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Why Every UK Employer Needs Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Training (And Is It Legally Required?)
Equality, Diversity & Inclusion training gets treated as either a legal box-tick or an optional extra, and neither framing is quite right. Here’s the honest legal picture.
The short version
- There’s no single law that names “EDI training” as a mandatory certificate every employer must hold.
- But the Equality Act 2010 creates real legal duties around discrimination and harassment — and since October 2024, the Worker Protection Act creates a proactive duty on employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment specifically.
- Training is widely regarded, including by employment tribunals, as central evidence of those “reasonable steps” — making it a practical necessity even where it isn’t named directly as mandatory.
What the Equality Act 2010 actually requires
The Equality Act protects employees from discrimination, harassment and victimisation based on protected characteristics — age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage/civil partnership, pregnancy/maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation. It places duties on employers, but doesn’t itself mandate a specific training course by name.
The new proactive duty that changes the picture
Since October 2024, the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 has placed a new, proactive legal duty on employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their employees — not just respond after the fact, but actively work to prevent it happening. Employment tribunals and the Equality and Human Rights Commission both point to staff training as one of the clearest, most defensible “reasonable steps” an employer can demonstrate.
So is training legally mandatory or not?
The honest answer: no UK law says “every employer must complete EDI training, specifically, by this exact name.” But the practical legal reality is close to it — failing to provide training makes it much harder to defend a discrimination or harassment claim, and much harder to show the “reasonable steps” the new duty requires. For most employers, training isn’t a box-tick; it’s the difference between having a genuine defence and not.
What good EDI training actually covers
Understanding the protected characteristics and what discrimination and harassment actually look like in practice, how to challenge inappropriate behaviour, unconscious bias awareness, and practical guidance for creating a genuinely inclusive workplace — not just a list of things you’re not allowed to say.
Get properly trained, from £15
CPD-standard, fully online, at your own pace — with a free taster so you know exactly what you’re getting before you buy.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to retrain staff regularly, or is it a one-off?
There’s no fixed legal renewal period, but given how much the legal landscape has shifted recently (the 2024 Worker Protection Act being a good example), periodic refreshers are genuinely good practice, similar to other workplace training.
Does this only apply to large employers?
No — the Equality Act and the Worker Protection Act duties apply to employers of every size. There’s no small-business exemption.
What happens if an employer hasn’t provided any EDI training and a claim is made?
It significantly weakens the employer’s ability to demonstrate they took reasonable preventative steps, which can materially affect the outcome and any liability in a tribunal case.