Suddenly, it didn’t feel like just a story about identity. It felt like a story about power.

Accent has never been just sound. It’s never been neutral. It’s a signal. A signal of class.

Of education. Of status. It’s this subtle, unspoken code that tells us who gets to belong in certain rooms ... and who doesn’t. It shapes whether you’re seen as confident or competent. If our ideas are heard, or dismissed.

Despite all that power accent holds it’s not a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010. That means you can be judged, excluded, even paid less, simply because of the way you speak, and the law has nothing to say about it.

That doesn’t sit right with me. Because if the way someone speaks, the sound of their voice, can hold them back from promotions, from leadership roles, from equal pay, then we need to ask ourselves a serious question: Is that bias? Or is that discrimination we’ve just learned to ignore?

Is accent bias real?

Legally it’s complicated. But for most people who’ve felt the sting of being mocked, misunderstood, or underestimated because of how they speak, the answer feels pretty obvious. Still, the law doesn’t always see it that way.

Let’s start with a case from 2023: McCalam v Royal Mail Group. A Scottish postman said he’d been discriminated against because of his accent. He claimed his English colleague couldn’t understand him, not because of what he said, but how he said it. But the tribunal disagreed. They ruled it wasn’t about his accent. It was, apparently, about the speed he spoke, especially when he was angry. So the case didn’t succeed.

Then there was Ryan v Robertson & Son. A bus driver from Liverpool believed he’d been treated unfairly because of his Liverpudlian accent. But again the tribunal didn’t side with him. Because, legally speaking, a Liverpudlian accent doesn’t count as a national origin and under current law, that distinction matters.

If people keep losing these cases, maybe accent discrimination isn’t a real thing? Is it just in people’s heads? Not quite.

Take Kelly v Hoo Hing. This case did succeed. The claimant, who had an Irish accent, was mocked at work. Colleagues imitated her voice. They danced around like leprechauns.

They turned her accent into a punchline.

The tribunal recognised what was really going on. They called it what it was: harassment based on nationality, and they ruled in her favour.

So yes, the law can protect you. But only under certain conditions. Only when your experience fits into a neat legal category. That’s part of the problem because accent bias doesn’t always arrive in ways the law knows how to label.

Let’s talk about the numbers

We’ve talked about accent bias – what it sounds like, how it shows up, and how the rules around it can be a bit blurry. Now let’s look at what the data says.

Back in 2022, Professors Erez Levon, Devyani Sharma, and Dr. Christian Ilbury ran a study on accent bias in the UK. What they found was pretty eye-opening.

Twenty-nine percent of senior managers from working class backgrounds said they’d been mocked at work because of their accent. That’s nearly a third of people at the top of their game being made to feel small, just because of how they speak.

Even among those from more privileged backgrounds, 22% said the same thing. Still a big number, but definitely lower.

Then there's the impact we don’t always see. The same study found that 21% of senior professionals from lower socioeconomic backgrounds said they were concerned that their accent could limit their ability to succeed in the future. Among their wealthier peers that number drops to 12%.

Tips for employers

So what can employers actually do about it?

1. Recognise that accent bias exists

Accent bias often flies under the radar, especially in professional settings, where certain voices are still seen as more credible, polished, or executive. 

But those judgments are shaped by class, culture, region, and exposure and, most of the time, they’re completely unconscious.

Awareness is a shift in perspective. It’s understanding that accent bias isn’t about what someone says, but about how we’ve been taught to hear them.

2. Build that awareness into training

Bias training shouldn’t stop at race and gender but include class, region, communication style, and yes, accent. These things all shape how we show up at work, and how others respond to us.

Anyone who’s making hiring, promotion, or leadership decisions should be trained to recognise and interrupt their own subconscious preferences. 

Because whether we realise it or not, we’re all hearing voices through filters we didn’t choose. We can choose to change them though.

3. Review recruitment processes

Take a hard look at your hiring process. Not just what’s written down, but what’s actually happening in the organisation. 

Are your interviewers drawn to candidates who sound right? 

Are they assessing communication skills … or just familiarity?

Are certain accents unconsciously coded as unprofessional, uneducated, or too much?

If your idea of a great candidate is someone who already sounds like everyone else in the business, that’s not a meritocracy. That’s a mirror.

4. Create space for difference

Too many people feel they have to flatten their voice to fit in. Drop certain words. Slow their speech. Hide where they’re from. Over time, that becomes exhausting.

Creating an inclusive culture means making it safe for people to bring all of themselves to work, accents included. It means celebrating linguistic diversity as a strength, not a liability.

So how can employers do that, practically?

• Normalise difference: encourage leaders to be themselves and talk in their own voice. When they share personal stories (including where they’re from and how they speak) it helps others feel comfortable doing the same
• Make it part of your culture: if being inclusive is important to your company, make sure that includes different accents and ways of speaking. Call it out in your values, onboarding, and team guidelines so it’s clear from day one
• Showcase a mix of voices: give the mic to a variety of people in meetings, events, videos, and panels. Let everyone be heard, not just the usual voices
• Address ‘banter’ and microaggressions: Comments about how someone “sounds funny” or “talks posh” (even when joking) can be alienating. Create a zero-tolerance policy for accent-related mockery

5. Listen to your people

Encourage open conversations around class and communication. Collect data on lived experiences. Understand who might be holding back, not because they aren’t capable, but because they don’t feel like they belong.

Final thoughts

The truth is, if someone’s worried their accent could limit their future, they’re less likely to speak up. Less likely to lead. Less likely to stay.

Tackling accent bias is about broadening our understanding of what leadership sounds like. It’s about making sure we don’t mistake familiarity for merit.

And when we do that, when we open the door to different voices, different backgrounds, different ways of speaking, we don’t just build fairer teams. We build better ones.

Part four of a six-part series.

Click here to read parts one , two, and three.