Content reviewed October 2026.

Safe Workplace · Workplace guides

Equality and diversity training: a free pack for your staff

A staff session, a quiz and training record, and a rollout guide on equality, diversity and inclusion at work, built on the Equality Act 2010 and the EHRC's Employment Code for employers in England, Scotland and Wales, and free by email. Or have us tailor it and run it for your staff and managers, on a branded company site, £9.99 + VAT per employee.

Last updated 11 November 20268 min read

At a glance What the law expects of your training Two ways to train What the training covers In health and social care After the training FAQs

At a glance, as at 11 November 2026

The Equality Act 2010 treats discrimination, harassment and victimisation by your staff in the course of their employment as done by you. Your defence is to show you took all reasonable steps to prevent it, and the EHRC’s Employment Code lists equal opportunities training among those steps.

Take the free pack and run it yourself, or have us tailor it and run it for you: a branded company site with your training content, every member of staff invited and reminded by email, and a dated certificate for every completion, £9.99 + VAT per employee.

Question	Short answer
Is training required?	No law names it. The EHRC’s Code lists it among the reasonable steps that help you defend a claim.
Who needs it?	Every worker, with more detailed training for line managers and senior managers.
What should it cover?	The EHRC’s Code suggests the law on the protected characteristics, what’s acceptable at work, and how prejudice and bias affect people’s chances.
How often?	Regularly. The law sets no interval. Skills for Health’s framework for health staff sets a refresher every three years.
What else might count as a reasonable step?	An equality policy that workers know about and you keep under review, and dealing well with complaints.

See Both Options

The duty

What the law expects of your training

The Equality Act 2010 protects nine characteristics: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation. As an employer, you must not discriminate against, harass or victimise your employees or job applicants, and you must make reasonable adjustments for disabled people.

For you as an employer:

You’re liable for your staff. The law treats anything an employee does in the course of their employment as done by you, whether or not you knew about it or approved it.
Your defence is the steps you took. To defend a claim, you must show you took all reasonable steps to prevent the conduct.

The EHRC’s Employment Statutory Code of Practice lists what those steps might include: an equality policy, making sure workers know about it, equal opportunities training, reviewing the policy, and dealing well with complaints. Courts and tribunals must take it into account in employment discrimination cases. You’ve taken all reasonable steps only when there was nothing more you could reasonably have done. On training, the Code advises:

Train every worker regularly, so they understand your equality policy, how it affects them and how you’ll put it into practice.
Give managers more. Line managers and senior managers need detailed training on managing equality and diversity at work.
Cover the law and acceptable conduct: the protected characteristics, the conduct the law prohibits, what is and isn’t acceptable at work, the risk of seeming to approve inappropriate behaviour, and personal liability.
Show what prejudice does: how stereotypes, bias and inappropriate language affect people’s chances of work, promotion, recognition and respect.
Train your trainers first. Your own trainers need training before they run courses, and outside trainers need to know your policies.
Improve it with feedback from workers, their representatives and managers.

Harassment has its own guide: our bullying and harassment training guide covers it, with a free pack. The Equality Act covers England, Scotland and Wales, and the Code has been in force since 6 April 2011.

Free or tailored

Two ways to get your staff and managers trained

Run the free pack yourself, or have us tailor the training to your organisation and run it for you.

Free pack
Free

Complete the general training template: staff slides with speaker notes, a quiz and a rollout guide, to deliver however suits you.

Not included

Tailoring to your organisation
A branded company site
Emails, reminders or chases to your staff
Dated certificates or a list of who has completed it, kept for you
Manager training

PowerPoint slides and Word documents.

Free, in your inbox within one working day.

Tailored and run for you
£9.99 + VAT per employee

We tailor the training content to your organisation, its processes and likely scenarios, and run it for all your staff.

Included

Distinct manager and employee training
A branded company site with your training content loaded for all staff to complete
Every member of staff emailed for you
Reminders and chases automated for you
A dated certificate for every person who completes it

Audio or video, or a format to upload into your own learning or training hub.

Our team will be in touch with follow-up questions to tailor the content.

