Discrimination law is not one single test. Direct discrimination, indirect discrimination, harassment, victimisation, discrimination arising from disability and failures to make reasonable adjustments each ask different questions.
Use this guide to separate the facts, the legal route and the practical remedy. Workplace disputes often involve more than one right, so keep each strand distinct.
Key points
- Identify the exact decision, event or omission before choosing a legal label.
- Ask who made the decision and which employer policy, contract term or statutory rule is relied on.
- Preserve contemporaneous evidence and the employer’s reasons before memories and records change.
- Protect Acas and tribunal time limits even while an internal process is continuing.
Diagnosis
First: what exactly happened?
Work out which route fits the facts before deciding what to ask the employer to do. Similar workplace problems can use different legal tests.
| What happened? | What to check |
|---|---|
| You were treated worse because of a protected characteristic | Consider direct discrimination and identify the treatment, reason and comparator where relevant. |
| A workplace rule disadvantages a group and you personally | Consider indirect discrimination and whether the employer can objectively justify the rule. |
| Unwanted conduct created a hostile, degrading or offensive environment | Consider harassment and whether the statutory connection is present. |
| You were treated badly after raising discrimination or supporting someone else | Consider victimisation. |
| The issue concerns disability-related absence, conduct or performance | Also consider discrimination arising from disability and reasonable adjustments. |
Who is responsible?
The employer is responsible for its own employment decisions and processes, even where HR, payroll, occupational health, an external investigator or software supplier is involved. Identify the actual decision-maker and the legal entity that employs you.
Managers and HR may administer a process, but outsourcing advice or relying on a policy does not transfer away the employer’s legal responsibility.
Protected characteristics and the actual reason
Start with facts, not labels. Identify what happened and why you say the protected characteristic influenced it. Timing, comparators, comments, inconsistent explanations and decision records can matter.
Indirect discrimination
The same policy can apply to everyone yet disadvantage a protected group. The dispute then turns to group disadvantage, your disadvantage and whether the policy is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.
Harassment and sexual harassment
Harassment focuses on unwanted conduct and its purpose or effect. Sexual harassment is a distinct statutory category. Workplace messages, jokes, exclusion and conduct at work-related events can all be relevant.
Victimisation
Protected acts include raising certain Equality Act concerns or supporting another person. The question is whether you suffered a detriment because of that protected act.
In plain English
Start with the conduct and the legal connection.
Unfair or unpleasant treatment is not automatically unlawful discrimination. Equality Act protection depends on the type of conduct and its connection to protected characteristics or other protected acts. Bullying can be serious even where it does not meet a discrimination-law definition.
- Write down what happened, when and who was involved.
- Preserve messages, emails, witness information and relevant policies.
- Identify any protected characteristic or protected act you say is connected.
- Record how the employer responded after the issue was raised.
Harassment has specific legal meanings.
Acas explains harassment under the Equality Act 2010 as a form of unlawful discrimination in defined circumstances. There are also other legal concepts of harassment outside the Equality Act. Avoid assuming every upsetting interaction fits the same legal category.
Raise the issue in a way that preserves the facts.
An informal report or formal grievance should identify the conduct, dates, people involved and outcome sought. If the complaint is about discrimination or harassment, make that clear enough that the employer can investigate the actual allegation.
Keep retaliation or later treatment separate.
What happens after a complaint can become a distinct issue. Preserve changes in treatment, decisions, communications and reasons rather than merging them into one broad allegation.
Check tribunal timing early.
Discrimination claims can be time-sensitive. If tribunal proceedings are realistically being considered, check the current Acas time-limit and early-conciliation guidance while the internal process is ongoing.
Internal process and tribunal limitation are separate.
Raise discrimination promptly so the employer has a chance to investigate and prevent recurrence, but do not assume a grievance extends the tribunal deadline. A continuing course of conduct can create difficult limitation questions, and simply calling several events “continuing discrimination” does not make them one legal act.
Date-sensitive rule.
For most claims whose limitation period starts before 1 October 2026, the current three-month-minus-one-day framework continues. For most claims whose period starts on or after 1 October 2026, the Employment Rights Act changes the limit to six months minus one day. Notify Acas in time and take advice where dates are close.
Harassment and third-party harassment are in a transition period.
As at 9 September 2026, Acas confirms that the Employment Rights Act 2025 harassment changes have not yet commenced. From 30 October 2026, employers will be required to take “all reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment and will face a new statutory route for third-party harassment unless they can establish the relevant defence.
