Check how you’ve been discriminated against

Direct discrimination

If someone treats you worse than someone else because of a protected characteristic, it’s called direct discrimination. For example, you might have experienced direct discrimination if:

• you’re black and you were punished for making a mistake at work when a white person wasn’t

• a landlord refuses to rent you a property when they found out you’re gay 

• you’re over 60 and you were given worse service than a younger person was

If you want to take action about direct discrimination, you’ll need to show you were treated worse than someone who was in the same situation as you but who didn’t have your protected characteristic. The Equality Act calls being treated worse being treated ‘less favourably’.

You’ll also need to show why you think you were treated less favourably because of a protected characteristic. 

Even if a protected characteristic was one of many reasons why you were treated less favourably, it’s still direct discrimination.

Check if you were treated worse than someone who was in the same situation

If you think you’ve experienced direct discrimination, you need to check you were treated worse than someone in the same situation who didn’t have your protected characteristic. The Equality Act calls this person a ‘comparator’.

Your comparator should be someone who was in the exact same situation as you - for example, a colleague who made the exact same mistake as you at work but was treated differently. This is called an ‘actual comparator’.

If you can’t find anyone who was in the exact same situation, your comparator could be someone who was in a similar situation - this is called a ‘hypothetical comparator’. You can use a hypothetical comparator to show you were treated worse than someone would have been treated if they were in the exact same situation as you.

If you were treated worse because of age

Sometimes businesses and service providers are allowed to treat people differently because of their age. This includes:

• having a minimum age or years of experience for certain job opportunities - for example, bar workers needing to be over 21

• having a compulsory retirement age - for example, fire service officers having to retire at 65

• providing financial services differently - for example, not offering credit cards to people who are retired

• having insurance premiums based on age - for example, higher car insurance premiums for older and younger people

A business can only treat you differently because of your age if they have a legitimate reason - the Equality Act calls this an ‘objective justification’. You can check if a business has an objective justification for treating you differently.

If you were treated worse because of disability 

You're also protected from extra types of disability discrimination that might cover what happened better. You should check the extra types of disability discrimination in this advice.

Indirect discrimination

If a rule or policy applies to everyone but affects you worse because you have a protected characteristic, this is called indirect discrimination. 

For example, you might have experienced indirect discrimination if:

• your manager says everyone has to work between 9am and 5pm - which might affect women with childcare responsibilities worse

• your bank says people can only get an account if they have a permanent address - which might affect Irish Travellers or migrant workers worse

• a housing association refuses to give properties to people who claim benefits - which might affect disabled people worse

Indirect discrimination might not be obvious because it usually won’t be targeted at you personally.

To work out if you’ve experienced indirect discrimination you’ll need to:

• check what rule is causing the discrimination

• check the rule affects you and others with your protected characteristic in the same way

Check what rule is causing the discrimination 

You’ll need to find the exact rule or way of doing things that discriminates against you. The rule doesn’t have to be written down anywhere. ​​It also doesn’t matter if you agreed to the rule by signing a contract. For example, a rule or way of doing things could be:

• a landlord's rule that tenants can’t have pets

• an office practice of going to the pub on a Friday

• a term in your contract that says you have to wear a certain uniform

The rule must apply to people with and without your protected characteristic. If the rule only applies to people with your protected characteristic it might be direct discrimination.    

Check the rule affects you and others with your protected characteristic in the same way

You need to check the rule affects other people with your protected characteristic in the same way as you - or that it would affect others in the same way. For example, if your housing association has a policy that discriminates against you because of your race, you’ll need to show that the policy discriminates against other tenants of the same race as you in the same way. 

If there aren’t other tenants that share your race, you’ll need to show that any tenants of the same race would be affected in the same way.

Harassment 

You might have experienced harassment under the Equality Act if either:

• someone behaves in an offensive way because of a protected characteristic - or they try to behave in an offensive way

• someone makes you feel scared or humiliated because of a protected characteristic - or they make you feel that way

Harassment can include things like verbal abuse, bullying, jokes, making faces and posting comments on social media. 

