Everything being equal

Commerce has long been the battleground of those attempting to promote equality in the workplace. However, a new piece of legislation coming through the system is set to test this concept in respect of how organisations treat not just employees but also consumers and suppliers. Whenever the subject of equality is raised, the first link is often made to workplace relations and in particular how females are treated in respect of promotional opportunities and pay.

For the past 33 years, since the first such law appeared on the statute books, the subject has been a thorn is the side of commerce, covering everything from race and religion to disability and age. The new Equality Bill aims to unite more than 100 existing pieces of legislation, some aimed at employment legislation with other elements concentrating on the duties of private and public sector organisations to ensure that product and service offerings are not discriminatory.

Critics of the new legislation have pointed out that yet more complex rules will burden businesses already reeling from a raft of legislation put in place this year but things could have been worse, according to Dianah Worman, diversity adviser for the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. She said: "Businesses should be grateful that the government has opted for a light touch approach and not introduced laws demanding pay audits for example". This is a reference to the fact that as part of the government's focus on transparency in all of its dealings, public sector bodies will have to carry out equal pay audits, publish the findings while also showing any inequalities and how they will be tackled. While the new act stops short of demanding such measures in the private sector, organisations submitting tenders for public contracts are expected to have to comply with the requirement which is going to add a large administrative burden to companies conducting business in such sectors. In a major push toward encouraging diversity, the legislation is designed to encourage openness in the business dealings of companies which involves ensuring that no individual or company is discriminated against.

One element of the equality bill which is causing concern across the public and private sector divide is in respect of positive action being encouraged and permitted. This is to promote the interests of minorities when, for example, candidates for jobs appear equally qualified. Worman said: "This area does give some cause for concern as it flies in the face of what has been advocated over the last few years and that is fairness and transparency in all processes with no one person or group being allowed to have an advantage over another, irrespective of background".

The initial purpose of the bill was to make the UK a fairer place to live and work, according to Harriet Harman, MP, wearing her Government Equalities Office hat. This was to ensure public bodies and some private concerns took into consideration the diverse needs and requirements of employees, the communities being served and when planning and offering services and products but the legislation has been weakened over time which some feel has rendered it useless. The TUC's head of equality and employment rights, Sarah Veale, argues that progress has been too slow. She said: "While the Equality Bill is a good start it cannot deliver equality across all dimensions of commerce without first tackling the underlying cause of discrimination". This is where some of the elements of the legislation appear set to be diluted due to the onus on companies to be more representative and reflective of the people they serve. One piece of the legislative jigsaw for example which the government has backed away from due to pressure from organisations such as the CBI and TUC is in respect of the need for companies to extend age legislation to cover goods and services which it felt would be too difficult to police. Worman added: "Bearing in mind the difficulties encountered in designing the age regulations for employment and training, it will not be an easy task to manage expectations about removing unfair age discrimination relative to the complex issue of goods and services provision". A case surely, if there ever was one, of the government trying to overreach the need to legislate for something which, in the first instance, presented no real concern to commerce anyway.