Discrimination can take many forms, including discrimination by perception. Our guide details what this is about and how your business can avoid breaking current UK laws.
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What is Discrimination by Perception?
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Discrimination in the workplace is when a worker is treated less favourably due to a protected characteristic.
This form of discrimination at work can occur with or without intent. It can also derive from colleagues, managers, customers, third-party people, and even employers.
There are 9 protected characteristics that your employees can hold. They are age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion and belief, sex, and sexual orientation.
Yes, there are different types of discrimination outlined under the law. The main ones include:
· Direct discrimination.
· Indirect discrimination.
· Harassment.
· Victimisation.
· Discrimination by perception.
· Discrimination by association.
Peninsula can provide you with expert and practical advice on discrimination in the workplace. We'll work with you to ensure you never unlawfully discriminate against your employees.
Yes if an employee feels like you have discriminated against them, they may choose to raise a claim against you. This can lead to you paying financial damages.
It doesn’t matter what a person’s employment status is or how long they’ve worked for you… All employees are protected from unlawful, unfavourable treatment during work. This is known as ‘discrimination’.
Research by the Trade Union Congress (TUC) found that 52% of people faced at least one form of workplace bullying, harassment, or discrimination connected to their sexual orientation
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Most employers will understand that discrimination is a term used to describe unfair treatment based on one of nine protected characteristics laid down in the Equality Act 2010.
However, discrimination can take many forms, including discrimination by perception. Our guide details what this is about and how your business can avoid breaking current UK laws.
What does discrimination by perception mean?
It’s when an employee (or job candidate) receives unfavourable treatment as others believe they possess a protected characteristic—even though they don't. This is also referred to as perceptive discrimination.
How does it work?
Despite not possessing a protected characteristic, those who do suffer unfavourable treatment may claim direct discrimination by perception. However, the protected characteristics of pregnancy and as well as marriage and civil partnerships receive exclusion from this. Some discrimination by perception examples include:
Refusing to hire someone with an Arabic name because you wrongly assume they’re Muslim.
Bullying a heterosexual employee for being a homosexual because they appear camp at work.
Failing to promote a member of staff because you wrongly believe they have a disability.
They’re some of the most common types. Other examples of perceptive discrimination are:
Where a business rejects a job application from a white man a manager thinks is black due to the sound of their name.
If an employer rejects a female job candidate
If you subject an employee to perceptive discrimination, you could end up paying a significant amount at an —the compensation for discrimination claims has no limits.
So, in short, discrimination by perception definition is where an employee receives prejudice due to incorrect perceptions about a protected characteristic.
How to avoid perceptive discrimination
It’s important to have a in place that’ll enable you to outline your approach to preventing discrimination and promoting an inclusive working environment.
Training is a useful tool in getting this message across to staff and sensitivity can be particularly valuable to new starters.
This should focus especially on the dangers of workplace banter and how even remarks meant as a joke can be discriminatory if it offends an individual.
It’s also important to have a clear and reliable grievance procedure in place so individuals can report any instances of perceptive discrimination.
So it’s vital that staff feel as if they can rely on you to deal with any reported incidents in a fair and consistent manner, as turning a blind eye to certain behaviour may discourage people from coming forwards in the future.
Ultimately, while it may be a lesser-known example of discrimination, it’s important you take steps to prevent and address incidents of perceptive discrimination. Taking the effort to do this will create a safe and positive working environment which is sure to help increase productivity and retention rates in your business.
Need our help?
Peninsula offers expert advice on avoiding perceptive discrimination. Our teams provide 24/7 HR advice which is available 365 days a year. We take care of everything when you work with our HR experts.
Want to find out more? Contact us on 0800 028 2420 and book a free consultation with an HR consultant today.
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