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Head of employment, incentives and pensions, Caroline Carter, looks at diversity issues.

I’m sure many of us have read about some of the high profile, high value discrimination claims in the press recently – along with the more lurid allegations that some of the cases have involved. The press coverage, together with the ever-increasing size of the claims and a change in the legal burden of proof rules in favour of the complainant, has meant that diversity compliance and equality are now high up on the business agenda.

The current position in the UK is that discrimination on the grounds of age (as of October 2006), sex, pregnancy, marital status, civil partnership status, race, colour, nationality, sexual orientation, religious or similar belief, disability, trade union membership or fixed or part time status is prohibited. Companies are liable for any acts of discrimination committed by their employees during employment in or outside of the workplace – whether or not they knew about or condoned the actions of the employee.

So what is diversity compliance? Well as I explained to a client recently, it doesn’t mean just paying lip service to equal opportunity policies (which are often little known and outdated in any case). It means efficient and regular communication of these policies across the whole workforce and needs visible buy-in from senior management. Staff and management awareness about diversity issues in the workplace also need to be regularly monitored and reviewed.

As part of Ashurst’s diversity training team, I’ve been working with some of our larger clients on developing sophisticated diversity strategies. This can range from the promotion of diversity initiatives and goals to the setting up of diversity committees which have representatives from all levels of the organisation, and which report directly to the board. Some clients also establish best practice forums responsible for translating the strategy into practice and dealing with operational issues.

We’ve found that there is an increasing trend among large companies and public bodies of ensuring that not only do they promote diversity, but that their business partners apply the same standards. Ethical business practice, it seems, is becoming good business practice.

Caroline Carter
E: caroline.carter@ashurst.com

To find out more about Ashurst's Employment, Incentives and Pensions practice, visit www.ashurst.com/EIP