Get in Touch
Individuals and employees from lower socioeconomic backgrounds unfortunately are often faced with barriers in their career development and progression, unequal pay, and biassed perceptions about their abilities and skill set. These challenges can lead to missed opportunities and reinforce a cycle of inequality that affects their long-term career prospects.
Taking the time to understand the impact of social class discrimination and creating and implementing initiatives to tackle and reduce this means that businesses can foster a culture where everyone is judged fairly and on merit, and not on their economic and social class. This approach not only promotes inclusivity but also encourages diverse perspectives that can drive innovation and success within the company.
Here at Nationwide Employment Lawyers, we have extensive knowledge and experience of discrimination, having worked on many cases and lawsuits in the past. In this post we explore how economic bias is in the workplace and what strategies are available to address it, creating a fairer, more inclusive environment.
What is Discrimination?
Discrimination in the workplace occurs when someone is treated unfairly based on specific characteristics protected by law. The key legislation addressing workplace discrimination in the UK is The Equality Act 2010 (EA). This law identifies different forms of discrimination, including direct discrimination, where someone is treated less favourably because of a protected characteristic, and indirect discrimination, where policies or practices disadvantage a particular group.
It also covers harassment, which involves unwanted behaviour that creates a hostile environment, and victimisation, where someone is treated unfairly for raising concerns or supporting a complaint about discrimination. Understanding these definitions is crucial for building a fair and inclusive work environment.
- Direct Discrimination – occurs when someone is treated less favourably due to their protected characteristics, such as race, religious beliefs, age, gender or sexual orientation and is the most visible type of discrimination there is.
- Indirect Discrimination – is when an individual finds themself being excluded from and or disadvantaged by situations in the workplace. An example of this type of discrimination is if an organisation introduces all employees with a dress code and or specific uniform. This may seem innocent, but it may indirectly impact individuals who have religious beliefs and who must wear certain clothing due to their religion.
- Harassment – Harassment is behaviour that causes emotional or physical upset and distress and often creates an uncomfortable and hostile work environment for the individual targeted. You can experience harassment in the form of derogatory comments, exclusion, or unwanted attention.
What is Economic Bias and Social Class Discrimination?
Discrimination can come in different forms as discussed, and when it comes to socioeconomic bias, it is about individuals being targeted and treated unfairly based on their background, education, social class or income level. This form of discrimination is debilitating, unfair and unjust and can easily impact the individual’s mental wellbeing, confidence and ability to do their role in the workplace. It can also limit career development and potential opportunities due to biassed assumptions about their capabilities, reigniting harmful stereotypes and stimulating inequality in the workplace.
Identifying Economic Bias in the Workplace
Signs of economic bias can be in the form of unequal opportunities for career development and individuals being promoted with perhaps less skills and experience but are from a privileged and higher social class than someone who has the skills and experience but from a lower social class. Exclusion from networking events or social activities, and even biassed assumptions about an individual’s skills or competence based on their social and economic background.
Employers who address these issues via training, strong leadership, open communication channels and collaborative working, results in raised awareness, fair policies and procedures, a workforce that feel trusted, safe and secure knowing they are treated, and their experience is evaluated on experience and excellence instead of economic status.
We are aware that it may not always be easy to witness discrimination at work and so ensuring there are safe spaces for employees to talk confidentially is crucial. At Nationwide Employment Lawyers we have witnessed economic bias in recruitment processes and hiring practices where favoured and preferred candidates have been handed opportunities and or been given promotions unfairly due to their social class.
The Impact of Social Class Discrimination on Career Development
To summarise, social class discrimination can severely and dramatically impact individuals’ mental wellbeing and career progression. If you are an individual from a lower socioeconomic background, the truth is that unfortunately you may often face barriers within the workplace that more privileged colleagues do not and as a result you may receive fewer internal opportunities, promotions and lower pay, regardless of your skillset and performance.
The impact of social class discrimination goes beyond immediate career development, which of course is important to many of us, but it deteriorates confidence and influences productivity, the desire to aspire and even be within the workplace at all. Businesses who are failing to address this form of discrimination are acutely missing out on exceptional talent and a diverse range of individuals.
Strategies for Creating an Inclusive Workplace
The creation of an inclusive working world and environment for your employees requires the business to adopt several approaches, ways of working and strategies to make sure that all staff, regardless of their background, have equal opportunities for success;
- A Fair Recruitment Process
A fair recruitment process focuses on hiring the right candidate for the role and not on the social class, upbringing and background. Employers can do this and address any bias, by introducing blind recruitment. This is where personal details such as school, address, and even names are hidden from the hiring team. This approach addresses and reduces unconscious biases and makes sure that candidates are assessed and evaluated based solely on their abilities and skills. This method will result in the creation of a diverse and inclusive workforce that is based on values and talent, and not socioeconomic background and biases.
- Training and Development
Training and ongoing development is critical in today’s economic climate to make sure everyone is aware, has knowledge of and adheres to the relevant laws, policies, and best practices that promote equality and inclusion. Training and development ensures that employees understand their role, responsibilities, the expectations from the business, and their rights. This all helps in the prevention of discrimination and creates a more inclusive environment for individuals.
With training in relation to social class discrimination, it is essential for organisations to raise awareness about the different types of discrimination that people can experience and the subtle biases that can really impact everyday working. Effective training can help employees and businesses recognise and challenge their own biases that they witness, whilst educating themselves on the wide impact of social class discrimination.
- Open Communication
For many businesses, their employees just don’t know or don’t trust the communication channels that are available to them, so they do not share experiences they are having or have witnessed due to fearing the consequences. Trusted and open channels of communication are essential within the workplace as they create a sense of assurance and confidence and encourage a world of social inclusivity.
Accessible and safe communication channels that are available for people to share their experiences and worries and to also report discrimination that they have witnessed, without fear, will in time result in the reduction of social class discrimination and stimulate a transparent and inclusive work environment that is based on trust and equality.
Do you Think you Have Been Discriminated Against?
If you find yourself in a position at work, or you have applied for a role and you feel you have been discriminated against due to your social class and economic background then we strongly recommend you contact an employment law firm. Nationwide Employment Lawyers are an experienced and knowledgeable team of employment law specialists, and they understand how stressful it can be if you are experiencing discrimination. Please contact our team and discuss your situation in the strictest of confidence; we will discuss all aspects with you, explaining the role of the Equality Act 2010 and provide you with all the essential guidance and support you need and how we can help you.
