Race discrimination at work

If you've experienced race hate crime

Racial harassment at work can sometimes be a crime. For example you might be the victim of a race hate incident like:

  • physical or verbal abuse
  • threats of physical violence because of your race
  • online abuse
  • damage to your property

Any criminal offence can be a race hate crime if you're targeted because of your race.

You can also be the victim of a race hate crime if you're targeted because someone thinks you're a certain race, or because of the race of someone you know or have a connection with.

Deciding whether to report it to the police

If you tell your employer, they should talk to you about whether you want to report it to the police, and support you if you choose to report it.

Your employer should not put any pressure on you to make any particular decision. If you do not want to tell the police, you do not have to.

In most cases, your employer should go along with your decision. But your employer might decide they have to tell the police in some circumstances. This might include if you or they think there's likely to be:

  • an ongoing risk to your safety or the safety of others
  • an increased risk to your safety because you're a vulnerable person

If your employer is going to report it to the police, they should talk with you about it before telling them, and let you know when they've told them.

Find out more about how your employer should deal with hate crime

If you decide to tell the police

To contact the police:

  • call 999 if you or someone else is in immediate danger
  • call 101 if it's not an emergency

To report a crime online, visit:

Get help and support

You can get specialist help and support for race hate crime from:

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