Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if she will take steps to ensure that employers offering internship programmes do not discriminate against applicants based on (a) sex, (b) ethnicity and (c) sexual orientation.

Part 5 of the Equality Act 2010 provides protection against direct and indirect discrimination in employment and makes it unlawful for an employer or a recruitment agency to discriminate against an employee or someone applying for employment because of a protected characteristic.

Interns with, or applying for, a contract of employment that falls within the definition of “employment” are covered by the Equality Act 2010’s protections against discrimination based on sex, ethnicity, and sexual orientation, amongst other protected characteristics.

There are some circumstances in which employers may provide additional help to groups of people who share a protected characteristic, including interns. This is permitted by the positive action provisions in the Equality Act 2010. Whether positive action is permitted will depend on whether the test in those provisions is met.

Government guidance to help employers understand the difference between positive action and positive discrimination can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/positive-action-in-the-workplace-guidance-for-employers. The Equality and Human Rights Commission’s Code of Practice provides employers with support and can be found at: https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/equality/equality-act-2010/codes-practice/employment-code-practice-0.