Disability Rights Commission

Discrimination means ‘unfair treatment of a person or group on the basis of prejudice’. The UK laws make sure that no person faces discrimination on any grounds in any walk of life.

Types of discriminations

Discrimination can be on grounds of gender, sexual preference, sexual attacks (verbal or physical), religion, beliefs, race, ethnicity, age, disability, etc.

• Age Discrimination describes any situation in which the employee has been paid less wage, forced to quit job, not employed, treated unfairly at work, based on age.
• Disability discrimination, as the name states, discriminates people who are differentially disabled. It is completely unlawful to fire, refuse employment or treat unfairly based on physical abilities of a person. The employer, however, can choose not to employ a disabled person if the job is physically demanding.
• Discrimination on grounds of sexual preferences and gender are totally baseless and are addressed in the laws. If you face such discrimination at work place and are treated unfairly, you can file for compensation. Sexual harassment is also a form of discrimination.
• Racial slurs and religious discriminations include any hurtful remark about one’s faith, beliefs, customs, religious ceremonies, etc. It can be in form of a verbal abuse or any written form. It can be in the form of harassment or victimization. Either ways, there are basic rights and laws for every person, stating they are equal and such acts are claimable.

Laws against discrimination

The equality act of 2010 is the newest addition in the UK laws. This law will make it clear that every person is equal and you cannot be discriminated because of your gender, sexual preferences, marriage, pregnancy, etc. The act also says a woman can’t be asked to get out of a bus just because she is breast feeding her baby. The details for this act are available online at the Citizens Advice and Government Equalities Office’s websites.

Procedure to rectify discrimination

Hire an employment lawyer. He/she will represent your case on your behalf to the concerned authorities and talk about the laws that are being broken by the act of discrimination. If things don’t work this way, you can always go to the Employment tribunal to get your case heard. An attorney will help you will filing the claim.
The hearing will be public and open to press.

The verdict will be impartial. If the tribunal finds the discrimination claim to be valid, then it will ask the perpetrator to pay for the damages done. The compensation amount is not fixed in such discrimination cases and is decided by the tribunal by looking into the circumstances and amount of damage caused by the discrimination.

If required the tribunal can appoint a Advisory, conciliation and arbitration service (ACAS) member, a Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) member, a Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) member or a Disability Rights Commission (DRC) member as applicable to the case to vouch for the codes of practice and laws.