Britain embraces 'positive action' to abolish workplace discrimination

Companies will be able to take "positive action" to choose a more balanced mix of staff, giving jobs to candidates from under-represented groups, including ethnic minorities, homosexuals and people with disabilities.

Lynne Featherstone, the Liberal Democrat equalities minister, said companies that failed to promote a fairer deal for women could be named and shamed. She said sexism was present in too many workplaces.

Leading companies must promote more women to board level. They could be forced to disclose how much they pay female staff if they refused to do so voluntarily, she said.

Trades unions welcomed the action to close the gender gap. However, business leaders said the new rules would lead to a rise in the number of companies being sued by potential employees.

Miss Featherstone said recruitment and promotion decisions, especially in big firms, were still made on a "nudge-nudge, wink-wink basis", before women had the chance to apply.

"It really comes down to the entrenched culture and mindsets that have become institutionalised in some places of work," she said. "British women don't lack experience, they don't lack ambition and they don't lack skills. The problem is caused by a creeping, unconscious bias."

Miss Featherstone was speaking as she published the Coalition's Equality Strategy, a landmark plan intended to counter discrimination at work, in schools, the health service and in public life.

The Government has set itself an "aspiration" that half of all new appointments to public boards will be women by 2015. Other key reforms set out in the strategy included:

• A crackdown on "irresponsible" advertising, sexualised images and clothing that forces children to grow up too quickly. Shops and advertisements that promote padded bras, "Lolita beds" and other unsuitable products to children will face action. The Department for Education is to announce a review into "the sexualisation and commercialisation of childhood".

• Guidelines to help companies make workplaces "gay friendly". These will be based on forthcoming research showing why companies find it difficult to create a culture where homosexuals are made to feel welcome and valued.

• Broader efforts to promote equal rights for homosexuals, including plans to allow same-sex couples to register their civil partnerships in churches. Ministers will also champion the rights of same-sex couples abroad, and work to tackle antagonism towards homosexuals in sport and in school playgrounds. Efforts will be made to recruit more homosexuals to stand for Parliament.

The Equality Strategy called for a cultural change, rather than promising widespread legislation to force companies to act.

From April next year, employers will be allowed to use "positive action" as part of their recruitment process.

Formal guidance on how the system should operate will be published in the New Year.

Under the reforms, employers will be able to take "voluntary positive action in recruitment and promotion processes when faced with two or more candidates of equal merit, to address under-representation in the workforce".

Ministers said that in practice this would mean that a primary school with no male teachers could hire a man of equal merit to a woman.

It will also mean that a manager will be able to hire a black man over a white man, a woman over a man, or a homosexual man over a heterosexual man, if they have the same skills and qualifications. Officials said the changes did not mean that employers could take on

“quotas” or give someone a job simply because they were female, disabled or from an ethnic minority, regardless of their suitability for the post.

Such action would amount to “positive discrimination”, which remains illegal.

Miss Featherstone said the reforms were “absolutely not about political correctness” but aimed to give employers “the choice to make their workforce more diverse”.

Her strategy suggested that “the new social norm” should make it more acceptable to discuss pay and disclose what people earn.

Companies with more than 150 staff will be encouraged voluntarily to disclose whether they pay women as much as men.

Miss Featherstone told business leaders in London’s Docklands that she hoped the voluntary approach would work. However, if too few companies signed up, ministers would consider whether tougher action “including a mandatory approach” was needed.

Business groups criticised Miss Featherstone’s analysis. Miles Templeman, the Institute of Directors director general, said: “While there may be some instances of illegal discrimination still taking place, we believe this is very uncommon.” David Green, a director of the think-tank Civitas, said the new law imposed “illiberal requirements on employers”. He said: “The Government is now to require employers to discriminate on grounds of 'group identity’ not personal qualities.”

Abigail Morris, the British Chambers of Commerce employment adviser, said: “Allowing positive action in recruitment is not going to make much difference, except lead to more tribunal claims.”

Caroline Carter, the head of the employment practice at law firm Ashurst, said the positive action plans were “problematic”. She said: “Employers should steer clear of using them unless and until further guidance is issued.”

Yvette Cooper, the shadow women and equality minister, dismissed the strategy as “no more than warm words”.