Harassment also includes sexual harassment - for example, commenting on your clothes or appearance, sending you messages with sexual content or making sexual comments - even if they’re not about you.

It doesn’t matter if you didn’t stop the person’s behaviour. If you didn’t want the behaviour to happen, it’s still harassment.

It is also unlawful harassment if someone treats you worse because of your reaction to any of the following:

• sexist harassment

• transphobic harassment

• sexual harassment

Check what type of harassment it is

There are different types of harassment that are covered by different laws. You need to work out what type of harassment you’ve experienced so you know what actions you can take.

Harassment is only a type of discrimination under the Equality Act if:

• the behaviour was because of a protected characteristic

• the person who harassed you is legally responsible for discrimination

• you didn’t want the behaviour to happen - even if you didn’t stop it

If you were harassed by a member of the public, your neighbour or a family member, this usually isn’t covered by the Equality Act. 

If you’ve been harassed but it’s not discrimination under the Equality Act, you might be able to take a different type of action. You can:

• check if the harassment was criminal harassment

• check if the harassment was a hate crime

Victimisation

If you were treated badly because you challenged discrimination or you helped someone else challenge discrimination, this is called ‘victimisation’.

The actions involved in challenging discrimination are called ‘protected acts’. It is unlawful to treat you unfairly because of a protected act. 

Protected acts include:

• complaining to an employer, landlord or business about discrimination

• making a formal discrimination claim

• giving evidence to support a colleague’s discrimination complaint

• being a witness in a discrimination court case

If someone treats you unfairly because they think you might complain about discrimination, this is also victimisation.

If you complained about something that wasn’t unlawful discrimination

You’re still protected from victimisation if you honestly thought it was unlawful discrimination.

If you lied about discrimination or if you gave false information, this doesn’t count as victimisation.

Discrimination arising from disability

You might have experienced this type of discrimination if you were treated badly because of something that happens as a result of your disability. 

For example, it might be discrimination arising from disability if:

• someone is turned down for a promotion because they regularly have to take time off for medical appointments

• someone is refused accommodation because they have an assistance dog

• someone is kicked out of a pub because of how their medication affects their behaviour 

This is different from direct disability discrimination, which is about being treated worse than someone else just because you’re disabled.

You might have experienced discrimination arising from disability if you were treated badly because of:

• the effects of a health condition - for example, extreme tiredness or seizures

• how your disability affects your behaviour  - for example, how it affects your speech, movement or the way you socialise in large groups

• your need to attend regular medical appointments

• your need for assistive technology - for example, ear defenders, standing desks or screen readers

• your need for regular rest breaks or toilet breaks

The person or organisation might be able to legally justify treating you badly - if they can legally justify their behaviour, it won’t be unlawful discrimination.

If you want to take action about discrimination arising from disability, you should check how people and organisations might be able to justify discrimination.

If you were treated badly by an employer or housing provider

It’s only unlawful discrimination if an employer, landlord or other housing provider either:

• knew you were disabled when they treated you badly - for example, if you gave details about being disabled in your tenancy application, job application or HR records 

• reasonably should’ve known you were disabled when they treated you badly - for example, if there were lots of signs you were struggling at work, like you were performing less well, regularly missing deadlines or regularly getting upset

Failure to make reasonable adjustments

Employers, businesses and organisations have to change certain things if they affect you worse than people who aren’t disabled. For example, they might have to change:

• a rule or way of doing things - for example, the hours you have to work, an application process or a term in your tenancy 

• a physical feature of a building - for example, steps, toilets or lighting

• not having extra equipment or help - for example, induction loops for hearing aids or screen readers

Failure to make these changes can be a type of unlawful discrimination. 

If someone hasn’t made a change you need, you can check if it was an unlawful failure to make reasonable adjustments.