Indirect discrimination occurs when a rule, policy or practice that applies equally disadvantages some people. Indirect discrimination refers to situations where PCPs treat everyone equally, but actually hinder an entire group. But there are other times when you are treated the same as everyone else, but it has a different and worse effect on you because you are who you are. That, too, is discrimination. The Equality Act 2010 calls this indirect discrimination. Indirect discrimination can sometimes be lawful. The Equality Act stipulates that the person who applies the practice, policy or rule may prove that there is a good reason for doing so does not constitute indirect discrimination. If necessary, they should be able to prove it in court. This is legally called objective justification. Under the Equality Act 2010, you commit an employment offence if you indirectly discriminate against a person or group of employees with a protected characteristic. Indirect discrimination is the result of a workplace policy that applies equally to all members of the company. If this policy has the effect of disadvantaging a person or group sharing the same “protected characteristic”, this is indirect discrimination.
If you end up in court, remember that you must weigh the need for the employer to apply the determination, criterion or practice that indirectly discriminates against the employee. Direct discrimination occurs when a person is treated differently because of his or her person. Indirect discrimination is what occurs when people are not deliberately discriminated against, but by treating them “equally”. This results in disadvantage or negatively affects some people belonging to protected groups. The best way to deal with allegations of indirect discrimination is to create a work culture where employee complaints can be filed without risk to their employment status. An example of this could be the prohibition of collars in a workplace with heavy machinery. This could indirectly lead to discrimination against workers who wear necklaces to show their faith. But there is a good health and safety reason for the rule. For example, a court may consider your decision reasonable. In short, indirect discrimination is when you treat a person or group of employees the same as everyone else, but it ends up affecting them negatively.
For example, a policy that requires “native” English on job postings discriminates against many different nationalities that may have the required professional level of English. This is indirect racial discrimination. You may still have questions about how to identify and address indirect discrimination in your workplace. To help you, we`ve answered some of the most common questions that may appear below: On the employer side, if you don`t handle indirect discrimination properly, your business could lose thousands of pounds and ruin its reputation. In this article, we will look at what constitutes indirect discrimination, how it differs from direct discrimination, different types and examples, and how to stop and prove it. And why it`s good for business to tackle it. For example, if a company asks someone who has held a driver`s license for five years, it can create indirect discrimination against people under 21, who may be just as qualified as their older counterparts. If an older employee is neglected for promotion, even if he is more qualified than his younger colleague who obtained it, this would also be indirect discrimination. The requirement to exclude only applicants with several years` professional experience in the United Kingdom also constitutes indirect discrimination. Employers can specify the type of skills and expertise the candidate needs without discrimination against candidates.
Employers must ensure that all workplace practices comply with the Equality Act 2010 to prevent indirect discrimination. Indirect discrimination is an incredibly complex issue for any HR professional. But since many employees still have bias, it`s a bias that simply can`t be ignored. To create more equality, we need to assess whether our employees, our company, or our policies are discriminating without us even realizing it. An equal opportunities policy shows that your organisation is aware of and pays attention to discrimination. It is specified that all forms of discrimination in relation to “protected characteristics” will not be tolerated under any circumstances. There are many types of discrimination, including direct, indirect and associative discrimination. Learn more about all three in this easy-to-use explainer. Your determination, criterion or practice (PCP) should treat everyone equally. However, these PCPs can have a disproportionate impact on certain groups of people. This is indirect discrimination. Human resources managers have spent many years studying people, reading about them, and even educating people on issues related to direct and indirect discrimination.
Tackling it is a complex process for HR professionals, to say the least. Amanda represents corporate clients and large public entities, including complex discrimination and whistleblowing complaints. Amanda also designs and delivers customized training on all aspects of employment law, including “mock court” events; In addition, she frequently writes articles on employment law for various publications for Croner and his clients. If you find yourself in a situation where an employee believes they have been indirectly discriminated against, stop, take a deep breath and take a step back. So how does direct or indirect discrimination occur in the workplace? We show this with practical examples. Thrive Law also states that for all court complaints, including discrimination, the legal time limit is three months less than a day from the last act of discrimination: “To bring the discrimination complaint to the employment court, the discrimination must have occurred within the last three months.” In this article, we will clarify the meaning of indirect discrimination, discuss how it occurs and how it can be avoided. An example of indirect discrimination on grounds of sex may be that the employer sets the start time for all employees at 8 a.m. This may seem good at first glance. However, many women tend to drop their children off at school in the morning. A rigid policy regarding the early days will disadvantage women. However, if the recruiter rejects this request without justified objective reasons, this may be qualified as indirect discrimination.
In this example, a different method was provided, but it was rejected due to an overall strategy. This would have the effect of putting the person with Asperger`s syndrome at a disadvantage, as they will not be able to make the most of their abilities. There are four main types of discrimination under the Equality Act (2010): You can take the following steps to prevent indirect discrimination: Practices, policies and rules apply to all employees, but may result in indirect discrimination against certain employees. Therefore, it is important that recruiters try to eliminate those who may unfairly disadvantage employees of protected groups.