More than 1 in 4 (27%) BME people told the TUC they experienced racist jokes or “banter” at work in the last five years.

Two in five Black and minority ethnic workers have faced racism at work in the last five years, according to a new report released by the TUC.

The research, which is the UK’s largest ever study into the experiences of BME workers in the labour market and was carried out by Number Cruncher Politics for the union body’s Anti-Racism Taskforce, found that more than half (52%) of BME workers aged 25 to 34 years old, and nearly 3 in 5 (58%) of those aged between 18 and 24 years old have faced racism at work.

The study found that:

• More than 1 in 4 (27%) BME people told the TUC they experienced racist jokes or “banter” at work in the last five years.
• More than 1 in 4 (26%) BME workers said that they were made to feel uncomfortable at work due to people using stereotypes or commenting on their appearance.  
• 1 in 5 (21%) said they had racist remarks directed at them or made in their presence.
• And 1 in 5 (21%) said they were bullied or harassed at work.

BME workers told the TUC that the most common perpetrator of harassment was one of their colleagues (38%). For 1 in 6 (17%), it was a direct manager or someone else with direct authority. And in 1 in 7 (15%) cases, it was a customer, client or patient.  

The study also found that the vast majority of those BME workers subjected to harassment do not tell their employer.  Only 1 in 5 (19%) of those who have experienced harassment told the TUC that they had reported the most recent incident to their employer.

More than 2 in 5 (44%) didn’t report the incident because they didn’t believe it would be taken seriously, and 1 in 4 (25%) told the TUC that they were worried about the impact on their working relationship with colleagues.

Of those who did report an incident, nearly half (48%) were not satisfied with how it was handled. And around 1 in 14 (7%) said reporting the racist incident made their treatment at work worse.

Roughly 8% of those surveyed said that they had left their job because of the racism that they experienced.

TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady 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.

“This report must be a wake-up call. Ministers need to change the law so that employers are responsible for protecting their workers and preventing racism at work.” 

Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward

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