The law on discrimination in recruitment
[ch 4: page 29]Direct discrimination – An employer would be acting unlawfully if they treated one job applicant worse than another because of their race (direct discrimination). This would be the case, for example, if they didn’t interview someone because they were black or if the employer based its selection decisions on stereotypical assumptions or prejudice.
Indirect discrimination – It is also unlawful for an employer to do something which applies to everyone but in practice disadvantages people of a particular racial group (indirect discrimination). This could include, for example, requiring applicants to have a UK-based qualification, when equivalent qualifications obtained abroad would also meet the skill level required. However, there is a defence to indirect discrimination if the employer can show that their policy was a proportionate response to a legitimate aim.
Positive action – The law allows employers to take certain positive measures to address historic under-representation of BAME people in certain jobs or grades, though there are strict limits to this (see page 12).