Home > SHAPE Passport > Equality Matters > Types of discrimination

Types of discrimination

Discrimination is when you treat somebody less favourably because they have a protected characteristic.

Sometimes this is obvious, such as being rude or bullying a colleague because of their religion or sexual orientation. Other times it is less obvious, such as speaking very quietly in a meeting even though one of the participants is hard of hearing.

Examples of discrimination in the workplace include (only counts as discrimination if the underpinning reason is the victim's characteristic):

Workplace bullying
Being less favourable to an individual who is applying for a job or is a candidate for promotion
Disadvantaging a person compared to other colleagues

Are some situations really discrimination?

Sometimes discrimination is hard to quantify, because it is not always obvious, and it is also subjective. It could be that you are perceived to be discriminating against somebody because you act differently towards them compared to other colleagues because of one of their characteristics, but in your mind this characteristic is not necessarily the reason; it could just be a matter of personality or friendships.

Different types of discrimination

1: Direct discrimination

This means to treat somebody less favourably when compared to another person because of a characteristic they are thought to have. For example, employers recruiting for new employees may discriminate against pregnant women or young women because of an assumption that they will require periods of maternity leave.

2: Perception discrimination

Discrimination against an individual because others think they have a particular characteristic, even if they do not. For example, somebody could be discriminated against for being homosexual when they are in fact heterosexual.

3: Discrimination by association

This means to discriminate against somebody because they associate with another person (such as through friendship) who possesses a protected characteristic. For example, discriminating against somebody because they are close friends with or married to somebody of a particular religious belief or sexual orientation.

4: Indirect discrimination

This is more subtle than other types of discrimination because it may not be intentional or obvious. Indirect discrimination is when a company has the same rule/policy/practice applying to everyone but disadvantages some people because of their characteristic. The most common example would be when companies apply the same standards to disabled people as they do to able-bodied people even though in some circumstances this may not be appropriate. There are circumstances where this type of discrimination is justified if "the company acted reasonably to manage the business - a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim".

Back to equality matters