Racial Discrimination - Your legal rights

You don't have to put up with discrimination or harassment because of the colour of your skin or your ethnic group. There are powerful laws to stop this happening. This leaflet explains your legal rights, and what to do if you are discriminated against.

• When discrimination can happen
• What the law says
• Discrimination at work
• Harassment at work
• Discrimination when renting or buying a house or flat
• Discrimination at school or college
• Discrimination when buying and using goods and services
• Discrimination by public authorities
• What you can do about discrimination
• Going to an employment tribunal
• Going to court
• The Human Rights Act

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are regularly updated but the law may have changed since this was printed, so information in it may be incorrect or out of date.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 (‘less favourably’ in legal terms) than another person in the same or similar situation. This leaflet deals with your rights if you are discriminated against because of your:

• race;
• colour;
• nationality; or
• national or ethnic origin.

Throughout this leaflet, we use the words ‘race’ and ‘racial’ to cover all these things.

People may suffer discrimination:

• at work;
• when buying or using goods and services;
• when trying to buy or rent somewhere to live;
• at a school or college; or
• when dealing with the authorities (for example, the police).

The law protects you from discrimination and gives you the right to take a claim to an employment tribunal or to a court if you think you have been treated unlawfully.

You may find that you are discriminated against for more than one reason. If so, you may need to get advice about the best course of action. You can get advice from:

• a trade union;
• your local law centre;
• a Citizens Advice Bureau; or
• a solicitor.

Racial discrimination is not the same as racial abuse (being attacked, for example). Racial abuse is a crime, and if you have been a victim, you should report it to the police.

What the law says

• The Race Relations Act 1976 (as amended by the Race Relations Amendment Act 2000) protects you from racial discrimination and harassment and gives you the right to challenge negative discrimination in the courts or at an employment tribunal. Taking someone to court or to a tribunal may change the way an organisation behaves so that in future it does not discriminate against other people .
• The Act also makes racial discrimination by public bodies (such as the police) unlawful and requires government departments and other public organisations to have policies to promote racial equality.
• The law protects all racial groups – not just black and ethnic minority groups – from discrimination.

Discrimination

• The law on equality talks about three types of discrimination:

• Direct discrimination – when you are treated less favourably on racial grounds. This covers treating you less favourably because of your race and also treating you less favourably because of someone else’s race. For example, if you refuse to follow an instruction by your employer to discriminate against someone from a different race and are then dismissed, you can claim racial discrimination.
• Indirect discrimination – where rules or conditions apply without good reason and they have a worse effect on some racial groups than on others. For example, there would be indirect discrimination if a job had a requirement to have ‘English as a mother tongue’, because it would exclude some racial groups whose first language is not English but who speak fluent English.
• Victimisation – when you are treated less favourably because you complained of racial discrimination or helped a colleague who did so.

Harassment

Harassment is unwanted behaviour that hurts your dignity or creates an intimidating, hostile or humiliating atmosphere for you.

This leaflet covers six main areas where discrimination or harassment may happen:

• At work.
• When you have left your job.
• When you are renting or buying somewhere to live.
• At school or college.
• When you are buying or using goods or services.
• When dealing with public authorities.

Discrimination at work

It is against the law for an employer to discriminate against you on grounds of race when choosing someone for a job and when deciding which staff will be:

• promoted;
• given benefits at work, such as training;
• disciplined;
• dismissed; or
• maderedundant.

Applying for a job

It is against the law for an employer to discriminate in the following cases:

• When deciding who should be offered a job. This includes the job description, the ‘person specification’ (the description of the skills, experience and qualifications needed to do the job), the application form, the short-listing process, interviewing and final selection.
• In the terms of the employment contract, such as pay, holidays or working conditions.
• By deliberately not considering your application.

The Race Relations Act protects employees (including temporary employees) and contract workers. It also makes it unlawful for recruitment agencies, unions and partnerships to discriminate.

Harassment at work

It is against the law for your employer or a colleague to racially harass you. If the person harassing you does not stop after you have asked them to, you should complain to your employer.

Many employers treat racial harassment by their staff as a disciplinary offence, and they should discipline the person harassing you. If your employer does not do anything or does not do enough to prevent it, you can take a claim against them to an employment tribunal.

In many cases, you could also:

• take legal action in court against the person who is harassing you or against your employer under the Protection from Harassment Act 1977; or
• make a claim for negligence or breach of contract against your employer.

If you are attacked, you should report it to the police. Under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, harassment or assault may carry a higher penalty for the person who has attacked you if it has a racist motive.

Discrimination or harassment after leaving your job

An employer must not racially discriminate against or harass you after you have left your job. An example of this might be refusing to give you a reference when other employees of a different racial group are given such a reference.

Responsibility of employers

The Race Relations Act says employers are responsible for acts of racial discrimination or harassment by their employees and agents, unless they have taken reasonable measures to prevent it.

