Landmark ruling | Supreme Court rules on definition of 'man' & 'woman' - what it means for employers

The UK Supreme Court has today ruled that the terms “man”, “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act 2010 refer to biological sex - a landmark decision that will have significant implications for UK employers, especially those managing policies on single-sex spaces and occupational requirements.

The judgment, which arose from a legal challenge by the campaign group For Women Scotland (FWS) against the Scottish Government, centres on whether the definition of “woman” under equality legislation includes transgender women with a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC).

FWS had argued that gender-based rights should only apply based on a person's biological sex. They had challenged the guidance issued by Scottish ministers, which stated that a trans woman with a full GRC was legally a woman.