There are two forms of discrimination:

• DIRECT DISCRIMINATION – where someone is treated unfairly or unequally simply because they belong to a particular group or category of people. For example, an employer who refuses to employ someone because they are of Asian descent or are considered ‘too old’

• INDIRECT DISCRIMINATION – where there is a requirement that is the same for everyone but which has an unequal or disproportionate effect on different groups of people according to their sex, race etc and is unreasonable taking all the circumstances into account. For example, an employer who says that they need a person over 180 cm tall to do a job is likely to be discriminating against women and some ethnic groups. This is because women and people from some ethnic groups are less likely to be this height than men or people from other ethnic groups