Can unconscious bias lead to discrimination?
Bias in the workplace has been increasingly more common over the last few months. Unconscious biases are social stereotypes about certain groups of people and unintentionally perceives them as a certain way. It can lead to one employee favouring a colleague if they share similar values. On the reverse, this also means individuals can treat others unfairly if they have different values and opinions.
Under the Equality Act 2010 gender, age, race, disability, pregnancy and maternity, religion or beliefs, marriage and civil partnership, gender reassignment and sexual orientation are protected. This means it’s unlawful to treat any person less favourably than another person based on these characteristics.
If an employee feels as though they are being discriminated against by one of their colleagues based on characteristics such as gender or race for example, they can raise the issue to management.
But if the issue isn’t addressed and dealt with correctly, then the threat of a discrimination claim at tribunal can put your business (and its reputation) at risk.
There is significant risk of unconscious bias in individuals, so training staff to be aware of and understand the consequences is crucial. Training staff will show how unconscious mind and prejudices come about without realising. We can control these biases though to avoid offending and upsetting other people.
If you’re looking at holding training for your staff and your team to ensure unconscious bias doesn’t cause any problems, Chamber members can access specialist HR advice through Chamber Protect.
Chamber members can access this expert advice provided by Quest our service providers, through an advice line and vast document library covering HR, health and safety and legal matters.
If you’re yet to become a member of the Chamber, you can do so here and access this support straight away.
*This article is for general information purposes.
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