Detriments

4 min read · Reviewed 21 June 2026

A 'detriment' is the disadvantage at the centre of a victimisation or discrimination claim. The test is lower than people expect — but each detriment still has to be pleaded clearly and tied to a reason.

The test for a detriment

A detriment is any treatment that a reasonable worker might consider to have changed their position for the worse. It does not have to be financial, and it does not have to be serious. An unjustified threat, being excluded, being subjected to a process others were not — these can all be detriments. But an 'unjustified sense of grievance' on its own is not enough: a reasonable worker, not just the claimant, has to see the disadvantage.

Plead each detriment separately and precisely

A common, costly mistake is to roll many complaints into one vague grievance. Instead, list each detriment as its own item: what happened, when, who did it, and — crucially — what makes it connected to the protected act or characteristic. A tribunal decides each allegation; a clear list lets you win the strong ones even if a weaker one falls away.

Detriment and the reason are different questions

Showing something was a detriment is only half the job. You then have to connect it to the reason — the protected act, or the protected characteristic. Keep the two questions apart in your own mind: first, was this a disadvantage; second, was it because of the protected thing. Mixing them up weakens both.