03. Types of discrimination

The law on equality talks about two types of discrimination.

• Direct discrimination, which is when you are treated less favourably simply because, for example, you are black, or you are a woman.
• Indirect discrimination, which can happen where there are rules or conditions which apply to everyone but affect one group of people more than others, without a good reason. For example, a company rule that says that employees must do night shifts could exclude women who have children to care for.

The law covers certain cases where what seems like discrimination is allowed. For example, it is not against discrimination laws to insist that a counsellor working in a women's refuge should be a woman. And it might be legal to say that a particular job was not suitable for a person with a disability for safety reasons.

Victimisation
If you want to complain about being discriminated against (or if you are helping a colleague who is complaining), you may fear that your employer may treat you less favourably for this reason. If they do, this is called victimisation, and it is unlawful (illegal) in the same way discrimination is.