Employers are not allowed to discriminate against their employees based on the employees’ protected characteristics such as race, gender, age, religion or disability. That does not mean they don’t.
Some are direct about it – for instance, they discard any applications from people over 30 because they feel their customers are not interested in being served by “old people”. Or they constantly overlook qualified women for promotion, just because they don’t like the idea of women in their senior positions. Others opt for indirect methods.
Being indirect makes it harder to trace
Most employers are fully aware they are not allowed to discriminate. So some try to hide it by going about it indirectly. They’ll bring out a new policy that applies to everyone so it is seemingly fair. Yet that policy will only really affect a particular group of people. Examples could include:
- Shifting the working day so it becomes much harder for mothers with young kids to work for the firm because the new hours will make it impossible for them to pick their kids up from school like they have done up till now.
- Insisting hair must be worn loose when the only person who does not already do that is the one Black member of the team who prefers to wear her hair in braids.
- Introducing an application form that you cannot complete without a permanent address, in order to discourage people living in vans or on boats from applying.
If your employer’s new policies unfairly affect you because of one of your protected characteristics, it’s important to learn more about your legal options.