Asking an employer questions about suspected discrimination 



The long-established statutory discrimination questionnaire procedure was abolished on 6 April 2014 (ERRA 13, section 66). This procedure allowed potential claimants to ask their employer structured written questions to help decide whether to bring a claim, including questions about pay (see page 279). 



Reps should note that despite the abolition of the formal procedure, members can still ask their employer questions before deciding whether to issue tribunal proceedings, as guidance from Acas, Asking and responding to questions of discrimination in the workplace, makes clear. In practice, very little changed as a result of this politically motivated repeal. 



The Acas guidance warns that although employers are not legally obliged to answer questions, a tribunal can take into account the employer’s response, or lack of, in any discrimination claim. 



The Acas guidance outlines a six-step approach to asking questions and provides a questioner’s template, as follows:



• set out the questioner’s and responder’s details;



• identify the protected characteristics affected;



• describe what happened to you;



• explain the type of discrimination you experienced;



• explain why you think what happened was unlawful; and



• additional questions you would like to ask.