Trans staff: summary of legal rights

Understand your legal responsibilities around supporting staff who identify as trans in the workplace and learn how to make informed decisions around the arrangements you put in place.

Last reviewed on 20 December 2023See updates
School types: AllSchool phases: AllRef: 34339
Contents
  1. Note on terminology
  2. Seek legal advice on any challenging decisions you make 
  3. Understand your legal responsibilities 
  4. What this looks like in practice 

This is a complex and evolving topic, and our understanding is moving on all the time.

While we can’t give a steer on individual cases, here we set out the essential rules to follow and some considerations to have in mind. It’s likely you’ll need to seek legal guidance on more complex situations (see more below).

Note on terminology 'Trans' is an umbrella term describing people whose gender is not the same as, or does not sit comfortably with, the sex they were assigned at birth.  ‘Non-binary’ is an umbrella term for people whose gender identity doesn’t sit comfortably with ‘man’ or ‘woman’. Non-binary identities are varied and can include people who identify with some aspects of binary identities, while others reject them entirely. These definitions are those used in Stonewall’s glossary