Discrimination at work is unlawful from your first day — no qualifying period, no cap on compensation, and protection that covers job applicants as well as employees. Connaught Law's discrimination solicitors act for people across London and the UK under the Equality Act 2010, from grievance to tribunal.
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How We Can Help
What the Law Protects
The Equality Act 2010 protects nine characteristics: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation. Treatment connected to any of them — in recruitment, pay, promotion, discipline or dismissal — can found a claim, whatever your length of service.
Types of Discrimination
The Act recognises more than the obvious: direct discrimination (worse treatment because of a characteristic), indirect discrimination (a neutral-looking rule that disadvantages your group), harassment (conduct creating a degrading or hostile environment), and victimisation — punishing you for complaining. Many strong claims are indirect or victimisation cases their employers never saw coming.
Claims We Handle
Race discrimination in hiring, promotion and discipline; sex discrimination and unequal pay; pregnancy and maternity detriment; disability discrimination — including the reasonable adjustments employers fail to make — and age discrimination in redundancy and recruitment. Where the conduct is bullying with a discriminatory edge, our bullying and harassment service works alongside this one.
Compensation for Discrimination
Unlike unfair dismissal, discrimination compensation is uncapped. Awards combine your financial losses with an injury-to-feelings award set by the Vento bands — graded by the seriousness of the treatment — plus, in serious cases, aggravated damages and interest. Our employment tribunal awards guide sets out the current bands and how tribunals apply them.
Proving Discrimination
Employers rarely put discrimination in writing, so the law meets you halfway: show facts from which discrimination could be inferred — patterns, comparators, shifting explanations — and the burden moves to the employer to prove a non-discriminatory reason. We build that evidential picture: documents, data requests, grievance responses and the inconsistencies that tribunals notice.
Making a Claim
The route runs grievance, ACAS early conciliation, then tribunal — within three months less one day of the discriminatory act, though continuing conduct extends time to the last act in the series. You can claim while still employed, and the Act's victimisation protection exists precisely so that complaining doesn't cost you your job.
How We Work
We assess the strongest legal frame for what happened to you — direct, indirect, harassment, victimisation, or several together — because the frame chosen shapes both the evidence needed and the award available. Then we act at the pace the deadline demands: grievance drafted to create the right record, ACAS notification protecting time, and a tribunal claim prepared as if it will be heard.
Many discrimination disputes settle — employers dislike public hearings about equality — and a well-evidenced claim negotiated from strength usually resolves faster and higher than one pursued in anger. We tell you honestly which path your evidence supports.
Why Connaught Law
01Uncapped claims, valued properlyDiscrimination awards have no statutory ceiling — we make sure injury to feelings and career loss are claimed in full, not just lost wages.
02Evidence that shifts the burdenWe build the pattern — comparators, data, inconsistencies — that forces the employer to explain itself.
03Senior attention throughoutYour case is run by our experienced employment team, not passed down — with direct access to the person handling it.
04Protected while you actClaiming while still employed takes nerve. We manage the process so the Act's victimisation protection works for you in practice.
Fee structures and funding options are set out on our fees page — we discuss costs openly before you commit to anything.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much compensation do you get for discrimination at work?
There is no cap. Awards combine your financial losses with an injury-to-feelings award under the Vento bands, graded from one-off incidents to sustained campaigns, plus interest and — in serious cases — aggravated damages. The realistic value depends on the treatment's severity and its career impact; our tribunal awards guide shows the current bands, and we value claims honestly before you commit.
Do I need two years' service to claim discrimination?
No. Equality Act rights apply from day one — during recruitment, before you even start. Length of service is irrelevant, and workers and job applicants are protected as well as employees.
How long do I have to bring a discrimination claim?
Three months less one day from the discriminatory act — or from the last act where the conduct continued over time — with ACAS early conciliation pausing the clock. Tribunals can extend where just and equitable, but rarely do; treat the deadline as firm.
Can I claim while still working for my employer?
Yes — many clients do. Retaliating against you for raising discrimination is victimisation, itself unlawful with its own remedy. We sequence grievance, conciliation and claim so your position is protected while you remain in the job.
Treated differently at work?
Tell us what's happening. We'll tell you whether it's unlawful, what your claim is worth and how to act without risking your position — before you commit to anything.
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