What is indirect discrimination?
A rule that looks neutral but particularly disadvantages people with a protected characteristic. It is lawful only where the aim is legitimate and the means appropriate and necessary.
What the source says
- Chapter 1 section 4 of the Discrimination Act: indirect discrimination is a particular disadvantage from an apparently neutral provision.
- Chapter 1 section 4: an exception where the aim is legitimate and the means appropriate and necessary.
- Chapter 1 section 5: the seven protected grounds, from sex to age.
Source rows
- Discrimination Act (SFS 2008:567)SFS 2008:567 · Equality Ombudsman · Read 2026-08-20 · Content hash 9e98402edd6b8390Official source
For the employer · How the employer puts the question
Write down the aim and the alternatives considered, proportionality is decided on that reasoning.
For the employee · How the employee puts the question
The burden is shared, you show facts giving reason to presume discrimination.
Next step
Read indirect discrimination together with active measures, both rest on the same grounds.
The rows reproduce what the source says. They are not legal advice, and applying them to a specific case is the reader's or their counsel's decision.
/arbetsratt/fragor/vad-ar-indirekt-diskriminering
Next step
Three ways to put the register to work in your own practice.
Start with your task
Litigation
Find support in a judgment
Search guiding decisions, see what became final and follow changes in the law.
In-house, deals
Map the rules in a transaction
Move from theme to act and on to the article that carries the duty.
Compliance
Assess the risk in a process
Risk scoring per legal area, with the sources behind every score.