UK Employment Law\ Employer \ Racial Discrimination
Racial discrimination.
The 1976 Race Relations Act covers discriminatation against anyone on racial grounds, including:
- A person’s colour;
- A person’s nationality;
- A person’s ethnic or national origins.
Under the 1976 Act, it does not matter if the employer discriminated on purpose or not. In the eyes of UL law, what matters is whether a person is treated unfavourably because of their race. This legislation protects all groups, regardless of race, colour, nationality, or national or ethnic origins.
An employer has a legal duty not to discriminate when publishing details about a new vacancy, whether through agencies, job centres, and mail. The law also prevents them from giving instructions or pressurising someone to be discriminatory in the application process.
UK law does outline a number of exceptions:
- when a job for a dramatic performance requires a particular racial group;
- when a job involves modelling in the production of arts, pictures or film.
Discrimination laws can be a legal minefield and there have been a number of cases brought relating to areas where exceptions apply. One such case involved a Kenyan man cast for the part of a Nigerian. Two Nigerians claimed the casting was discriminatory as they had not been considered for the part.
Such issues can also crop up if a Scottish man refuses to hire an Englishman, just as an Englishman may get into trouble for refusing to hire an Asian (so long as the decision was simply based on the grounds of race).
These laws specifically state that racial harassment is illegal. There is no organisation or institution exempt from this. There have been a number of high profile racial discrimination cases recently involving the armed forces.
Companies should clearly lay out guidelines in their policies and procedures for dealing with racial equality and race relations. These should show how the organisation deals with situations in the workplace.
When issuing a job vacancy, it is good practice for an employer to include a form for monitoring equal rights. This form asks a number of questions about you. These would be kept separate from the actual job application, but would be used as proof of equal rights should a complaint be made.
Positive discrimination
An employer can be guilty of positively discriminating against a particular racial group by providing support or encouragement to it. This kind of action is only allowed where a specific group has been badly under-represented in a particular line of work over the previous twelve months.
An employer can give special training to a racial group in order to encourage members to apply for posts. This does not mean they can discriminate when it comes to choosing people to fill the posts.
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