Less favourable treatment

Less favourable treatment is a term common to the discrimination legislation.

Use of the word less suggests a comparison. In order to establish less favourable treatment, a Claimant needs to show that he or she has been less favourably treated in comparison to an actual or hypothetical comparator in broadly comparable circumstances.

Once a Claimant has established a prima facie case of less favourable treatment, it is for the employer to prove that the treatment was not by reason of one of the prohibited grounds ie sex, race, sexual oriuentation, disability etc.