Discrimination Claims: A Complete UK Guide

Discrimination at work means being treated unfavourably because of a protected characteristic — such as age, disability, race, sex, religion or sexual orientation. It is unlawful under the Equality Act 2010, and unlike unfair dismissal, protection applies from day one of employment (in fact, from the recruitment stage), with no qualifying period. Discrimination takes several forms — direct and indirect discrimination, harassment, victimisation, and specific protections around disability — and the remedies are significant: tribunal compensation is uncapped and includes both financial loss and an award for injury to feelings, assessed using the “Vento” bands (from £1,300 up to over £62,900 for the most serious cases, for claims from 6 April 2026). This guide explains, for employees and employers, what counts as discrimination, the different types, how a claim works, the remedies, and how to reduce the risk.

What discrimination at work is

Discrimination at work is treating someone unfavourably, or putting them at a disadvantage, because of (or in connection with) a protected characteristic. It is prohibited at every stage of the employment relationship — recruitment, terms and conditions, pay, promotion, training, dismissal and even after employment ends. The Equality Act 2010 is the single statute that brings together the UK’s discrimination law, and it protects not only employees but also workers, job applicants, contractors and others. Discrimination can be obvious — refusing to hire someone because of their race — or subtle, such as a policy that disadvantages one group without justification. Because the protection is so broad and applies from the outset, discrimination is one of the most significant areas of employment law for both employers and individuals.

The nine protected characteristics

The Equality Act 2010 protects nine characteristics: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation. Protection also covers discrimination by association (because of someone else’s characteristic) and by perception (because the employer wrongly believes a person has one).

The Equality Act protects nine characteristics:

Protection can also extend to discrimination by association (because of someone else’s characteristic) and by perception (because the person is wrongly thought to have a characteristic).

The types of discrimination

The Act recognises several distinct forms: direct discrimination (less favourable treatment because of a characteristic), indirect discrimination (a neutral policy that disadvantages a group and cannot be objectively justified), harassment, and victimisation. Direct discrimination generally cannot be justified, except in limited age-discrimination cases, whereas indirect discrimination can be defended if it is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.

The Equality Act prohibits several distinct forms of discrimination:

Direct discrimination generally cannot be justified (with a limited exception for age), whereas indirect discrimination can be lawful if the employer can objectively justify the policy as a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.

Protected from day one

A crucial feature of discrimination law is that, unlike ordinary unfair dismissal, it has no qualifying period. An employee — or a job applicant — is protected from discrimination from the very first day, and indeed before employment begins, during recruitment. This is why discrimination claims are so important: an employee with only a few weeks’ or months’ service, who could not (currently) claim ordinary unfair dismissal, may still have a strong discrimination claim if the real reason for their treatment was a protected characteristic. Combined with the uncapped compensation and injury-to-feelings awards, this makes discrimination one of the most powerful protections in employment law — and one of the biggest risks for employers who get recruitment or management decisions wrong.

Harassment and the duty to prevent sexual harassment

Harassment is unwanted conduct related to a protected characteristic that has the purpose or effect of violating a person’s dignity, or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment. It covers a wide range of behaviour, from offensive comments and “jokes” to bullying and sexual harassment. There has been a significant strengthening of the law on sexual harassment: employers now have a positive legal duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their workers, and reforms have extended protections further, including in relation to harassment by third parties such as customers. An employer that fails in this preventative duty faces increased risk and potential uplifts in compensation. For employees, harassment is unlawful regardless of length of service; for employers, taking proactive steps to prevent it — clear policies, training and prompt action on complaints — is now a legal requirement, not just good practice.

Victimisation

Victimisation protects people who stand up against discrimination. It is unlawful to treat someone badly — a “detriment” — because they have done, or are believed to have done, a “protected act”: making a discrimination complaint, bringing a claim, giving evidence or supporting someone else’s complaint, or alleging a breach of the Equality Act. The point is to ensure that people can raise discrimination concerns without fear of reprisal. So dismissing, demoting, side-lining or otherwise penalising an employee because they complained about discrimination is itself unlawful victimisation, with its own remedy. For employers, this means a discrimination complaint must be handled carefully on its merits, and the complainant must not suffer any detriment for raising it — punishing them simply adds a second, often stronger, claim.

Disability and reasonable adjustments

Disability discrimination has extra dimensions that employers must understand. A person is disabled under the Equality Act if they have a physical or mental impairment with a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. Beyond direct and indirect discrimination, two protections are specific to disability. First, an employer must make reasonable adjustments to remove disadvantages a disabled person faces — for example, changes to duties, equipment, working hours or premises — and failing to do so is itself discrimination. Second, discrimination arising from disability prohibits unfavourable treatment because of something connected to a disability (such as disability-related absence), unless justified. These duties are proactive: the employer must consider and make adjustments, not wait to be asked. Handling disability fairly, including obtaining medical evidence and consulting the employee, is essential and a common area of claims.

