conditions.

These powers cover unlawful discrimination, harassment, victimisation and failures to make reasonable adjustments. The EHRC can also enforce the sexual harassment prevention duty and restrictions on pre-employment health questions. It can act against a discriminatory policy even without identifying someone already harmed by it.

How an investigation unfolds

A formal investigation can take months or years. The Labour Party investigation began in May 2019 and reported on 29 October 2020, about 17 months later. It found unlawful harassment and discrimination and led to an unlawful act notice and action plan. The EHRC ended its monitoring on 15 February 2023. An investigation is different from a tribunal deciding a worker’s claim.

1. Suspicion and scope. For an investigation into an unlawful act, the EHRC must suspect that the named person may have committed it. The terms of reference identify the person and suspected act, and the subject can comment on the proposed scope.
2. Evidence gathering. The EHRC can require documents, information and oral evidence. Failing to comply without reasonable excuse, or deliberately falsifying required evidence, can be an offence.
3. Draft findings. Before settling adverse findings, it gives the subject the draft report and at least 28 days for written representations. It must consider the response.
4. Notice and possible action plan. If satisfied that an unlawful act occurred, the EHRC may issue a section 21 unlawful act notice. The notice can require an action plan and set a deadline for the first draft.
5. Appeal and enforcement. The recipient has six weeks from the notice to appeal. Workplace cases go to an employment tribunal; other cases generally go to the county court in England and Wales or the sheriff in Scotland. The EHRC can seek an order enforcing an action plan during the five years after the plan comes into force.

For a section 23 agreement, the EHRC must think an unlawful act occurred, but need not investigate first. The organisation promises to stop specified acts and take agreed action. Signing does not itself admit a breach. In return, the EHRC agrees not to pursue those acts through sections 20 and 21.

McDonald’s signed such an agreement on 8 February 2023 to address sexual harassment, without a preceding formal investigation. The EHRC extended and strengthened it on 7 November 2025, adding measures including inspections, external complaint investigations, quarterly staff surveys and a safeguarding plan.

On 22 May 2024 the EHRC launched an investigation and equality duty assessment involving the Department for Work and Pensions, including suspected failures to make reasonable adjustments for disabled benefits claimants. Opening an investigation is not a finding of unlawful conduct.

How the EHRC enforces sexual harassment prevention

Since 26 October 2024, section 40A of the Equality Act 2010 has required employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their employees. You cannot bring a tribunal claim solely because the employer breached that duty. The EHRC can enforce it using its Equality Act 2006 powers.

There is also a route through your own sexual harassment claim. If the tribunal finds sexual harassment and a breach of the prevention duty, it may increase compensation by up to 25%. The uplift is discretionary, not an automatic extra award.

Since 6 April 2026, sexual harassment disclosures can qualify for whistleblowing protection, subject to the usual statutory conditions. Making a personal complaint does not automatically make it a protected disclosure. For practical prevention duties, see sexual harassment at work.

Public authorities face an extra equality duty

The public sector equality duty in section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 requires public authorities to have due regard to eliminating unlawful discrimination, advancing equality of opportunity and promoting good relations. Councils, NHS trusts and government departments are examples. Other organisations, including private contractors, are covered when exercising public functions. An ordinary private employer is not subject to this duty merely because it employs people.

The EHRC can assess compliance under section 31. After an assessment of the general duty, it can issue a section 32 compliance notice requiring compliance and written information about steps taken or proposed within 28 days. If necessary, it can seek an enforcement order in the High Court in England and Wales or the Court of Session in Scotland. This is a different notice from the section 21 unlawful act notice.

The general duty does not create a standalone discrimination claim for compensation. An individual challenge normally proceeds by judicial review. Separate specific duties support the general duty, such as requirements to publish equality information. They differ in England, Wales and Scotland. Only the EHRC can bring enforcement proceedings for those specific duties under section 32.

What happened to Disability Discrimination Act enforcement?

