What Counts As Workplace Discrimination

Workplace discrimination happens when you're treated unfairly because of protected characteristics like age, disability, gender, race, religion, or sexual orientation. The Equality Act 2010 makes this illegal. Direct discrimination involves obvious unfair treatment, like being passed over for promotion because of your gender. Indirect discrimination creates disadvantage through seemingly neutral policies that disproportionately affect protected groups. Harassment and victimisation also count as discrimination in workplace settings. You don't need to prove intent, just that the treatment occurred and caused disadvantage.

Types Of Discrimination Claims

Age discrimination affects older and younger workers through stereotypes about capability or experience. Disability discrimination includes failure to make reasonable adjustments or treating you unfavourably because of your condition. Race discrimination covers ethnicity, nationality, and colour based treatment. Sex and gender discrimination includes pregnancy, maternity, and gender reassignment issues. Religious discrimination involves unfair treatment over beliefs or lack thereof. Sexual orientation discrimination affects LGBT+ employees facing prejudice or exclusion.

Recognising Discrimination At Work

Workplace discrimination often starts subtly with exclusion from meetings, projects, or social activities. Pay gaps, promotion denials, or different treatment standards signal potential discrimination. Offensive comments, jokes, or behaviour targeting your protected characteristics constitute harassment. Being ignored, undermined, or given impossible tasks after raising discrimination concerns indicates victimisation. Document everything including emails, witness statements, and incident dates. Patterns of behaviour strengthen your discrimination claim significantly.

Taking Action Against Discrimination

Start by raising concerns through your employer's grievance procedure, keeping detailed records of responses. You have three months minus one day from the discriminatory act to file an employment tribunal claim. Early conciliation through ACAS [link] is mandatory before tribunal proceedings. This free service attempts resolution without formal legal action. Successful discrimination claims can result in compensation for injury to feelings, financial losses, and recommendations for workplace changes. You cannot be dismissed or treated badly for bringing discrimination claims.

How Long Do I Have To Make A Discrimination Claim

You have three months minus one day from the discriminatory act to start early conciliation with ACAS. This strict time limit applies to most workplace discrimination claims.

Can I Claim For Discrimination If I Still Work There

Yes, you can make discrimination claims whilst still employed. The law protects you from victimisation or dismissal for raising legitimate discrimination concerns.

What Evidence Do I Need For Discrimination Claims

Collect emails, witness statements, performance reviews, and detailed incident records. Patterns of treatment and comparative evidence showing others were treated differently strengthen your case significantly.

How Much Compensation Can I Get For Workplace Discrimination

Compensation varies based on severity and impact, typically ranging from £900 to £45,000 for injury to feelings. You can also claim financial losses like lost wages or promotion opportunities.