Diversity – Beyond Altruism and Into Reality

Wed, Mar 25th, 2009

A number of compelling reasons have provided grounds for statutory action. These include;

Women have been paid 40% less per hour for the same work
Ethnic minorities find it 16% less likely to find work
Within ten 50% of the workforce will be over 50
Disabled people find it 3 times more difficult to find work

There are several reasons why organisations take action:

The need for Compliance
Changing legislative framework
Recognition of a business case
The need for a company retention policy
The need to have a diversity policy
Public sector statutory duties

Claims for unfair dismissal often arise from despondency and are raised on the grounds of discrimination legislation. The arise most frequently from :

Mistakes
Stupidity
Attempts at positive discrimination (e.g. in Local Authorities which try to redress balance)
Indirect discrimination within advertisements of processes
Frivolous attempts

In order to avoid discrimination cases, equality and diversity should be integrated into all processes, including recruitment, which is given a high priority by the Equality and Human Rights Commission. The Christine Laird case involving Cheltenham Borough Council is an excellent example of insufficient detail being covered at the recruitment and selection stage, which is resulting in allegations or fraud, wrongdoing and negligence. Even attempts to redress a balance in the ethnic or gender background of a workforce can backfire with allegations of positive discrimination.

Summing up: in order to comply with the considerable amount of legislation in relation to diversity, it is necessary to be seen to be acting fairly and not favouring any individual group, on the basis of sexual orientation, ethnicity or other reasons.

25 March 09