One in five report workplace discrimination

One in five (20%) of working-age adults report that they have experienced some form of discrimination at work or when applying for jobs, the Resolution Foundation has said.

Quoting from its survey of over 3,000 working-age adults, the think tank says that those from ethnic minority backgrounds and those with disabilities are most affected. It found that discrimination on the grounds of age (3.7 million people) and sex (2.7 million) were the most reported types. But over a fifth (21%) of people from ethnic minority backgrounds said they have faced workplace discrimination because of their ethnicity alone, and 15% of disabled people reported encountering discrimination in the labour market on the basis of disability.

It added that low-paid workers are more likely to be anxious about discrimination at work than higher-paid ones (20% compared to 11%). In 2017, workers earning £40,000 or over were almost twice as likely to take their employer to an employment tribunal as those earning under £20,000, despite the lowest earners being twice as likely to report anxiety about discrimination.

Commenting on the think tank’s findings, TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Employers must adopt a zero-tolerance policy towards discrimination. They must ensure that they protect and support all their staff who are subject to racial abuse – and make sure that workers who raise issues about racism are not victimised or relegated from the workplace as a result.”

https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/policing-prejudice

https://www.tuc.org.uk/news/far-too-many-workers-still-experience-discrimination-warns-tuc