Discrimination at work

Discrimination at work - what does it mean?

Protection from discrimination

The law protects people at work from being discriminated against. The law at present protects people from discrimination for the following reasons:

Race, colour, nationality or ethnic origins
Religion or religious or philosophical belief
Sex (gender)
Transgender
Marital status
Sexual orientation
Disability
Age
Part time workers
Fixed term employees

If you are employed in a job or working on site as a contractor (but employed by someone else, such as an agency) the law will protect you from less favourable treatment (than another person in the workplace) for all or any of the above reasons.

What actions are unlawful?

The law sets out the ways in which your employer (or the organisation that has you on site as a contract worker) must not discriminate. You have these rights when you apply for a job, while you are employed and after you leave. The law says that discrimination should not take place:

when jobs are advertised or potential staff are sought
At the recruitment stage, including during job interviews
During the job, by being given less favourable work related benefits, services or facilities
or by being harassed at work or having to suffer being in a hostile or intimidating environment at work
when being dismissed
after you have left the job, perhaps in connection with disciplinary appeals or asking for references
You also have protection against being discriminated against twice – the first time being discriminated against and the second time for complaining about that discrimination (called victimisation)

This seems like a lot of protection – is this why I keep reading about all these cases where women stockbrokers and black police officers are getting thousands of pounds in compensation?
Some ‘high profile’ cases do get reported in the press, especially if the employee has won a lot in compensation. However like many legal claims the law will expect you to prove the things that have happened to you, and prove it is because of discrimination rather than any other reason. So all discrimination claims are quite hard to win, even those that will tend to get reported in the press because it's a high profile job or employer.

What are the basics I need to know?

You need to know what the law protects you on, how to complain about it and who to and what to do if your complaint is not taken up or not dealt with properly.

This guide will tell you what the law protects you on, how to complain about discrimination, and what to do if your complaint is not dealt with properly.

Many people in our society are made to feel that they are ‘in the minority’ at work by other people who say they represent the ‘majority’.

The majority is not just about numbers and more people in one group than another. It is very often about who has the power in the work place – and that doesn’t just mean the boss! Employment law protects you from being treated differently and less favourably at work because you are in the minority or a member of a minority group.