What Are the Different Types of Racial Discrimination in the Workplace in England

Racial discrimination in the workplace is illegal. As an employer, it is your responsibility to be able to recognise racial discrimination in all its different forms.  

This article will explain what you need to know about the different types of racial discrimination in the workplace. It will first define what we mean by racial discrimination and then detail the different types of racial discrimination.

What is Racial Discrimination?

Racial discrimination is when you treat someone differently and less favourably based on their race. Race refers to a persons:

• colour;
• ethnic origin;
• national origin;
• nationality; and
• citizenship.

Race is one of the nine protected characteristics in discrimination law; hence it is illegal to discriminate based on race. Moreover, it does not matter whether a person intends for racial discrimination to occur, this is still classified as discrimination. For example, you could be racially discriminating if you fail to ensure that others in the workplace do not racially discriminate. Racial discrimination is illegal in all areas of employment, including:

• terms and conditions;
• pay;
• recruitment; and
• training.

Additionally, there are four main types of racial discrimination which could occur in the workplace:

1. direct discrimination;
2. indirect discrimination;
3. harassment; and 
4. victimisation.

Direct Discrimination

If you directly discriminate against someone based on race, you put them at a disadvantage and treat them less favourably than another. For example, suppose you interview candidates for a job in your workplace, and the better-qualified candidate is Jamaican. However, you decide to choose the other candidate for the job simply because they are Caucasian, this is direct discrimination.

You may also directly discriminate towards a person by:

• discrimination by association; and
• discrimination by perception.

Further, discrimination by association is when you discriminate against a person based on the race of a person they know or are associated with. For example, if you discriminate against your employee based on the race of their partner.

Discrimination by perception is where you discriminate against a person based on what you perceive their race to be. For example, suppose you refuse to promote your Indian employee who you perceive to be Bangladeshi to a role that was customer-facing. If this decision was made on the basis that customers did not want to be served by a Bangladeshi adviser, this is discrimination by perception.

Indirect Discrimination

Indirect discrimination is not always as apparent as direct discrimination and can happen unintentionally. Instead, it is where you have a working practice, rule or policy which is supposed to apply to everyone. However, in reality, it puts a person or a group of people at a disadvantage because it applies unfairly to them based on race. 

The working practice, rule or policy would apply to:

• current employees;
• a prospective employee applying for a job; or
• anyone affected by it.

Four elements need to be met for a working practice, rule or policy to create indirect race discrimination:

1. It must not differ between those it applies to.
2. It would unfairly disadvantage anyone with the same protected characteristic, so if it affects Southern African people, it will affect all of them.
3. The person targetting by indirect discrimination is at a disadvantage.
4. You cannot justify your actions.

An example of indirect discrimination is where you ask all your workers to attend a training course on a Saturday, yet one of your employees is Muslim. Accordingly, they cannot participate as Saturday is their day of religious observance. A further example is when you advertise a job requiring a native English speaker and reject a French person who speaks fluent English because their English is not native speaking.

Harassment

Where a person receives unwanted behaviour or is bullied based on their race, this is racial harassment. The criteria for racial harassment is that the actions either:

• violate the dignity of the victim; or
• result in an environment that is hostile, intimidating, offensive or degrading.

It does not matter if the person has no intention to cause harassment. 

Notably, racist language in the workplace is the most common type of racial harassment. An example of racial harassment in the workplace is where your employee has a Nigerian accent and others in the workplace make fun of it. A further example is when your staff constantly tease an Orthodox Jewish employee based on appearance.

Victimisation

Victimisation is when a staff member is involved in a complaint about racial discrimination so they are treated less favourably or differently. For example, by not letting them join in with something, leaving them out or perceiving them as a trouble maker.

Victimisation can occur because when employees assume the person’s involvement in a  complaint even if they are not involved. 

A person can be victimised where they:

• made the complaint;
• prepared information to make a complaint; 
• helped another with a complaint; or
• gave evidence or support towards a complaint.

Key Takeaways

As an employer, you should know that discriminating based on race is illegal. Racial discrimination can be present in all areas of employment, like your recruitment and your training. It is, therefore, essential that you understand what racism means. For example, race means more than just colour and includes ethnic origin, nationality or citizenship. As an employer, you should know the four types of racial discrimination: direct, indirect, harassment and victimisation.

If you need help understanding the different types of racial discrimination in the workplace in England and Wales, our experienced employment lawyers can assist as part of our LegalVision membership. For a low monthly fee, you will have unlimited access to lawyers to answer your questions and draft and review your documents for a low monthly fee. So call us today on 0808 196 8584 or visit our membership page.

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