Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps her Department is taking to tackle hair discrimination in (a) dress code policies in schools and (b) places of work.

The Equality Act 2010 covers both education and employment settings.

In formulating its school uniform policy, a school must consider its obligations not to discriminate unlawfully under equality law. The Department for Education provides guidance to help schools understand how the Equality Act affects them and how to fulfil their duties under the Act. The guidance makes clear to schools that decisions related to appearance, including on hair, must be made in accordance with their responsibilities under the Equality Act.

In the workplace, any absolute ban on someone’s ability to manifest their religious beliefs through a chosen hairstyle could constitute direct discrimination because of religion and therefore would be likely to be unlawful, while a ban on hairstyles associated with a particular ethnicity could constitute indirect discrimination because of race which would require the employer imposing the ban to justify why it was necessary, for instance because of health and safety reasons.