The burden of proof

Discrimination is often hidden, so the law adjusts the usual burden of proof. If the claimant can show facts from which a tribunal could conclude, in the absence of any other explanation, that discrimination occurred, the burden shifts to the employer to prove that it did not discriminate. In practice, this means an employer faced with a credible prima facie case must provide a clear, non-discriminatory explanation for its treatment of the employee, supported by evidence. This shifting burden is important because direct evidence of discrimination is rare — it is usually inferred from the surrounding facts. For employees, it means a well-evidenced account of less favourable treatment can be powerful; for employers, it underlines the importance of being able to show a genuine, documented, non-discriminatory reason for every significant decision.

Remedies and compensation

Discrimination compensation is uncapped, and unlike unfair dismissal there is no qualifying period. Awards typically combine financial loss with an injury-to-feelings award set by the Vento bands. For claims presented on or after 6 April 2026 these are £1,300 to £12,600 (lower band), £12,600 to £37,700 (middle band) and £37,700 to £62,900 (upper band), with the most exceptional cases able to exceed even that.

The remedies for discrimination are among the most significant in employment law. A tribunal can make a declaration, recommend action, and award compensation that is uncapped. Compensation has two main elements: financial loss (lost earnings and benefits, past and future) and an award for injury to feelings, assessed using the “Vento” bands. For claims presented on or after 6 April 2026, the bands are:

The most exceptional cases can exceed £62,900, and awards may also include aggravated damages and interest. Because there is no cap, discrimination awards can be substantial — often far higher than an ordinary unfair dismissal award.

How to bring a discrimination claim

The process broadly follows that for other employment claims, but with some specific points. It is usually sensible to raise the issue internally first through a grievance, giving the employer a chance to put things right. Before a tribunal claim, the claimant must notify Acas and go through early conciliation. A claim must generally be brought within three months less one day of the act complained of (with the conciliation process extending this), though for ongoing discrimination time can run from the last act in a continuing course of conduct. Claims are heard by the employment tribunal. Because conducting tribunal litigation is a regulated activity, Hayhills advises on the merits and strategy and introduces a regulated litigator to act. Given the strict deadlines and the value at stake, anyone considering a discrimination claim should take advice early.

Discrimination in recruitment

Discrimination protection does not begin on the first day of work — it applies during recruitment, to job applicants who are not yet employees. This is an area of significant and often overlooked risk for employers. Unlawful discrimination at this stage can include job adverts that deter or exclude a group (for example, wording that implies a preference for a particular age or sex), application or interview processes that disadvantage disabled candidates without reasonable adjustments, interview questions that stray into protected characteristics (such as asking about a candidate’s plans to have children), and selection decisions influenced by a characteristic rather than merit. Employers should also be careful about health questions: with limited exceptions, it is generally unlawful to ask about a candidate’s health or disability before making a job offer. A rejected candidate who believes a protected characteristic played a part in the decision can bring a discrimination claim — with no qualifying period and uncapped compensation, just like an employee. For employers, fair, objective, well-documented recruitment, free of any link to protected characteristics, is the best protection; for candidates, discrimination in hiring is unlawful and actionable.

Worked example

An employee with four months’ service is dismissed shortly after telling her employer she is pregnant. She cannot yet claim ordinary unfair dismissal (which currently needs two years), but pregnancy is a protected characteristic, so she can bring a discrimination claim with no qualifying period. If the tribunal concludes that her pregnancy was a reason for the dismissal, the compensation is uncapped: her lost earnings plus an injury to feelings award on the Vento bands — potentially in the middle band given the seriousness — and the dismissal would also be automatically unfair. The example shows why discrimination claims are so significant: they bite from day one, the awards are uncapped, and the same facts can give rise to multiple, powerful claims.

Equal pay

A particular and important part of discrimination law is equal pay. The Equality Act gives men and women the right to equal pay and contractual terms for equal work — meaning the same or similar work, work rated as equivalent under a job evaluation, or work of equal value. Where a woman (or man) can show they are paid less than a comparator of the opposite sex doing equal work, the employer must show that the difference is genuinely due to a material factor that is not itself discriminatory — such as location, qualifications or market rates — rather than to sex. Equal pay claims can be complex and high-value, particularly in larger organisations, and they have driven some of the biggest employment cases in the UK. Larger employers also face gender pay gap reporting obligations. For employees who suspect they are being paid less than colleagues of the opposite sex for equal work, and for employers setting pay, equal pay is a distinct and significant area that sits alongside the wider discrimination framework.

