What does discrimination mean?

The EU-legislation prohibits discrimination in employment and training on the grounds of racial or ethnic origin, sexual orientation, religion or belief, age and disability. The rules on racial discrimination also cover other areas such as education, social security, healthcare, access to goods and services and housing.

Both direct and indirect discrimination are covered by the new EU-rules.

Direct discrimination occurs when a person is treated less favourably than another in a comparable situation because of their racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation.

An example of direct discrimination is a job advert which says "no disabled people need apply."

However, in reality discrimination often takes more subtle forms. That is why indirect discrimination is also covered. This occurs when an apparently neutral provision, criterion or practice would disadvantage people on the grounds of racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation unless the practice can be objectively justified by a legitimate aim.

An example of indirect discrimination is requiring all people who apply for a certain job to sit a test in a particular language, even though that language is not necessary for the job. The test might exclude more people who have a different mother tongue.