Racism at work

  Posted on 14/08/2019

The Race Relations Amendment Act 1968 outlawed racial discrimination in employment – but a recent survey has found that a majority of ethnic minority workers have experienced racial harassment in the last 5 years.

The Trade Union Congress (TUC) commissioned a Racism at Work survey and studied over 5000 people, who answered questions relating to various aspects of their everyday working lives.

70% said they had experienced racial harassment at work, 60% said that they had been subjected to unfair treatment by their employer because of their race. Nearly half reported that verbal abuse and racist jokes impacted negatively on their job.

Further findings included that almost 15% of women and 8% of men stated that racial discrimination had caused them to leave their job; 28% of participants reported experiencing racism at work caused them to take a period of sick leave. In addition, it was found that part-time and non-permanent employees were more likely to report racial harassment and discrimination.

More than 40% of those that reported a racist incident said they were either ignored or that they had been incorrectly classed as a troublemaker. More than 1 in 10 respondents raising a complaint said they were subsequently disciplined or forced out of their job.

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