HUNDREDS of vegan employees feel discriminated against by their employers, according to a new study.

"My boss refers to vegans as tree-huggers” and “vegans are as weird as new age travellers” are just a couple of complaints researchers say vegans have been subjected to in the workplace.

A study of 1,000, by Abingdon-based law firm Crossland Employment Solicitors, said 45 per cent of those vegan employees questioned felt discriminated against.

Almost a third also said they felt harassed at work or unfairly treated due to their veganism. This number rising from 31 per cent to 36 per cent among millennials.

The survey, which also questioned 1,000 employers, also found that 48 per cent of them do not do anything to help accommodate vegans, while three per cent admitted they wouldn't hire someone if they knew they were vegan.

The firm said this is likely to be against the Equality Act 2010.

More than 30 per cent of employers said it can be costly or difficult to cater for vegans and 24 per cent of employers believe that most of their employees or friends who have chosen to be vegan have done so because it’s fashionable, to help them to lose weight or to look good.

Beverley Sunderland, managing director of Crossland Employments Solicitors said: "Our research shows that prejudiced attitudes towards vegan workers is endemic among British employers and a lack of understanding as to the potential impact of the Equality Act 2010."

She added: "We’d advise that employers need to be taking such beliefs seriously and acting against those who are derogatory about vegans.

"After all, if an employee was mocking someone’s religion, their sex or their race, an employer would not hesitate to take serious action."