Racial harassment in the workplace: I got called a dirty Muslim
- Published
Around 30% of staff who've witnessed or experienced racial harassment in the workplace say it's happened in the past year, a new survey suggests.
The charity, Business in the Community, is basing that on 2,408 employees who said they'd had abuse in a study looking in to race at work, external.
The organisation wants the government to do more to promote racial equality.
It's calling on MPs to change the definition of diversity to include race.
It also say it wants them to change what's called the UK Corporate Governance Code, a set of rules companies have to follow.
One 26-year-old man, who didn't want his name published, got in touch with Newsbeat about the racial abuse he says he's experienced in his job.
"I got called a dirty Muslim just for using a piece of equipment and that person didn't want to use that equipment because I'd used it.
"He said that to another colleague and that colleague actually reported it on behalf of me without me knowing.
"It all went upstairs [to the bosses] and basically the person who actually said that comment got away with it because they took his word [over] the person he said it in front of."
He also says he's been spat at, and last year he says he was assaulted by a colleague in what he thinks was racial abuse.
David McLeod: "Our department was largely people of colour but the only people that got promoted were white people"
"I borrowed something off him, misplaced it, gave it back to him the week after.
"He came up to me and grabbed me around the neck. He started threatening me. I was on my tiptoes - that's how much he was holding me up, by my neck."
He says the experiences have left him feeling "helpless" at work.
"When I got assaulted, I said to the bosses upstairs, 'I want to take this further but do I suffer the consequences outside of work as well?' They recommended I brush it under the carpet so then I felt even worse in myself."
He says it's made him think about changing jobs, but he says it's hard to do so given his current situation.
But he says he has some good friends at work, who keep him going.
"That's the best thing about it. I've got more friends than enemies at work. That's what's kept me going, because they're my best friends. They do stick up for me."
He thinks that workplaces need to do more to stop this kind of harassment.
"With any kind of bullying or any kind of racial bullying, I think employers need to crack down on it."
Visit the BBC Advice page for information on what to do if you've experienced racism.
The full Business in the Community report, which looks at a wider range of work place racial issues, was pulled together from an open online questionnaire, which included 18,000 people, and a YouGov survey of more than 6,000 people.
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