Legal: Tackling racism in the workplace

Tina Chander is head of employment law at Midlands law firm Wright Hassall and deals with contentious and non-contentious employment law issues, acting for small businesses to large national and international corporates...

Towards the end of last year, Yorkshire County Cricket Club found its reputation laying in tatters after publicly failing to appropriately manage several historical accusations of workplace racism made by former player Azeem Rafiq. It downplayed alleged instances as simply “good-natured banter” un-warranting any disciplinary action.

The matter shook both the cricketing world and the wider population, and now stands as a harsh warning for employers across all industries: take racism seriously or risk reputational ruin. But what can you be doing to better manage it should it occur within your business? Here we take a look:

Employment law
The concept of race discrimination was initially introduced into UK law by the Race Relations Act 1976 and it now forms a crucial part of the Equality Act 2010. The Race Relations Act itself includes a detailed code of practice which, although not being legally binding, does provide a robust behavioural framework for employers to abide by.

It also highlights several key types of discrimination, which are linked to nine protected characteristics, one of which is race. These are;

• Direct discrimination – being treated less fairly than another individual due to race
• Indirect discrimination – when employment policies disadvantage people due to race (eg banning certain religious or cultural hairstyles or clothing)
• Associative discrimination – treating someone with prejudice because they associate with people of other races
• Perceptive discrimination - treating someone with prejudice because they are perceived to be of a different race, even though they aren’t
• Racial harassment – threatening someone’s dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading or humiliating environment, through targeting any one of their protected characteristic(s)

Managing reports
All accounts of racism need to be thoroughly investigated and tackled in a manner that best reflects the demands of the complainant. They could just request a simple apology, but dependent upon the nature of the accusation, formal disciplinary proceedings may be needed.

It’s prudent to adhere to formal grievance guidelines to ensure that strict protocols are met, both during the investigating and when deciding on the best next steps. A complainant should also be given personal and professional support, such as being allowed access to any external organisations that help victims of discrimination. 

Prevention
It’s crucial to have thorough inclusion, diversity and grievance policies in place that summarise the processes for reporting any instances of inequality or discrimination. Appoint personnel to be responsible for diversity and inclusion, and communicate a strict zero-tolerance approach towards racism, disciplining or dismissing anyone found to be in violation. 

Offer staff diversity training explaining precisely what is meant by racism in the workplace and the meaning behind key terms such as ‘unconscious bias’. Reassert that any comment with racial undertones can cause anguish, and that simply labelling potentially racist remarks as workplace ‘banter’ is inappropriate and a common catalyst for legal claims.

Failure to act
Not managing racism effectively could possibly result in not only losing employees but also having to defend a tribunal. Cases of this nature often lead to irreparable reputational damage, and in an era where social responsibility is of increasing importance, this could result in the bottom line taking a considerable hit. Put simply, promoting inclusivity and protecting your staff is what’s best for business, as well as being morally and ethically correct. 

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