Age discrimination and justification

Age has a special place among the protected characteristics, because it is the one form of direct discrimination that can sometimes be objectively justified. For every other characteristic, direct discrimination cannot be justified — it is simply unlawful. But treating someone less favourably because of age may be lawful if the employer can show it is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim, such as certain genuine workforce-planning or health-and-safety objectives. This does not give employers a free hand: the justification must be real, evidenced and proportionate, and assumptions or stereotypes about older or younger workers will not do. Mandatory retirement ages, age-based pay or benefits, and recruitment decisions influenced by age all carry risk and must be carefully justified. For both employers and employees, age discrimination is an area where the detail of justification matters, and where casual assumptions about age are a frequent source of claims.

Positive action versus positive discrimination

Employers sometimes want to support under-represented groups, and it is important to understand the line between what is lawful and what is not. Positive action is permitted: where a group with a protected characteristic is under-represented or disadvantaged, an employer can take proportionate steps to encourage or support them — for example, targeted training, mentoring or encouraging applications. In a “tie-break” situation, an employer may even be able to favour a candidate from an under-represented group where two candidates are equally qualified. Positive discrimination, by contrast — simply preferring someone because of a protected characteristic regardless of merit, such as a quota that requires hiring a less-qualified candidate — is generally unlawful. The distinction is subtle but important: lawful positive action supports equal opportunity, while unlawful positive discrimination substitutes the characteristic for merit. Employers pursuing diversity goals should stay firmly on the positive-action side of the line, with advice where needed.

An employer’s discrimination checklist

To reduce discrimination risk, employers should:

• Have clear equality policies covering discrimination, harassment and bullying.
• Train staff and managers regularly — and keep the training genuine and up to date.
• Take the duty to prevent sexual harassment seriously with proactive, reasonable steps.
• Make decisions on objective, documented grounds, free of any link to a protected characteristic.
• Handle reasonable adjustments proactively for disabled employees and applicants.
• Deal with complaints promptly and fairly, and never penalise the complainant.
• Keep records that show genuine, non-discriminatory reasons for significant decisions.

Genuine, well-evidenced prevention is both a legal requirement and the strongest defence to a discrimination claim.

What we see in practice

In our advisory work, discrimination claims are harder to defend than ordinary unfair dismissal because there is no qualifying period, no cap on compensation, and the burden of proof can shift to the employer once a claimant shows facts from which discrimination could be inferred. The most common pattern we see is an employer with no contemporaneous record of why a decision was taken, leaving it unable to show a non-discriminatory reason. We also see “banter” treated as harmless when it meets the legal test for harassment, and reasonable-adjustment requests left unanswered. Clear records and prompt, documented responses are the best protection.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Employers: assuming short service protects you. Discrimination has no qualifying period.
• Employers: ignoring reasonable adjustments. The duty is proactive and failing it is discrimination.
• Employers: penalising a complainant. That is victimisation and adds a second claim.
• Employers: weak preventative steps on harassment. There is now a positive duty to prevent sexual harassment.
• Employees: missing the deadline. Claims are generally due within three months less a day, after Acas conciliation.
• Both: underestimating the value. Discrimination compensation is uncapped and includes injury to feelings.

London employers and employees: a quick note

Discrimination law applies across Great Britain, but London’s large, diverse workforce means discrimination issues — and claims — are common, and the uncapped, higher London salaries can make the financial-loss element of an award very large. London employers, particularly larger ones, should have robust equality policies, training and complaint-handling, and take the new duty to prevent sexual harassment seriously. For employees, the same protections apply everywhere from day one, and the value of a claim can be significant — so understanding your rights, raising concerns properly, and acting within the deadline are key.

Employer liability and the “all reasonable steps” defence

Employers are generally vicariously liable for acts of discrimination and harassment committed by their employees in the course of employment — even acts the employer did not know about or approve. There is a defence: an employer can avoid liability if it can show it took all reasonable steps to prevent the discrimination, such as having and enforcing a clear equality policy, providing regular and effective training, and acting promptly and properly on complaints. In practice this defence is hard to make out unless the steps were genuine and thorough. The combination of vicarious liability and the new positive duty to prevent sexual harassment means that prevention — real policies, training and action — is now both a legal requirement and the employer’s best protection. Treating equality as a paper policy is not enough.

How Hayhills can help

Advising on discrimination is an employment and commercial matter, not a reserved legal activity, so Hayhills can help you directly. For employers, we help you put in place effective equality policies, training and complaint procedures, meet the duty to prevent sexual harassment, handle discrimination complaints fairly, and reduce the risk of claims and the “all reasonable steps” exposure. For employees, we help you understand whether you have been discriminated against, the strength and value of a claim, and your next steps. Where a matter reaches the employment tribunal, which is a regulated activity, we work alongside and introduce a regulated litigator. Explore our employment advisory service or speak to Hayhills today.

This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal or accountancy advice. Hayhills Limited, trading as Hayhills Legal Advisory, provides non-reserved legal advisory services. Always check current requirements at GOV.UK.

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