Irrespective of which country you live in, you would notice that racial discrimination at work is still rather prevalent. Racial discrimination is faced by people in nearly all walks of life whether it be employment, education, facilities, insurance, loans as well as in the field of medicine.
However, in the workplace, racial discrimination entails a biased approach of the employer/colleagues towards people of a particular race while hiring, offering promotions, allotting lucrative assignments etc.
Discrimination of any form that takes place at the workplace is definitely uncalled-for, considering that it has an effect on the self-confidence and morale of the employee who is being discriminated against. What this does is make the employee or even a group of employees perform poorly. Obviously, this would not let the employers create an environment in which fresh ideas can be implemented and discussed.
Discrimination on the basis of color, race, sex, religion or even national origin is prohibited by and it is clearly stated that it is unlawful for the employer to practice or even trigger any form of discrimination on the basis of an employees race. The Race Relations Act, 1976, in UK has completely stopped employers from discriminating against their employees on grounds like religious beliefs, color, race, nationality, national origin, ethnicity etc.
No matter whether racial discrimination is done deliberately or not, whether it is merely a spontaneous action or preplanned to fulfill a particular purpose, whether it is executed via actions or ones attitude, it is just not acceptable by law. In case an employer has been proved to demonstrate bias at work in terms of recruitment, benefits, pay packages, training opportunities, designation, transfers, promotions etc, with his peers or subordinates, he would definitely get sued for it.
Every single citizen of UK has been empowered by law and holds the right to file a case against an employer and either take him to an employment tribunal or straight to the court for being treated in a biased manner.
However, before doing so, it is necessary for the employee to initially assess the problem and work out what should be done to smoothen things out. If the employee has been fired, she/he can get the job back, demand a written or public apology, ask the employer to make a monetary compensation or even ask for a guarantee that nobody in the entire organization would perform such an action later on.
What people prefer doing is speaking face to face with the biased individual first as to why he is being discriminatory in any form. Clearing out the matter verbally and making it obvious that their behavior is totally unacceptable and if things keep on being this way than legal action would be taken is highly recommended.
If it is a colleague or peer who is being prejudiced against an employee, than the employer must be informed about the matter at hand. You can actually write a complaint and hand it to the boss and simultaneously lodge a complaint at in the employment tribunal. If the allegations of being racially discriminated are proven correct in the employment tribunal, than there is a good chance that the employee will be given a compensation for all the harassment and victimization that s/he has faced.
On the other hand, if the harassment is being done by the employer himself, than it is best for the employee to follow the process that has been marked out by the company with regards to reporting such actions. It is highly recommended for the discriminated employee keep a copy of the written complaint or statement that was lodged to report the problem to the management. This is extremely important, because by not using the company's grievance procedure, the employee would be ignoring the rules himself, which would turn things against him obviously.
In case the allegations are proven to be true, than the county court or employment tribunal would make the employer pay a compensation for his wrong doings and all the emotional stress that he has caused through his words or actions. Compensations are additionally offered for all lost earnings too to make sure that justice is served.
Irrespective of the kind of racial discrimination at work that if faced by an employee, whether it be indirect, direct, victimization, harassment which is done by either the employee or members of the staff at a company, the act is totally against the law. Such acts are illegal and the prejudiced individual receives penalties for his actions so that the incident is never repeated again.