What is the Equality Act and how does it apply to young people with cancer?

The Equality Act is a law that protects people from discrimination.  

Discrimination is when you are treated differently by other people because of certain characteristics. This could be if you have a disability, your sexuality, your gender, gender identity, if you’re married/in a civil partnership, your age, being pregnant or having a child, your religion or beliefs, your race, skin colour or where you were born. 

You can find out more about discrimination on the Childline website.  

The Equality Act 2010 recognises cancer as a disability. This is from the point of diagnosis for the rest of your life – even if you don’t have cancer anymore. This applies to any cancer diagnosis, at any age. 

Whether or not you consider yourself disabled, it’s important to understand what you are entitled to this protection from the Equality Act.  

The Equality Act says: “You’re disabled under the Equality Act if you have a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities.” 

This means you’re legally protected from discrimination in various areas of your life including at work.  

The Equality Act talks about the different kinds of discrimination that you’re protected against as someone who currently has, or previously had cancer.  

The Act protects you from ‘indirect discrimination’. This is when a rule or practice might be the same for everyone but it particularly disadvantages you because of your cancer diagnosis. For example, your employer might say that everyone has to start work at 8am, which might be more difficult for you if you struggle with fatigue as a result of your cancer treatment.  

The Equality Act also protects you from being treated unfairly by someone because of something related to your cancer diagnosis. For example, not getting a pay rise or promotion because you’ve had to take time off work to go to medical appointments. 

Being “protected against discrimination” by the Equality Act, means that it’s illegal for anyone to discriminate against you or treat you unfairly because of your diagnosis. While this doesn’t mean you won’t ever face discrimination, it does mean that there are things you can do if you think this has happened to you.  

If you think someone has treated you unfairly there are a number of options you can try to resolve the issue. 

1. You might be able to sort it out directly with the person involved, like your manager at work, or a teacher at school. You will have to follow a certain process to raise an issue, and it’s not guaranteed that you will get the outcome you’re hoping for but it might be a good first option in some cases.  

2. You could ask for support from someone else to try and sort out the issue. This is someone who can act as a mediator and will help manage any conversations you have with the person you feel has discriminated against you. If you choose to do this it might help to ask someone who is neutral and can look at the situation independently to support both sides’ opinions.  

3. You could make an official claim in a court or tribunal. This is an independent situation and the person in charge of the tribunal will look at both sides of the argument to make a decision as to whether or not there has been discrimination. Find out more about taking an issue to tribunal here.  

You can find out more about what to do if you’ve been discriminated against on the Gov.uk website.  

Here are some organisations you can go to for more information about your rights and help resolving issues: 

• Citizens Advice 
• Acas (the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) 
• The Equality Commission for Northern Ireland  
• Equality Advisory & Support Service – if you’re in England, Scotland and Wales