Equal Opportunities Policy for Charities: A Practical Guide | LegalDocuments.co.uk

What this document is

An equal opportunities policy for a charity is a written statement that sets out how the organisation will prevent discrimination and promote fair treatment across everything it does. It typically covers how you recruit and manage paid employees, how you engage volunteers, how trustees are appointed, and how you deliver services to beneficiaries.

The policy should reference the nine protected characteristics recognised in the Equality Act 2010, age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation, and explain how the charity commits to avoiding direct discrimination, indirect discrimination, harassment and victimisation in relation to each. A good policy does more than restate the law.

It describes practical commitments: the recruitment steps you'll take, the reasonable adjustments you'll consider, the training you'll offer, and the complaints route anyone can use if something goes wrong. For charities, the policy also needs to sit comfortably alongside your charitable purposes, since certain lawful exceptions can apply where a charity restricts benefits to a particular group in line with its objects.

How to use this document

1. Map your starting point. Before drafting anything, look at how your charity currently operates. Who do you employ, who volunteers, who sits on your board, and who do you serve? Identify where you might have gaps, for instance, trustee diversity, accessibility of your premises, or whether recruitment reaches beyond your usual networks. This honest baseline shapes a policy that reflects reality rather than aspiration alone.
2. Check your governing document and charitable purposes. Some charities are lawfully set up to benefit a specific group, and this can affect how the policy applies to service delivery. Read your constitution, trust deed or articles carefully, and make sure the equal opportunities policy aligns with your stated objects. If there's a tension, take time to work out where permitted restrictions end and unlawful discrimination begins.
3. Draft the policy content. Cover scope (who the policy applies to), your commitment statement, definitions of the main forms of discrimination, how recruitment and selection will work, volunteer treatment, reasonable adjustments for disability, training commitments, and a clear complaints and grievance route. Keep the language accessible, trustees, staff and volunteers all need to understand it without legal training.
4. Consult before adopting. Share the draft with staff, volunteers and, where appropriate, beneficiaries. Feedback often exposes blind spots the drafter missed, particularly around accessibility and cultural awareness. Trustees should then formally adopt the policy at a board meeting, with the decision minuted so there's a clear record of when it took effect and who approved it.
5. Embed, review and refresh. A policy on a shelf changes nothing. Build it into induction, reference it in job adverts and volunteer handbooks, and train managers on applying it. Set a review date, many charities revisit theirs every two or three years, or sooner if the law changes or the charity grows significantly. Track complaints and outcomes so you can tell whether the policy is actually working.