Accents; whether you think you do or not, we've all got one. None more so than in the UK, where we have dozens of regional accents that can vary from one motorway junction to the next. Listening to the radio one morning this week, I heard a discussion about 'accentism' being alive and well in modern Britain and how certain people with certain accents are being significantly held back in their careers based on how they speak, most significantly in professional services in the South. As a Welshman, this got me very angry, or 'tamping' we might say in Wales, but sadly it didn't surprise me. 

Now I work in Birmingham, a place where Government Ministers like to remind us is 'god-awful' and where the locals probably have an even stronger claim than I do about being denied opportunities down South, or elsewhere, for the way they speak. What is the actual position in law currently about denying opportunities or mocking someone for their accent? And where could the law go?

Accents are not a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010. This means you cannot be discriminated against, directly or indirectly, or harassed, because of, or in relation to, your accent. However, race, nationality and ethnic origin are all a protected characteristic under the Act. Therefore, if you were mocked or treated less favourably for having, for example, a 'Chinese accent', would that fall foul of the Equality Act 2010 and leave you with legal remedies to pursue? Yes, it would. Case lase has also shown that Scottish people are, unsurprisingly, a separate national origin group to English (BBC Scotland v Souster [2001] IRLR 150) and therefore Scottish, Welsh and Irish people would logically have this protection also. However, what about regional accents within England, which is of course one nation, and which is the subject of a new large-scale project announced by Northumbria University looking at 'Implicit and explicit language attitudes and accent discrimination in England'. If Brummies, Scousers and a wide variety of other people across England are being held back by and/or mocked for their accents, can they do anything about it?

Such practices, even if not counting as discrimination under current law, could well be said to be bullying and could warrant action under an employer's disciplinary policy. If opportunities are being denied to people based on their accent, or 'polish', or whatever else you want to call it, you can expect plenty of grievances, disgruntlement, resignations and bad-mouthing; none of which are good for business or good PR. If a culture pervades an organisation of uniformity of accent, then of course diversity is going to be limited. A lack of diversity of people will inevitably lead to a lack of diversity of ideas; any EDI strategy will be compromised and your organisation will be seen as a less inclusive and less desirable place to work and do business with.

Will it always be this way?

My colleague Alice Kinder has eloquently written the case for socio-economic background to be added as a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010. 

A change to our discrimination legislation would give anyone treated less favourably or experiencing unwanted conduct based on their socio-economic background valuable protection under the law and could make huge strides in improving social mobility in this country. Of course, it is right to say that accents and socio-economic background are not always linked, but there can be no denying an element of class snobbery exists in many of these findings. Whether such a seismic change to the law will happen, remains to be seen. Rather than simply waiting for it to happen, professional services, not least legal services, can and should take a look at how they promote an open culture, or whether they are simply hiring and promoting in their own image.

Anyone interested in this topic is welcome to attend The Birmingham Law Society's talk on Social mobility being held on 28 June 2022 in God-brilliant Birmingham.