Leducate Explains: Discrimination
Discrimination Laws UK
What do the terms mean?
Protected characteristic - A feature that can be the subject of discrimination. This includes race
Direct discrimination - When a person treats another less favourably than others because of a certain aspect, or ‘protected characteristic’ of that person e.g. their race or age
Indirect discrimination - Where a rule or ‘practice’ is has a worse effect on you because of who you are. For example, a job advert that is only open to people that have 10 years experience could be age discrimination. You may be able to prove you have a legitimate reason for this.
The spotlight has recently been shone on matters of race, following the death of George Floyd. This has brought interactions between race and the law into public discussion. In this article, Leducate explains the laws in the UK relating to race and discrimination, what this means and how this applies to debates around inequality.
Discrimination Law in the UK
Discrimination law in the UK centres around the Equality Act 2010, a set of laws passed by Parliament. Its aim is to protect individuals from unfair treatment and promote a fair and more equal society.
In Section 9, the Act tells us that race includes:
Colour
Nationality
Ethnic or national origins
Other Human Rights laws also ban discrimination and provide a separate list including things such as political opinion or language. If you’re interested, you can find this list in Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
What is direct discrimination?
An example of direct discrimination is...
A hotel turns an Asian person away because they have a policy explicitly against Asian people staying at the hotel.
What is indirect discrimination?
An example of indirect discrimination is...
An employer states that their employees must have English as their native language. A Spanish person who speaks English applies but is rejected.
This example indirectly discriminates against the Spanish person because, although they could do the job, they do not have English as their native language.
Is there a defence?
Sometimes there is a need for discrimination. In some circumstances, the law recognises that discrimination is happening, but allows this providing it meets some strict rules. An occupational requirement is the most common discrimination defence. For example...
A play is casting a female role. To only choose to cast a woman is discrimination, but will be allowed as it is considered ‘an occupational requirement’ to achieve the aim of putting on the performance to best effect.
Who is bound by these laws?
Various important individuals and bodies are not allowed to discriminate, these include:
Employers
Schools, colleges and other education providers
Health care providers such as hospitals and care homes
Organisations and businesses which provide goods and services like banks, shops and utility companies
Transport services such as planes, taxis, buses, and trains
Someone you rent or buy a property from like estate agents and housing associations
Public bodies such as government departments and local authorities
Case Study: The Windrush Scandal
Let’s look at the Windrush scandal. After the Second World War, many people emigrated to the UK from the Commonwealth, but many authorities over the years did not keep adequate records of who was allowed to stay (what is called ‘leave to remain’) and who wasn’t. This meant it was very difficult for Windrush generation immigrants to prove they were in the UK legally, and many were accused of being here illegally.
In 2018, it came to light that at least 83 people had been wrongly deported by the Home Office, while many others were wrongly detained, denied legal rights and threatened with deportation.
In March 2020, the Windrush Lessons Learned Review showed that some of the failings could be “indicators of indirect discrimination” by public bodies.
Written by Georgia-Mae Chung