What is direct and indirect discrimination?

• Direct discrimination is when you are unfairly treated on the grounds of a personal attribute in an area covered by legislation.
• An example of direct discrimination is an employer who refuses to provide training to a female employee because she is “just going to leave to have kids anyway.”
• Indirect discrimination is not as readily identifiable. It occurs when a rule or policy appears to apply to everyone equally but actually disadvantages a particular group.
• For example an employer who unreasonably refuses to let staff work part-time may be discriminating against people with children who may need flexible hours to care for their kids.