Discrimination

Age discrimination

Age discrimination can be blatant or it can be subtle and mean that an employee is treated differently than a colleague who is younger or older than they are.

Opportunities for promotion or training can be more difficult to reach for an older member of staff, or perhaps they are not made available to older employees, or they may be discouraged from making use of them.

Comments about age can also affect how other staff treat older or younger workers, and this can begin to affect employees confidence at work.

The law of section 5 of the Equality Act 2010 provides that age is a protected characteristic. It does not necessarily mean using the word age or being direct in how the age of an employee is discussed. The law recognises that age discrimination can be subtle in relation to the protected characteristic of age.

References to employee age, can also be mentioning a person of a particular age group, or employees who fall within a particular range of ages. This applies equally to treatment of younger as well as older workers.

While the most common forms of age discrimination will adversely affect those who are older, the protection applies in relation to inequality of treatment with regard to any age. Hence the possibility of discrimination against the young should equally be considered.

For example, any job recruitment exercise which specifies that applicants must have a certain number of years experience may indirectly discriminate against younger applicants, unless that requirement is justified in law.

For advice on your particular circumstances, contact us by phone or email contact so we can advise you further.

Race

The protected characteristic of race, is covered under section 9 of the Equality Act 2010. The law protecting race, includes treating an employee differently because of their colour, nationality, ethnic origins, national origins, or a characteristic related to these.

Some discrimination can be subtle, and it is often the case that workers will be made to feel like they are exaggerating the treatment they experienced or that if bullying has happened, it is not because of race but rather just general workplace behaviour.

Management at work may not be aware that bullying or bad treatment relates to race or nationality, as employers sometimes don’t recognise and deal with this type of discrimination properly.

How can employees tell if they are experiencing race discrimination or bullying?

In law, direct race discrimination, means less favourable treatment ‘because of’ race. The phrase ‘because of’ is wide enough to cover:

• situations where the behaviour is done because of the race of the employee,

• situations where the behaviour is done because of the race of a third party (eg the race of the employee’s partner or child); this is known as associative discrimination,

• situations where the perpetrator thought someone (the employee or a relevant third party) possessed the relevant characteristic but in fact that was not the case. For example, if the perpetrator was prejudiced against all East European workers, believed that the employee was East European, and discriminated against them because of that belief, it would still be race discrimination even where the employee is in fact not East European.

If the employer does not do anything to help an employee experiencing bullying or being treated differently because of race, then the employer themselves will have committed discrimination against the worker. This is because the employer or manager has allowed that treatment to continue, even though they know it is happening.

Treating any employee less favourably because of their nationality is clearly wrong, and it is important to deal with it quickly, before it begins to affect mental or physical health or affect home life away from work.

For advice on your own circumstances, contact us by phone or email contact so we can advise you further. We understand how difficult these issues can be, and are here to help.