ALMOST half of the documented British BAME workers have faced racism in the workplace during the last five years, says the new Trade Union Congress report.
The new report was published on Wednesday (31), and the TUC says it is the biggest study into the issue ever conducted in the United Kingdom.
More than half of minority (around 52 per cent) workers aged 25 to 34 years, and nearly 3 in 5 (58 per cent) of those aged between 18 and 24 years faced racist behaviour during the period.
More than one in four black and minority ethnic workers reported encountering racist jokes or “banter” at work, according to a poll conducted by Number Cruncher Politics for the TUC’s Anti-Racism Taskforce and 35 per cent of them reported that it made them feel less confident in their professional abilities.
Also, racism has led to more than 120,000 employees from ethnic minority backgrounds quitting their employment.
Incidents included overhearing racist jokes, experiencing stereotypes or comments about appearance, hearing racist statements, or blatant bullying and harassment.
One in 14 respondents claimed that reporting the racist incident caused their treatment at work to worsen, and almost half (48 per cent) were dissatisfied with how it was handled after they reported the incident.
Frances O’Grady, general secretary of TUC said: “This report lifts the lid on racism in UK workplaces. It shines a light on the enormous scale of structural and institutional discrimination BME workers face. Many told us they experienced racist bullying, harassment – and worse. And alarmingly, the vast majority did not report this to their employer.
“Others said ‘hidden’ institutional racism affected their day-to-day working life, from not getting training and promotion opportunities, to being given less popular shifts and holidays. It’s disgraceful that in 2022 racism still determines who gets hired, trained, promoted – and who gets demoted and dismissed.”
She pointed out, “Employers must be clear they have a zero-tolerance policy towards racism – and that they will support all staff who raise concerns about racism or who are subjected to racial abuse.”
TUC also stated that there could be hundreds of thousands of workers facing discrimination that goes unreported or unaddressed.
Following the release of the report, TUC has urged the government to enact new regulations requiring companies to prohibit workplace racism.
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