A current complaint should therefore state the law applicable to the events complained of and, where ongoing risk extends beyond 30 October, note the forthcoming duty without pretending it already governed earlier conduct.
Build the case around facts from which an inference can realistically be drawn.
Direct evidence of discriminatory motive is uncommon. Relevant evidence can include inconsistent explanations, comparators, timing, stereotyped comments, departure from procedure, statistical patterns and treatment after a protected complaint. None is automatically decisive; the strength comes from how the evidence fits together.
Ask the employer to preserve relevant records. If a comparator is relied on, make sure the circumstances are materially comparable rather than simply naming somebody who received a different outcome.
Identify the legal type of discrimination instead of relying on the word “discrimination”.
| Type | Core question |
|---|---|
| Direct discrimination | Was the person treated less favourably because of a protected characteristic? |
| Indirect discrimination | Did a provision, criterion or practice disadvantage a protected group and the individual, without objective justification? |
| Harassment | Was there unwanted conduct meeting the statutory purpose/effect test? |
| Victimisation | Was the person subjected to detriment because of a protected act, such as alleging Equality Act discrimination? |
| Disability-related duties | Do reasonable-adjustment or discrimination-arising-from-disability provisions apply? |
Protected characteristics under the Equality Act include age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation, although the precise protections differ by claim type.
What can you realistically ask for?
Choose a remedy that matches the problem. Internal processes can often correct a decision or record; statutory compensation and tribunal remedies depend on the legal claim.
- Internal correction and cessation of discriminatory treatment
- Reasonable adjustments where disability is involved
- Declarations and recommendations where available
- Compensation for financial loss and injury to feelings where a tribunal claim succeeds
- Reinstatement/re-engagement only in appropriate dismissal contexts
Evidence worth keeping
Preserve the original record where possible. A short, dated evidence set is usually more useful than an unstructured dump of documents.
Common employer responses - and what they do not necessarily prove
| Employer says | ConsumerWise view |
|---|---|
| “We treat everyone the same.” | Equal treatment can still create indirect discrimination or fail to make disability-related adjustments. |
| “There was no discriminatory intention.” | Some Equality Act claims do not require proof of conscious discriminatory intent. |
| “No one used an offensive word, so there cannot be discrimination.” | Discrimination can be inferred from decisions, patterns and inconsistent treatment; explicit language is not required. |
| “You did not complain at the time.” | Delay can affect evidence but does not automatically prove the conduct did not happen. Tribunal time limits must still be checked urgently. |
What to say next
Keep the next response short and issue-led. State the decision you challenge, the evidence or rule you rely on, the specific answer you still need and the remedy you want. If the employer relies on a policy or business reason, ask it to identify the relevant provision and explain how it applies to your facts.
Important overlaps and exceptions
- Reasonable-adjustment claims have their own legal questions.
- Pregnancy/maternity protection has special features.
- Discrimination can overlap with dismissal, pay, promotion, flexible working and redundancy.
- Harassment complaints can also engage employer duties to prevent sexual harassment.
What to do
A practical next-step plan
- Write down the event or decision, the date, who made it and the practical impact.
- Identify the legal or contractual right that may apply instead of relying only on the word “unfair”.
- Collect the smallest evidence set that proves the key facts and the employer’s stated reason.
- Use the relevant internal request, grievance, appeal or complaint route and ask for a specific remedy.
- Check Acas and tribunal limitation separately. Do not let a slow internal process cause an external deadline to expire.
Escalation and time limits
Internal procedures can be important, but they do not normally stop an employment tribunal time limit. As at 11 September 2026, most claims whose limitation period starts before 1 October 2026 still use the existing three-month-minus-one-day framework. For most relevant time limits starting on or after 1 October 2026, the period increases to six months minus one day.
Acas early conciliation can affect calculation of the deadline if Acas is notified in time. Some claims use different limits, and interim relief in qualifying dismissal cases can require action within only 7 days. Always check the specific claim rather than applying a general period mechanically.
Official sources
Check the current source material.
- Acas: discrimination and bullying ↗
- Acas: harassment ↗
- Equality Advisory and Support Service ↗
- Acas: Employment Rights Act 2025 harassment changes ↗
- Acas: employment tribunal time limits ↗
ConsumerWise explains these materials in plain English. Employment law and procedure can change, so check the current official source before relying on a deadline, eligibility rule or legal test.