No defence to direct discrimination

With the exception of age discrimination (see page 14), an employer cannot justify direct discrimination. For example, the law does not allow an employer to justify not promoting women managers because customers prefer to deal with a man; not putting a physically disabled person on the shop floor because they don’t fit the image of the brand; instructing an employee not to wear her Hijab because customers might not like it, not promoting a woman in case she might get pregnant; or paying women less than men because there is not enough money to go around.

There are a few statutory exceptions to the ban on direct discrimination, where the law allows employers to treat some workers more favourably than others because of their protected characteristic. These exceptions are summarised below. They are narrowly interpreted.