Indirect Discrimination

Unlike direct discrimination, indirect discrimination does not require deliberately different treatment of an individual — it targets rules or practices that are formally equal but disadvantage a group in practice. The Act's test: 'A person (A) discriminates against another (B) if A applies to B a provision, criterion or practice which is discriminatory in relation to a relevant protected characteristic of B's.' That provision, criterion or practice is 'discriminatory' if it is applied, or would be applied, to everyone equally, but it 'puts, or would put, persons with whom B shares the characteristic at a particular disadvantage when compared with persons with whom B does not share it', 'puts, or would put, B at that disadvantage', and the person applying it 'cannot show it to be a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.'

That last element is what separates indirect discrimination from direct discrimination in practical effect: because it can be objectively justified, a policy that produces a group disadvantage does not automatically breach the Act — the question becomes whether the aim behind it is legitimate and the means chosen are proportionate. The relevant protected characteristics for this section are wider than for harassment, covering 'age; disability; gender reassignment; marriage and civil partnership; race; religion or belief; sex' and (per the section's remaining text) sexual orientation.