What Counts as Discrimination at Work? Your Rights Under the Equality Act

The 9 protected characteristics

The Equality Act 2010 makes it unlawful for your employer to treat you badly because of any of nine protected characteristics. You do not need a minimum length of service to be protected. You are covered from your first day, and in many cases even before that, including during recruitment.

If any of these examples sound familiar, what you are experiencing may have a legal name. That matters, because once it has a legal name, it comes with legal protection.

The 4 types of discrimination

The Equality Act recognises four main types of discrimination. Understanding which type applies to your situation helps you explain it clearly, whether you are raising it with your employer or considering a tribunal claim.

Direct discrimination is being treated less favourably than someone else because of a protected characteristic. If you were passed over for a promotion that went to a less experienced colleague shortly after you announced your pregnancy, that is likely direct discrimination.

Indirect discrimination happens when a rule or policy applies to everyone but puts people with your characteristic at a disadvantage. For example, a requirement that all staff work full time can indirectly discriminate against women, who are more likely to have caring responsibilities. An employer can only defend this if the rule is a proportionate way of achieving a genuine business need.

Harassment is unwanted conduct related to a protected characteristic that violates your dignity or creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating, or offensive environment. It does not need to be deliberate. Jokes about your religion, comments about your body, or slurs about your sexuality can all count, even if the person says they meant no harm.

Victimisation is being treated badly because you complained about discrimination or supported someone else who did. If you raised a concern and were then frozen out of meetings, denied shifts, or labelled a troublemaker, that is victimisation, and it is a separate claim in its own right.

Real examples employees recognise

Discrimination is rarely announced openly. Most of the time it shows up in patterns, small decisions, and comments that are easy to dismiss one by one but add up to something serious. These are examples employees tell us about most often:

If you are reading this and thinking "that is exactly what happened to me", trust that instinct. Your experience matters, and it is worth checking properly rather than talking yourself out of it.

How to document discrimination

Evidence is what turns a feeling into a case. Start keeping a contemporaneous record now: write down every incident as soon as it happens, including the date, the time, who was present, and exactly what was said or done. Notes made at the time carry far more weight than memories reconstructed months later.

Save emails, messages, and anything else in writing. If a comment is made verbally in a meeting, email yourself a summary straight afterwards so there is a timestamped record. Note any witnesses, because their accounts can support yours. Keep everything somewhere safe that your employer cannot access, such as a personal email account, not your work device.

The stronger your evidence, the stronger your case. Even incidents that seem minor on their own can become powerful when a written record shows a pattern over time.

Time limits: act quickly

Acas states that time limits for employment tribunal claims increased from 3 months to 6 months on 1 October 2026. The 3 month limit may still apply to problems that started before 1 October 2026. Check your deadline early and seek advice. You can bring a discrimination conciliation, which pauses the clock for a limited period but does not stop it indefinitely.

Why you should raise a grievance first

Before going to a tribunal, it is usually worth raising a formal grievance with your employer. A grievance creates a formal record of your complaint and gives your employer a genuine chance to put things right. Many situations are resolved at this stage, without any legal process at all.

If your employer fails to deal with your grievance properly, that failure strengthens your position. A tribunal can increase compensation by up to 25% where an employer has unreasonably failed to follow the ACAS Code of Practice. Raising a grievance first shows you acted reasonably, and it makes your employer's response, or lack of one, part of the evidence.

How Belonge can help

If you suspect discrimination but are not sure whether what happened to you meets the legal test, Belonge can assess your situation and tell you honestly where you stand. We help you build a clear timeline of evidence, prepare a grievance letter that sets out your case properly, and understand the strength of your position before you decide what to do next.

If your case goes further, we guide you through each stage of the tribunal process, from ACAS early conciliation to preparing your claim. You do not have to work this out alone, and you do not have to wait until you are certain. A short conversation now can tell you whether what you are experiencing has a legal answer.