Equal opportunities

Dealing with discrimination

There are many situations where you could be discriminated against, for example because of your age or your sex or because you are gay or lesbian. This leaflet explains the laws that protect you from discrimination, and what you can do if you are discriminated against.

When discrimination can happen
Types of discrimination
Sex discrimination
Transgender people
Discrimination because you are gay or lesbian
Discrimination because of your religion or beliefs
What you can do about discrimination
Dealing with discrimination at work
Going to an employment tribunal
Dealing with other types of discrimination
The Human Rights Act
Discrimination because of your age

The leaflets in this series give you an outline of your legal rights. They are not a complete guide to the law and are not intended to be a guide to how the law will apply to you or to any specific situation. The leaflets are regularly updated but the law may have changed since this was printed, so information in it may be incorrect or out of date.

If you have a problem, you will need to get more information or personal advice to work out the best way to solve it. See ‘Further help’ for sources of information and advice.

When discrimination can happen

Discrimination happens when someone is treated worse (in legal terms, ‘less favourably’) than another person in the same situation. Discrimination may happen in many situations:

At work – for example, a black person may be refused a job without good reason, or be racially harassed by other employees. A woman may have a problem about equal pay, or the way she is treated if she is pregnant or has a child to care for.
When you are buying or using goods and services – for example, a person in a wheelchair may be told they can’t go into a restaurant because their wheelchair takes up too much space.
When you are buying or renting somewhere to live – for example, a landlord may refuse to let their flat to an Asian person.
At a school or college – for example, a school may treat a black child differently from a white child when deciding whether to exclude (remove) them.

You may suffer discrimination for various reasons. It is often because:

of your race;
of your sex;
of your religion or belief;
you have a disability;
you are elderly;
you are gay or lesbian; or
you are a transgender person.

The protection you have in law depends on why you were discriminated against. In the case of sex discrimination, for example, there are specific laws saying when it is unlawful for someone to discriminate against you. The law gives you the right to go to an employment tribunal or to court if you have been treated unfairly. You may get compensation for loss of earnings or if your feelings have been hurt, depending on the kind of discrimination you’ve suffered. Also, taking an organisation to a tribunal or court may improve the way it behaves towards other people in future.

With some other types of discrimination, such as that based on age, there are no specific laws, but the government is bringing in legislation to cover this by October 2006. In the meantime there are things you may be able to do to stop the discrimination happening.

This leaflet:

explains how the law on equal opportunities and anti-discrimination works, and what types of discrimination you are protected from;
looks in more detail at the laws on discrimination because of sex, sexual preference, and religion or beliefs; and
explains what you can do if you have been discriminated against.

Separate Community Legal Service Direct leaflets, ‘Racial discrimination’ and ‘Rights for disabled people’, deal with those things in more detail.

Sometimes a person may be discriminated against for more than one reason. If you think you are in this position, you may need to get advice about the best course of action. You can get advice from:

a trade union (if you belong to one);
a law centre;
a Citizens Advice Bureau; or
a solicitor.

See ‘Further help’ for more about where to get advice.

Types of discrimination

The law on equality talks about two types of discrimination:

Direct discrimination, which is when you are treated less favourably because, for example, you are black or a woman.
Indirect discrimination, which can happen where there are rules or conditions, or practices at work, that apply to everyone but affect one group of people more than others, without a good reason. For example, a company rule that says employees must do night shifts could exclude women who have children to care for.

In certain cases, discrimination is allowed. For example, the law allows a women’s refuge to insist that its counsellors are women.

Victimisation

If you want to complain about being discriminated against (or if you are helping a colleague who is complaining), you may fear that your employer may treat you less favourably for this reason. If they do, this is called victimisation, and it is unlawful (illegal) in the same way discrimination is.

Further help

Community Legal Service Direct

Provides free information, help and advice direct to the public on a range of common legal issues.

Call 0845 345 4 345

Speak to a qualified legal adviser about benefits and tax credits, debt, education, housing or employment or find local advice services for other problems.

Click www.clsdirect.org.uk

Find a quality local legal adviser or solicitor and links to other sources of online information and help.