Direct discrimination - less favourable treatment on grounds of race or ethnic origin, age, disability, gender, sexual orientation, or religion or belief. For example, harassment is a form of direct discrimination.
Disability - Physical or mental impairment that has a substantial or adverse effect on a person's ability to carry out normal day to day activities.
EC Directives - EC Directives are European Community laws that Member States must comply with. It is up to individual Member States to choose the form and methods used, so Directives need to be transposed into national law. The UK implementation of EC Employment Directives is as follows: Race, Religion and Belief, Sexual Orientation - 2003, Disability 2004, Age and Gender 2004-2006.
Equal opportunities - is about making sure that everybody gets a chance to participate - whether in work, in hobbies, in going to the shops, in being elected to Parliament - on an equal basis, and to be treated appropriately.
Equal Pay - Equal pay means that people receive the same level of pay as other employees who are performing equal work.
Equal Value - Work which is different in nature but of equal value is regarded as equal when assessed under such headings as effort, skill and decision, through a process of job evaluation.
Harassment - unwanted conduct that violates people's dignity or creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment on grounds of race or ethnic origin, age, disability, gender, sexual orientation, or religion or belief.
Heterosexism - attitudes, behaviour or policies that arise from the assumption that everyone is heterosexual.
Indirect discrimination - a provision or practice that everyone has to conform to, but which some groups cannot meet so easily.
Institutional Racism - When an organisation's procedures and policies people amount to disadvantage people from minority ethnic backgrounds. It is defined by the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry as 'the collective failure of an organisation to provide an appropriate and professional service people because of their colour, culture or ethnic origin. It can be seen or detected in processes, attitudes and behaviour which amount to discrimination through unwitting prejudice ignorance, thoughtlessness and racial stereotyping which disadvantages minority ethnic people'
Mainstreaming equality - is about building an equality perspective into every part of an organisation's work. It is about ensuring that equal opportunities is part of every process from the beginning.
Multiple discrimination - When discrimination occurs on multiple grounds. For example, race and religion.
Positive Action - Action to encourage under-represented groups into non-traditional work/training and to help eliminate stereotyping, e.g. by setting targets.
Prejudice - An attitude that predisposes a person to think, feel or perceive and act in a favourable or unfavourable way towards a group or its individual members.
Public Duty - An public sector employers responsibility to perform certain action to improve working conditions of diverse groups.
Racism - Consists of conduct or words or practices which disadvantage or advantage people because of their colour, culture or ethnic origin. It can be subtle or overt, intentional or unwitting.
Reasonable adjustments - An employer's duty under the Disability Discrimination Act to reduce or eliminate a disabled person?s disadvantage in the workplace through, for example, better access into the workplace or transport.
Sexual orientation - defined in the regulations as orientation towards persons of the same sex, the opposite sex or both sexes, in common language - lesbian/gay, straight or bisexual.
Stereotyping - Acting on assumptions about any role which is suitable for certain groups of people.
Transgender/ transsexual - a person whose perception of their own gender differs from the sex they were assigned at birth.
Victimisation - treating people less favourably because of something they have done under or in connection with the legislation, e.g. made a formal complaint of discrimination or given evidence in a tribunal case.
Xenophobia -This is a term to describe negative attitudes towards those that appear to be foreigners. It is used more frequently toward those who appear to be foreigners. In Britain, the word 'racism' is more common.