08 May 2008
Half of Britons feel discrimination
A survey conducted for the recently-formed Equality and Human Rights Commission revealed that nearly half of all people in Great Britain believe that they have faced unfair discrimination, many at work.
This is despite the fact that over the last 30 years ‘equal opportunities’ have had a lot of media attention. Equal opportunities relate to discrimination on the grounds of sex, gender recognition, sexual orientation, religion, disability, age and race.
Equality and Human Rights Commission Chief Executive, Dr Nicola Brewer, said that often people don’t have the means or the information to do something about discrimination. The work of the Commission is to provide commonsense advice and support to individuals and employers to change this.
Equal opportunity rights aim to influence behaviour to prevent discrimination. This is largely done through legislation, including the nine Acts of Parliament and seven Parliamentary Regulations dating from 1970 to 2006.
From the employee’s perspective, equal opportunity rights afford a great deal of protection. Even those who are not employed have the right to take employers to the Employment Tribunal, if they feel they were not selected for a particular job on discriminatory grounds.
Gerard Gibbs, Employment Lawyer, says, “There is a temptation for employers to groan at the thought of equal opportunities and view them as ‘red-tape’ and ‘political-correctness gone mad’, but we at Hart Brown would encourage a broader outlook.
“Implementing equal opportunities policies, from recruitment through to bonus schemes, offers benefits to employers by ensuring that everyone in an individual organisation is valued and given an opportunity to realise and expand their potential. Of course, it also has the added benefit of avoiding expensive and time-consuming employment tribunal claims being brought against employers.”
For further information
please contact Gerard Gibbs on 01483 887766