What do I do if I’m discriminated against?

An employer is not allowed to discriminate on the following grounds:

Race, (this means colour, race, nationality or ethnic origins) of employee or prospective employee.

Anti discriminatory legislation applies to all working situations and the Race Relations Act 1976 makes it unlawful to discriminate against a person, directly or indirectly, in the field of employment.

Direct discrimination consists of treating a person, on racial grounds, less favourably than others are or would be treated in the same or similar circumstances.

The definition of indirect discrimination is complex, and it will not be spelt out in full in every relevant section to the code.

Also an employer cannot victimise an employee for bringing a complaint for discrimination or giving evidence in a complaint brought by another employee .

Specific employment issues can be complex. It is important to realise that your employment rights may differ depending on the terms of your employment, i.e. sessional work, fixed term contract, student working visa etc.

This section of the site focuses on anti discriminatory policies, employment rights, employment regulations and access to sources of information and advice.

Useful Links are:

The Commission for Racial Equality will give you more information about legal aspects of discrimination.

• The Law

Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas ) may be able to help you settle disputes . More information is available from their site.

• ACAS

The following is a useful BBC site and, along with the Acas site, covers Unfair dismissal rights and actions.

• Unfair Dismissal

The DTI has a site that covers all aspects of equality and diversity and covers race and faith legislation.

• Equality and Diversity

The Equal Opportunities Commission can provide information on discrimination at work from the following link

• Equal Opportunities Commission

This is the Trades Union information website and this link takes you to the section on workers rights:

• WorkSmart

Remember you can always get information and advice from Legal Services Commission or from Citizens Advice Bureaux