Both options

What the training covers

Staff session:

Equality, diversity, inclusion and human rights: what each means at work
The Equality Act 2010 and the nine protected characteristics
Direct and indirect discrimination, harassment and victimisation
Reasonable adjustments for disabled people
What is and isn't acceptable behaviour at work, the risk of seeming to approve inappropriate behaviour, and personal liability
How bias, stereotypes and inappropriate language affect people's chances
Recognising, challenging and reporting discrimination
Your equality policy, and where to get advice and support

Health and social care

What the Care Certificate and the core skills framework expect

In England, four sets of guidance cover equality training in health and social care:

The Care Certificate. Its standards set out what health and social care workers who are new to care need to know and do, and inform what their induction covers. Standard 4, equality, diversity, inclusion and human rights, asks them to understand those terms and what bias and discrimination mean, to work in an inclusive way, and to know where to get information, advice and support.
The Core Skills Training Framework. Skills for Health’s framework sets out minimum learning outcomes and refresher periods for statutory and mandatory training, for any healthcare employer in the UK to align to. Its equality, diversity and human rights subject covers all staff, including unpaid and voluntary staff, with refresher training every three years.
Skills for Care’s training guide. For adult social care employers, it lists equality, diversity and inclusion as additional training you define for your service, and leaves the refresher period to you.
CQC’s guidance on regulation 18. It asks providers to monitor the training their staff complete and to act quickly when someone falls behind.

An assessor checks what each worker knows and does, and standard 4 asks workers to demonstrate interactions that support culturally appropriate care, so neither the pack nor the tailored training awards the Care Certificate.

In practice

After the training

Remind people of your equality policy. The EHRC’s Code advises periodic reminders and updates for workers, contractors and suppliers. Each time you update the policy, our training management software reassigns its training to the roles it affects.

Train managers before they take on more responsibility. Staff moving into roles with more responsibility for HR, managing staff or running services may need extra training before their next refresher, Skills for Health’s framework for health staff says.

Use equality monitoring. Monitoring shows whether your equality policy works in practice: for example, whether older workers miss out on training, or people of one religion or belief miss out on promotion. Where it shows a gap, cover it in the next round of training.

Plan the next round with feedback. Design it with workers, their representatives and managers, and build in what they said about this round.

Our sexual harassment and workplace investigation training guides each come with a free pack.

FAQs

Common questions

Is equality and diversity training a legal requirement?

No law names it. The Equality Act 2010 treats discrimination, harassment and victimisation by your staff in the course of their employment as done by you, and your defence is to show you took all reasonable steps to prevent it. The EHRC's Employment Code lists equal opportunities training among those steps.

Who needs equality and diversity training?

All your workers. The EHRC's Code says regular training is the best way to make sure every worker understands your equality policy and how it affects them. Line managers and senior managers need more detailed training on managing equality and diversity at work.

What should equality and diversity training cover?

The Equality and Human Rights Commission's Code suggests: the law on all the protected characteristics and the conduct it prohibits; why you have an equality policy and how you'll put it into practice; what is and isn't acceptable at work; the risk of seeming to approve inappropriate behaviour, and personal liability; how prejudice, stereotypes and bias affect people's chances of work, promotion, recognition and respect; and your equality monitoring.

What are the nine protected characteristics?

Age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation, under section 4 of the Equality Act 2010.

What counts as discrimination at work?

The Equality Act's forms of discrimination include direct discrimination, treating someone less favourably because of a protected characteristic; indirect discrimination, a rule or practice that puts people who share a characteristic at a particular disadvantage, unless you can show it's a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim; and failing to make reasonable adjustments for a disabled person. Harassment and victimisation are unlawful too.

How often should staff refresh their equality and diversity training?

The law sets no interval, and the EHRC's Code asks for regular training. In healthcare, Skills for Health's Core Skills Training Framework sets a refresher every three years, and sooner for all staff when equality law or your own policy changes.

Does the training cover the Care Certificate's equality standard?

The staff session's topics follow what standard 4, equality, diversity, inclusion and human rights, asks care workers to know: what those terms mean, bias and discrimination, the equality law that applies to their role, how to challenge and report discrimination, and where to get advice and support. An assessor checks what each worker knows and does, so neither option awards the Care Certificate.

What's in the free equality and diversity training pack?

Three editable files: a staff session (PowerPoint, with speaker notes), a quiz with answers and a training record to sign (Word), and a rollout guide (Word). Manager training comes with the tailored training.

What's the difference between the free pack and the tailored training?

The free pack is the template: three editable files you fill in, present and record yourself, with one staff session for everyone, no manager training and no certificate of completion. We build the tailored training for your organisation and run it for you: distinct manager and employee training, a branded company site with your training content, every member of staff invited by email and reminded until they complete it, and a dated certificate for every completion.

Sources & further reading

References

General information, not legal advice. It reflects our understanding of the law and official guidance as of November 2026, so check the sources above for the current position.