How to Show You're Being Discriminated Against

Discrimination can take many forms, and it can be tricky to prove it's taking place at work. Issues could feature race, gender, disability, sexuality or age, and you can be sure that all discrimination hurts. It can affect your mental health, your day-to-day work and your ability to progress in your career, so if you think you're being discriminated against, you need to take action and build your case.

Discrimination is so hard to prove because more often that not, it's one person's word against another's. When you're an employee and it's your manager who is committing the offence, you can feel there's nowhere to turn. There is. If the problem cannot be solved within your organisation, then your first port of call should be either the Equality Advisory Support Service (EASS) or the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). Both can offer guidance on whether you have a case and what legal steps you can take.

In order to prove your case should it come to court, you need evidence. Start gathering it now. Under the Equality Act, it's your job to show you have satisfied the burden of proof – in other words, you leave the court convinced beyond reasonable doubt that you've been a victim of discrimination.

Your evidence can be direct or indirect. Direct proof is more or less an admission of guilt, for example, your manager saying they're making you redundant because your age doesn't fit with the more 'youthful' look the company wants.

Indirect evidence is things which you've picked up on which aren't so straightforward, such as being repeatedly passed over for promotion or failure to adapt an office space if you have a disability. It's harder to prove your case on indirect or circumstantial evidence, but it is possible.

Meticulously document every instance of perceived prejudice against you. Discrimination is a serious offence, but it's sadly all too common. If you think you're a victim, start by getting clear and professional legal advice and starting to put together your case.