We are committed to creating a culture in which equality of opportunity is promoted actively and in which unlawful discrimination is not tolerated. We also believe in the principle of social justice, recognise that discrimination affects people in complex ways and are committed to challenging all forms of inequality.
What is discrimination?
The Equality and Human Rights Commission define discrimination as treating a person unfairly because of who they are or because they possess certain characteristics. The Equality Act (2010) covers nine protected characteristics including age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership (in employment), pregnancy and maternity, race (ethnicity), religion or belief (including lack of belief), sex (gender), and sexual orientation.
Discrimination that occurs because of one or more of these characteristics is unlawful under the Equality Act. As every person has some of the characteristics such as age, gender or race, the Equality Act protects everyone from being discriminated against. If you are treated unfavourably because someone thinks you belong to a particular group of people with protected characteristics, or are connected to someone with protected characteristics this is also unlawful discrimination.
Types of discrimination
The Equality Act sets out the following types of unlawful discrimination:
Direct discrimination occurs when an individual is treated less favourably on the grounds that they have a protected characteristic. Direct discrimination also includes discrimination by perception, discrimination by association and discrimination because of pregnancy and maternity.
- Discrimination by perception is when someone thinks an individual has a protected characteristic and treats them less favourably on the grounds of the perceived characteristic (other than pregnancy and maternity).
- Discrimination by association is when an individual is treated less favourably on the grounds that they are connected to someone with a protected characteristic (other than pregnancy and maternity).
- Discrimination because of pregnancy and maternity occurs when an individual is treated less favourably because they are or have been pregnant, have given birth in the last 26 weeks or is breastfeeding a baby who is 26 weeks or younger. It is also direct discrimination to treat an individual less favourably because they are breastfeeding a child who is more than 26 weeks old.
In order for an individual to show that they have been directly discriminated against, they must compare what has happened to them to the treatment a person without their protected characteristic is receiving or would receive, with the exception of discrimination on the grounds of pregnancy or maternity.
Some examples of direct discrimination include:
Discrimination on the grounds of age
A university does not shortlist an employee for a management role that offers promotion as they are considered to be too young to lead a team, even though they have previous people management experience at another organisation in a different sector.
Discrimination on the grounds of race
A prospective student applies to study for an undergraduate degree at a university and attends an interview at the campus. During the interview, the prospective student tells the interviewer that there are very proud of their heritage as their family are Irish Travellers, and because of this, the prospective student is not awarded a place on the course. Irish Travellers are considered to be part of an ethnic group under the Equality Act and so share the protected characteristic of race.
Discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation
During ‘Freshers Week’, two students decide to sign up for a course in Religious Studies. One of the students is the chair of the University’s LGBT Society and is bisexual. The other student is their friend and is heterosexual. They are both told that the Religious Studies course has no more places available so they cannot join up. Sometime later that day, they chat with a group of other students who tell them they have just signed up to the course.
In this case not only the bisexual student but the other student could complain of discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation. For the friend of the Chair of the LGBT Society, the discrimination would be on the basis of their association with their bisexual friend.
Discrimination by association
A University offers flexible working to all staff. A manager grants an employee’s request to work flexibly to train for a qualification related to their role but denies another employee’s request to work flexibly to care for their disabled child. If the manager’s decision to reject the employee’s request is because their child is disabled, this is likely to be direct discrimination because of the employee’s association with their disabled child.
Discrimination by perception
A Course Coordinator at a university does not offer a placement at a Catholic primary school to a student on a teaching course because they think they are a gay man and are worried that the school will be ‘uncomfortable’ with a gay student.
Despite the fact that the student is not gay, this would still be direct discrimination on the grounds of their perceived sexual orientation.
Indirect discrimination occurs when there is a policy that applies in the same way for everybody but disadvantages a group of people who share a protected characteristic i.e. people from certain age, racial, or ethnic groups. A policy includes a provision, criteria or practice. It doesn’t matter that there was no intention to disadvantage the group of people with a particular protected characteristic in this way.
What does matter is whether the action does or would disadvantage such people compared with people who do not share that characteristic. For example:
A university places a job advert for a lecturer which says applicants must have spent 10 years working in higher education. By doing this the university could be discriminating indirectly based on age. This is because the advert excludes young people who may have the skills and qualifications needed.
Or
A university has a policy where all students must register for classes on an online system. The system is not accessible to some assistive technology, such as screen readers. This puts the student at a disadvantage because they cannot register for their classes. They may also miss out on classes that fill up quickly.
‘Disadvantage’ is not defined in the Act, but a rule of thumb is that a reasonable person would consider that disadvantage had occurred. It can take many different forms, such as denial of an opportunity or choice, deterrence, rejection or exclusion. Indirect discrimination applies to all the protected characteristics other than pregnancy and maternity, although something that disadvantages staff members or students who are pregnant or are new mothers may be indirect sex discrimination. ‘Provision’, ‘criterion’ or ‘practice’ are not defined in the Act but can be interpreted widely and include:
- Arrangements (for example, for deciding who to admit)
- The way that education, or access to any benefit, service or facility is offered or provided
- One-off decisions
- Proposals or directions to do something in a particular way
Indirect discrimination will occur if the following four conditions are met:
- The provision, criterion or practice is applied or (would apply) equally to all relevant staff and students, including a particular staff member or student with a protected characteristic, and
- The provision, criterion or practice puts or would put staff members or students sharing a protected characteristic at a particular disadvantage compared to relevant staff members or students who do not share that characteristic, and
- The provision, criteria, practice or rule puts or would put the particular staff member or student at that disadvantage, and
- The provision, criteria or practice cannot be shown to be justified as a ‘proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim’.
Discrimination arising from a disability
Discrimination arising from a disability occurs when a disabled person is treated unfavourably because of something connected with their disability when this treatment cannot be objectively justified. Discrimination arising from a disability is different from direct discrimination. Direct discrimination occurs because of the protected characteristic of disability. For discrimination arising from disability, the reason for the treatment does not matter; the question is whether the disabled person has been treated unfavourably because of something connected with their disability.
The treatment could be a one-off action, the application of a rule or policy or the existence of physical or communication barriers which make accessing something difficult or impossible. The discrimination does not have to be intentional to be unlawful. For example:
A student tells their tutor they have cancer and require time off to attend medical appointments. The student misses a practical experiment which counts towards their final mark as they had a hospital appointment. As the tutor knew the student needed time off to attend medical appointments and no reasonable adjustments were made, for example, enabling them to do the practical exercise at another time, this is likely to be unlawful discrimination arising from a disability.
Or
A university dismisses an employee because they had nine months’ sick leave. The employer is aware that the employee has multiple sclerosis and most of their sick leave is disability related. The employer’s decision to dismiss is not because of the employee’s disability itself. However, the employee has been treated unfavourably because of something arising in consequence of their disability (namely, the need to take a period of disability-related sick leave).