Caste

The last government promised legislation to ban caste discrimination, which affects approximately 400,000 people in the UK, although a change to the law is not expected until after the 2015 election. The enabling legislation is in the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013, which requires the Secretary of State to consult and then issue an Order amending the definition of “race” in the EA 10 to include caste.

Meanwhile in Chandhok v Tirkey [2014] UKEAT/0190/14/KN, the EAT has confirmed that caste discrimination is covered by the EA 10, but only where it is part of an existing protected characteristic — usually ethnic origin. Someone’s caste is likely to be part of their ethnic origin where it is based on descent, or contains an identifiable ethnic identity.