Equality and diversity training teaches staff what the Equality Act 2010 protects, what discrimination, harassment and victimisation look like at work and how to raise a concern. No UK law says every employer must provide it. However, an employer is liable for discrimination and harassment by its staff in the course of their work, and its only defence is to show it took all reasonable steps to prevent it. Training is usually one of those steps, and the Employment Appeal Tribunal has upheld a finding that training which had become stale was not enough.
This guide explains the law, what makes training count as a reasonable step, who needs what, what to cover and how often to refresh it.
What does the Equality Act expect from employers?
Section 4 of the Equality Act 2010 lists nine protected characteristics: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation. At work, the Act prohibits direct and indirect discrimination, harassment, victimisation and failing to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people.
Under section 109, anything an employee does in the course of their employment is treated as also done by the employer, whether or not the employer knew about it or approved it. The employer’s defence is to show that it took all reasonable steps to prevent the employee from doing that thing, or anything of that description.
Two further duties apply to some employers:
- Sexual harassment. Since 30 October 2026, every employer must take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of its employees, and can be liable for harassment by third parties such as customers. Our guide to sexual harassment training for employees covers this in detail.
- Public bodies. Under the public sector equality duty, public authorities must have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations.
Is equality and diversity training a legal requirement?
Not by name. The Act does not mention training. In practice, though, it is very hard to rely on the all reasonable steps defence without it.
Acas guidance on what an employer can do to prevent discrimination tells employers to inform and train staff, to train line managers and supervisors to recognise and address discrimination, and to provide regular equality and diversity training. Its guidance on vicarious liability gives the example of a company that trains all its workers on equality, diversity and discrimination and acts quickly on a complaint, and says this might help show it took all reasonable steps.
The leading case on training is Allay (UK) Ltd v Gehlen, decided by the Employment Appeal Tribunal in 2021. An employee was racially harassed by a colleague. The employer had trained its staff on equality and diversity, including race harassment, but the training had been given around two years and eight months before the employee left. Colleagues who heard the remarks did not report them. The tribunal found the training was stale, that refreshing it would have been a reasonable step, and that the employer’s defence failed. The Employment Appeal Tribunal upheld that decision.
The judgment sets out what tribunals look at:
- whether the training was likely to be effective, not just whether it happened
- that “brief and superficial training is unlikely to have a substantial effect”
- what happened in practice: if staff attended but did not understand the training or ignored it, that is relevant
- that the less effective training is, the more quickly it becomes stale.
How to make the training count as a reasonable step
- Make it substantial and specific. Use scenarios from your own workplace, with decisions for people to make, so the training changes what they do.
- Train managers to act. In Allay, people who heard the remarks did not report them. Managers need to know how to respond to what they see and hear, and how to pass complaints on.
- Refresh it before it goes stale. Repeat training at regular intervals and straight away if something shows it has not worked.
- Check understanding. A short assessment shows who understood the training and who needs more.
- Keep records. Record who completed which version of the training and when, with their results. A tribunal will look at the content and timing of the training as well as whether it happened.
Who needs equality and diversity training?
| Who | What they need |
|---|---|
| All staff | The protected characteristics, what discrimination, harassment and victimisation look like in your workplace, your policy and how to raise a concern. |
| Line managers and supervisors | How to recognise and respond to discrimination, handle complaints, make reasonable adjustments and lead by example. Acas notes managers have a lot of influence over how their teams behave. |
| People who recruit or promote | Fair recruitment and selection, avoiding decisions based on protected characteristics, and recording the reasons for decisions. |
| HR and complaint handlers | Your grievance and disciplinary procedures, investigating complaints and protecting people from victimisation. |
| Customer-facing staff | Recognising and reporting harassment by customers and the public, now that employers can be liable for some third-party harassment. |
| Senior leaders | Their role in setting standards, reviewing data and making sure the steps are working. |
A training needs analysis helps you decide the depth of training for each role.
What should equality and diversity training cover?
- The law in plain words. The nine protected characteristics and the types of prohibited conduct, with examples from your own workplace.
- Harassment and “banter”. Where jokes and comments cross the line, including in messaging groups and on social media.
- Reasonable adjustments. What they are and how a disabled colleague or applicant can ask for them.
- Your policy and standards. What behaviour you expect, and what happens if someone breaches the policy.
- Speaking up. How to raise a concern, what happens next and the protection against victimisation for people who complain in good faith.
- For managers. Fair decisions on recruitment, promotion and discipline, handling complaints and recording reasons.
- A short assessment. It checks understanding and gives you a record.
Does unconscious bias training work?
Many courses focus on unconscious bias. A government summary of the research, Unconscious bias and diversity training: what the evidence says, found that such training may raise awareness in the short term, but there is currently no evidence that it changes behaviour or improves workplace equality. It does not recommend prioritising unconscious bias or diversity training over approaches with stronger evidence.
Acas suggests practical ways to reduce bias in decisions, such as removing names from application forms, having more than one person involved in each recruitment stage, allowing time for decisions and recording why they were made. Training is more useful when it teaches people to use processes like these and to behave well in real situations.
Online or face to face?
E-learning suits the core content every member of staff needs. Everyone gets the same message, new starters can complete it on their first day, and it records completions and results. Scenario-based modules let people practise what to say and do.
Live sessions suit managers and complaint handlers, who need to practise difficult conversations. A practical mix is online training for everyone and live practice for the roles that need it.
How often should equality and diversity training be refreshed?
The law sets no interval. Allay shows that training a few years old can be found stale, especially if it was brief or there are signs it has not worked. We suggest training at induction, a short refresher every year, and extra training after a complaint, a change in your policy or a change in the law.
For the other training UK employers must or should provide, see our guide to mandatory training for employees in the UK.
How Capytech helps
FastTrack turns your equality policy, standards of behaviour and workplace scenarios into an interactive custom e-learning module with a knowledge check, built from your documents in days. Updates are turned round in 48 hours, so refreshers stay current.
The Capytech course library has around 9,000 short courses, including titles on diversity and inclusion, respectful workplaces, discrimination and unconscious bias. We leave out titles written for US or Canadian law, and add a short UK module built from your own documents where UK law matters.
The Capytech LMS keeps the evidence a tribunal would ask for. Its compliance matrix maps each role to the training it needs and shows who is valid, due or overdue, and certificates carry renewal dates so refreshers happen before training goes stale.
Frequently asked questions
No law names it. However, an employer is liable for discrimination and harassment by its employees unless it took all reasonable steps to prevent it, and Acas advises regular equality and diversity training. Without training, that defence is very hard to make out.
There is no legal interval. In Allay v Gehlen, training given around two years and eight months earlier was found stale. Training at induction, a yearly refresher and extra training after a complaint or a policy change is a sensible pattern.
Everyone needs the core content. Line managers, people who recruit or promote, complaint handlers and customer-facing staff need more, because their decisions and responses carry the most risk.
A government evidence summary found no evidence that unconscious bias training changes behaviour or improves workplace equality. Practical steps in recruitment and decision making, and training on how people should act, have a stronger basis.
Yes. Online training works well for the core content and gives you a record of who completed it. Managers and complaint handlers benefit from live practice as well.
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