The Equality Act 2010 introduced a new power for employers to take positive action in recruitment and promotion without committing unlawful discrimination. Unlike the majority of the Act, these provisions did not come into force in October 2010, and there was some doubt as to whether or not they would be implemented. However, in its Equality strategy - building a fairer Britain (on the Government Equalities Office website) the coalition Government confirmed that it would introduce the provisions and has made a commencement order to bring this about.
It should be noted that the positive action provisions apply only in very limited circumstances. An employer can take positive action only when it reasonably thinks that a particular group who share a protected characteristic (eg sex, race or age) suffer a disadvantage but it must not have a policy of treating people with that protected characteristic more favourably in recruitment and promotion. The employer can apply its power to take positive action only in a tie-break situation, where the chosen candidate benefiting from the positive action is as qualified as the other candidate. Whether or not employers will choose to exercise their option to take positive action in recruitment and promotion, given the limited circumstances in which it will apply and the risks of getting it wrong, remains to be seen.
The current series of XpertHR’s Topic of the Week (subscription required) looks at the positive action provisions and how they will work. In the first article in the series, Caroline Noblet of Squire Sanders Hammonds provides an overview of the provisions. Future articles, to be published during March 2011, will look at the practical implications for employers and we will answer a number of frequently asked questions on this topic.
| Tweet |
|
| Permalink | Email this |
