Certain characteristics are protected in law and if an employer treats you differently, you may be entitled to bring a discrimination claim. In alphabetical order, these are:
- Age
- Disability
- Gender reassignment
- Marriage and civil partnership
- Pregnancy and maternity
- Political (Northern Ireland only)
- Race
- Religion and belief
- Sex
- Sexual orientation
As you’ll see, most of these are characteristics that are impossible for you to change, even if you wanted to.
That means it’s unfair for your employer to treat you differently from someone who doesn’t share that characteristic. If they do, it counts as direct discrimination.
Age discrimination
Example:
Your employer only offers training to people aged 15-18, or only selects people aged over 40 for redundancy.
Disability discrimination
Example:
Your employer refuses to make reasonable adaptations to the workplace to suit your physical or mental needs.
Gender reassignment discrimination
Example:
Your employer allows a company culture where people get away with teasing because you are planning to transition, are in the process of transitioning, or have already transitioned.
Marriage and civil partnership discrimination
Example:
Your employer permits a workplace where people can harass you about your marriage or civil partnership.
Political discrimination
Example:
Colleagues send videos and make jokes about your political affiliations and the employer does nothing to prevent it.
Pregnancy and maternity discrimination
Example:
Your employer doesn’t give you the chance to apply for a promotion just because you’re on maternity leave.
Race discrimination
Example:
Your colleagues get away with referring to you by slang words related to your colour, nationality, ethnic origin or national origin.
Religion and belief discrimination
Example:
You’re treated differently at work because you belong to an organised religion, because you are an atheist, or due to your philosophical beliefs.
Sex discrimination
Example:
Your employer only hires managers who are able to work outside normal office hours, it might be discrimination against women who are more likely to have childcare commitments during evenings and weekends.
Sexual orientation discrimination
Example:
You’re not invited to the office party because you’re gay, lesbian or bisexual.
Indirect discrimination
Also, your employer is not allowed to treat you unfairly because:
- You’ve previously challenged them about discrimination
- They think you have a protected characteristic even if you don’t
- You are connected with someone who has a protected characteristic
If they do, it counts as indirect discrimination.
What this means to you
The law that covers protected characteristics is the Equality Act 2010 (there are various pieces of legislation in NI).
If you feel that your employer has discriminated against you because you have one or more of those protected characteristics, your first step is to attempt to address it directly with them. If that doesn’t work, you can make a claim against them in the employment tribunal.
In order to win your case, the tribunal will need to see evidence that you’ve been treated unfairly. This is called the ‘burden of proof’, and means you’ll need to keep written records of what happened and when. It’s better to make a note at the time rather than try to remember the details later.
In response, your employer will have to prove that your treatment wasn’t because of a protected characteristic.
Further reading
For more information on this subject, you might find our other articles useful:
- What is the Equality Act 2010?
- What types of discrimination are unlawful?
- I lost my job due to discrimination. Can I sue?
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