Visible difference is a term that refers to a scar, mark or condition that makes a person look different. Research carried out by the charity Changing Faces in 2019 found that a third of people with a visible difference say that their employers have not been effective in preventing workplace discrimination.
We must strive towards acceptance surrounding visible difference, which would help make workplace discrimination a thing of the past.
Education is a good start but, on its own, isn’t enough. We need to take practical steps to ensure that employees with visible differences feel welcome and supported. These could include:
· Embedding diversity into recruitment and hiring practices: The best teams are made up of people from a wide variety of backgrounds.
· Tackling unconscious bias: Don’t make assumptions about someone’s ability based on their appearance.
· Encourage active participation: Employees with visible differences may find it hard to speak out. Make sure their voice is heard and appreciated.
· Don’t be afraid to check in: People with visible differences can face challenges both inside and outside of the workplace. For example, commuting can open them up to stares or comments. If an employee seems down, have a chat.
· Don’t force people to tell you more than they are comfortable with: An open conversation about a person’s visible difference can be a great way to settle concerns. But remember that they don’t owe you any more than they are comfortable sharing.
Read more: Acas sees surge in disability discrimination claims
The Equality Act 2010 allows for visible difference to be defined as disability, provided that the impairment ‘consists of a severe disfigurement.’ But severity is not defined in the legislation, which can cause problems for employment tribunal claimants.
In 2023, I was involved in an employment tribunal after experiencing workplace discrimination relating to my visible difference: burns scarring on my face and body. The process was problematic and overly complex. As someone who works in the legal profession, I couldn’t help but consider the issues this could cause for employees without legal knowledge.
The conversations between legal professionals, and at tribunal, put me in a position that goes against the ethos of the Equality Act protection; I had to try and define, legitimise and account for how I look.
The limited case law available discusses severity in terms of degree of injury and position of the mark. However, physical ‘severity’ does not always correspond to how a person responds psychologically. In addition, the reactions towards people with a visible difference, and consequently the social impact, can be significant, even if the scar, mark or condition is not.
Read more: People with disfigurements experiencing discrimination
To gain employment, people with visible differences need to be confident enough to own their differences, and assured enough to keep pace with the rising bar of ‘acceptable’ appearance. In other words, their difference must be invisible in how they deal with it.
However, at an employment tribunal, they must prove they are severely disfigured. This involves stepping into a narrative that they fight every day to climb out of.
Widening the concept of disfigurement by removing ‘severe’, including reference to social barriers, and focusing on the behaviour of the respondent rather than just the features of the claimant may all go some way towards balancing the provisions in the current equality legislation.
Claimants living with visible differences must be allowed to describe the impact in their own words. Only then can we work towards an understanding that is rooted in how they experience the world, and not in how the world experiences them.
Melanie Grimsley is a legal executive and a campaigner for the Changing Faces charity
