Birmingham conference warning on new anti-discrimination law

Jan 27 2009 by Paul Dale, Birmingham Post

Businesses must not use the recession as an excuse to avoid their responsibilities under new anti-discrimination legislation to recruit a more representative workforce, two senior Government officials told a diversity conference in Birmingham yesterday.

Measures in the Equality Bill, which will ban age discrimination in the provision of goods, services and public functions, are not “bolt-on extras” that can be ignored when times are tough, it was claimed.

The warning was delivered by Equality and Human Rights Commission chief executive Nicola Brewer and Government Equalities Office Director-General Jonathan Rees at the inaugural conference of the Institute of Equality and Diversity Practitioners. Firms have complained about increased red tape and the cost of complying with the new regulations, which will come into force next year.

Whitehall guidance about interpreting the Equality Act is likely to run to 2,500 pages, Mr Rees admitted.

There are fears that the changes might backfire with financial incentives currently offered to older people, such as cheap haircuts and cut-price holidays, being banned under the new legislation.

All public bodies, including councils and NHS Trusts, will have a duty to promote equality among employees on the grounds of ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation, religious faith and trans-gender status.

The Bill will ban “secrecy clauses” so workers can compare their wages and challenge employers who unlawfully pay them less.

The move is aimed at tackling the gender pay gap, which the government estimates is 21 per cent when the wages of full and part-time women workers are compared with men.

Almost a quarter of firms ban their staff from talking about their pay, with women more likely to be in the dark about wage rates, Mr Rees said.

He said the Government was still consulting over the fine detail of the Bill, but added: “One of the arguments we hear is that equality and fairness is OK when times are good but really it’s something that can’t always be produced.

“We can’t accept that. Equality isn’t a bolt-on extra, it’s something that is key to the competitiveness and success of any organisation.

“Our objective is to make sure equality is discussed on a regular basis in the boardrooms of major organisations.

“We don’t want equality to be a separate little cult.

“We want it to reach out to the people in charge of finance, marketing and service delivery.”

Mr Rees said employers might have to be “stung into action” to address issues such as the difference in pay between men and women doing the same job and high unemployment rates among ethnic minority adults.

Ms Brewer, who has the task of enforcing the new legislation, said she would not hesitate to take action against firms or public bodies who failed to comply.