In Great Britain, the Equality Act 2010 replaced the main discrimination provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 on 1 October 2010. If you are challenging disability discrimination at work in England, Wales or Scotland today, use the Equality Act, not the DDA.

The EHRC enforces disability protections against direct and indirect discrimination, discrimination arising from disability, harassment and victimisation, as well as failures to make reasonable adjustments. Your own workplace remedy comes through an employment tribunal. You do not need the EHRC to find a breach first.

Northern Ireland is different. The Equality Act 2010’s workplace discrimination framework does not apply there. The DDA 1995 remains the main disability discrimination statute, and the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland is the equality regulator. Start with our guide to employment law in Northern Ireland.

Do you have to be an employee?

No. The Equality Act’s definition of employment includes a contract personally to do work, as well as employment and apprenticeship contracts. It protects many workers without employee-only rights, and job applicants too. Agency workers may have claims against the agency or hirer, depending on who committed the breach.

A “self-employed” label does not settle coverage. Someone genuinely running an independent business for a client or customer will usually be outside the workplace employment provisions; a contractor required to work personally may be covered. If disputed, get advice on the contract and actual arrangement. See employee, worker or self-employed status.

Can the EHRC take your case? Where to go instead

The EHRC can provide legal assistance under section 28, including advice and representation. It selects cases for their wider legal importance. You cannot rely on getting that support, and a request for it does not suspend your deadline.

For discrimination advice, contact the Equality Advisory Support Service on 0808 800 0082. The EHRC does not run an individual complaints helpline. For a workplace claim, you must usually notify Acas for early conciliation before applying to the employment tribunal. Citizens Advice and local law centres can help you work out the next step. A union can help members collect evidence and challenge an employer: UNISON for care and health, Unite for hospitality, USDAW for retail, or GMB for warehouses and delivery. Ask about membership and case support directly; it depends on the union’s rules and your circumstances.

1. After your shift, make a short record. Note the date, place, who was there and what happened. Save messages, rota changes, payslips or adjustment requests somewhere the employer cannot access. Keep copies, not company property you are not entitled to take.
2. Contact Acas before the deadline. Tell them you may have a discrimination claim and ask about early conciliation. Do not wait for a grievance outcome or the EHRC.
3. Get a second pair of eyes. Call Citizens Advice, a law centre or your union. If you work in care, hospitality, retail, a warehouse, delivery, cleaning or health, tell the adviser your job and whether losing shifts or sponsorship is a risk.
4. Report the wider pattern separately. Send dates, the employer’s name and the practice affecting people to the EHRC. It may use the information to set priorities, but reporting is not a claim and guarantees no investigation.

Which tribunal deadline applies?

For an ordinary workplace discrimination claim, the usual starting limit is six months minus one day where the relevant date is on or after 1 October 2026. Earlier discrimination retains the three-month-minus-one-day limit. The transitional rule turns on the date of the act, not the date you submit your claim. For conduct extending over a period, it is the end of that period; failures to act have their own rules.

Notifying Acas in time pauses the clock during early conciliation, and the statutory rules can extend the final filing deadline. A grievance, internal appeal or report to the EHRC does not pause it. Get the final date calculated for your case. The tribunal can extend a discrimination time limit where it considers that just and equitable, but you should not plan on receiving an extension.

For step-by-step help bringing a claim, see How do I bring an employment tribunal claim? and How to make a discrimination complaint at work. For the rights themselves, start with Equality Act 2010: your essential guide to UK rights.

Do EHRC codes of practice have legal force?

Statutory codes explain how equality law applies. Under section 15 of the Equality Act 2006, a relevant code must be taken into account by a court or tribunal. Failing to follow a code does not, by itself, make someone liable, and following one is not a guarantee that their conduct is lawful.

The Commission also publishes non-statutory guidance. Its sexual harassment technical guidance is useful for prevention measures, but it is not a separate statutory code. Check which document you are using before treating it as the legal test.