Employers face greater risks of race claims

New regulations which give wider rights to employees in race discrimination cases have now come into effect.

The Race Relations Act 1976 (Amendment) Regulations 2003 implement the EC Race Directive 2000/43. The main changes are that they introduce a new definition of indirect race discrimination, a statutory definition of racial harassment and change the onus of providing proof of discrimination.

Previously, it has been the responsibility of workers to establish that they have been discriminated against but the new regulations put the onus on employers to prove they did not discriminate, once a case has been made against them.

The Regulations amend the Race Relations Act to introduce, for the first time, a definition of racial harassment. Harassment is now defined by statute where a person's dignity is violated, or where an environment is created that is "intimidating, hostile, humiliating or offensive".