Siobhan Atkin doubts whether the Equality Bill will live up to expectations
Harriet Harman, the minister for equality, unveiled the government’s white paper on the Equality Bill in June announcing that it would be “a single statute to replace the complex web of legislation that has grown up over the years, it will make it easier for people to understand their rights and understand their obligations”. The consultation process is set to continue during the rest of this year.
Extending positive action
In the most publicised element of the Bill the government has said it will extend positive action so that employers can take into account, where appropriate, when selecting between two equally qualified candidates, under-representation of disadvantaged groups, for example women and people from ethnic minority communities.
At present, if an employer has two equally good candidates but decides to positively discriminate in favour of a candidate due to an under-representation in its workforce, then this would amount to unlawful positive discrimination. EU law also restricts the scope of positive discrimination and restricts what can be permitted under UK legislation.
In practice, how will “extending
