Positive discrimination

For more information, visit the Parkinson’s UK website (last updated November 2021).

Positive discrimination is when one person is treated more favourably than another because of a ‘protected characteristic‘. Protected characteristics are age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, sex or sexual orientation.

Generally, positive discrimination is unlawful – except in the case of disability. Both the Equality Act and the Disability Discrimination Act allow employers to actively seek people with a disability for a role and treat them more favourably than a non-disabled person in certain circumstances.

The most common form of positive discrimination is when a job advert says that the employer wants someone with a particular type of disability. This is usually because the role is working with people with that disability and their personal experience is necessary. For example, a charity working with visually impaired people might want to employ someone who has a visual impairment for a specific role.