You can take a case to an employment tribunal if you suffer discrimination or harassment (see “Racial discrimination -What you can do about discrimination”, section ‘Going to an employment tribunal’ for more information).

When an employer is allowed to discriminate

There are a few cases when an employer is allowed to discriminate:

• If a person’s race, colour, nationality or ethnic or national origin is a genuine requirement or qualification for the job and only a person from that group may do the job.
• If there is a rule that restricts employment to people of a particular nationality or national origin. This applies only to employment by the Crown or a public body.
• If the matter is not covered by the Race Relations Act.

Discrimination when renting or buying a house or flat

It is against the law for an estate agent or landlord to discriminate against you or harass you when they are selling or letting property. So, for example, an estate agent could not refuse to show you a property because of your colour, nor could a landlord refuse to let a house to a black family for the same reason. It is also against the law for landlords to discriminate racially in the way they treat tenants. The law applies to business premises, too.

If you are a council or housing association tenant and you are racially harassed by other tenants, you should tell the council or housing association. Many organisations have policies to protect tenants against harassment. They may take out an ‘injunction’ through the courts to get the people to stop harassing you, or they may be able to evict them.

Discrimination at school or college

It is against the law for a school or college to discriminate against or harass you or your child:

• in the terms on which it offers to admit your child;
• when deciding whether to exclude your child; or
• in the way your child is taught.

The school or college must deal with any racial harassment or abuse by staff.

It is also against the law for a local education authority to discriminate when assessing a child’s special needs.

If you feel your child is facing racial discrimination, you should first try to discuss the problem with the teacher or head teacher. The Department for Education and Skills has information about dealing with this (see ‘Further help’ for contact details).

If that doesn’t work, complain to the school governors or the local education authority. If you need to, you can get advice on what to do from:

• the Commission for Racial Equality;
• your local Racial Equality Council; or
• the Advisory Centre for Education helpline.

If you are a student, your college or university should have an equal opportunities policy for students as well as staff.

Discrimination when buying and using goods and services

It is against the law for businesses or service providers to racially discriminate against or harass you by:

• refusing or deliberately failing to provide you with goods, facilities or services; or
• not providing goods, facilities or services of the same quality, on the same terms and in the same way as they would to other people.

It covers things that are free, as well as those you pay for. It covers many businesses and services, including:

• shops;
• public places, such as hotels, restaurants, bars, nightclubs and leisure centres;
• bank accounts, loans, credit cards and insurance;
• travel and transport services that are either public or offered by private companies and travel agents; and
• services supplied by local authorities (such as leisure services).

When a business or service provider is allowed to discriminate

A business or service provider can discriminate on some grounds if:

• it is a charity whose main purpose is to provide services to a particular racial group (though it still can’t discriminate on the grounds of colour);
• the matter is not covered by the Race Relations Act;
• there is an exemption under the Race Relations Act. An example might be a club with more than 25 members whose main purpose is to provide services to a particular racial group (though it still can’t discriminate on the grounds of a person’s colour).

Discrimination by public authorities

It is against the law for public bodies to racially discriminate in the way they carry out their functions. Examples of bodies and functions which are included are:

• the police (stops and searches);
• local authorities (environmental health inspections);
• the prison service (prison discipline);
• HM Revenue & Customs (tax inspections; searches).

Also, public bodies have a duty when carrying out such functions to consider how they can:

• eliminate racial discrimination; and
• promoteequality of opportunity and good race relations.

You might be able to take legal action against a public body that does not comply with this duty. Some public authorities must also have a Race Equality Scheme (called a Race Equality Policy in educational institutions), which sets out how their policies meet these criteria or what they will do to meet the criteria. If they do not have a Race Equality Scheme or Policy, the Commission for Racial Equality can take action against them.

Further help

Community Legal Service Direct

Provides free information direct to the public on a range of common legal problems.

Call 0845 345 4 345

If you qualify for legal aid, get free advice from a specialist legal adviser about benefits and tax credits, debt, education, employment or housing. Also find a high quality local legal adviser or solicitor.

Click www.clsdirect.org.uk

Find a high quality local legal adviser or solicitor, link to other online information and see if you qualify for legal aid using our calculator.

Commission for Racial Equality (CRE)

phone: 020 7939 0000

www.cre.gov.uk

For your nearest Racial Equality Council, contact the Commission for Racial Equality or see the phone book.

The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS)

To find your nearest public inquiry point

phone: 08457 47 47 47

www.acas.org.uk

Advisory Centre for Education (ACE)

For advice about racial discrimination at school

phone: 0808 800 5793

www.ace-ed.org.uk

Department for Education and Skills (DfES)

For the leaflet ‘Social Inclusion: Pupil Support Circular 10/99’

phone: 0845 6022260 or download it from:

www.dfes.gov.uk

This leaflet is published by the Legal Services Commission (LSC). It was written in association with the Commission for Racial Equality