This Executive Briefing has been produced to stimulate thinking
about the role of law in progressing equal opportunities and
diversity. Although no magic formula springs from the
considerations and observations made in this report, what does
emerge is the importance of a mixed menu of levers and tactics.
The research is timely against the background of a proliferation
of changes to UK discrimination law. While the pressure to outlaw
unfair discrimination is on the increase, there is a little
research evidence illustrating the way the law has influenced the
progress of equal opportunities and managing diversity. Professor
Pat Leighton was commissioned to carry out a broad overview of the
way the law has impacted on the achievement of equality.
Is the law working?
That is the key question the report asks. It looks at whether
the incidence and underlying causes of discrimination in the
workplace are understood by employers - and by managers - and lists
the barriers to such understanding. No one claims deliberately to
discriminate (other than possibly by way of 'positive' action, now
a legitimate aspect of diversity management), yet discrimination on
unlawful grounds continues.
Observations were made on the issues that need further
consideration to make sure that the law supports progress as
effectively and efficiently as possible. Maintaining the motivation
and commitment of proactive, well-informed employers committed to
diversity is at least as vital to the creation of a more inclusive
workplace and society as imposing sanctions on reluctant,
prejudiced employers and instituting a means of redress for
individuals who are unfairly discriminated against. For details of
how organisations respond to litigation, see Figure 1.
Figure 1
Conclusions
The law is an important lever for change - if it is well
designed - but on its own it's not enough. Effecting change is
about more than process - it's about engaging mindsets and personal
ownership. Some of the issues that must be faced up to don't
provide an easy ride for stakeholders, but discomfort will be part
of influencing change if progress is to be made. Personnel
practitioners are key stakeholders and the profession's role is
vital in ensuring that employment policies and practices and
organisational cultures and ways of working reflect diversity.
There is no possibility that a single one-size-fits-all solution
will be found to facilitate the progress of diversity. Diversity is
too big, too different and too challenging for a single, fixed
solution, and we must be open-minded enough to accept this and the
fact that diversity is about the management of change - a process,
not a fixed state.
Once employers recognise how central diversity is to the way
business is done, they will engage and drive the change - diversity
will be considered essential to the success of the business.
Background to the research
Much work has been done by the Institute to promote
understanding and encourage employers to take action on managing
social category differences, and to provide and inform
good-practice guidance. We recognise and promote the business case
which is acknowledged by employers themselves to be a key driver
for progress, but we also acknowledge that law has an important
role too, although over-burdensome regulation can daunt employers
and induce negative attitudes to diversity and a compliance-based
response based on minimum standards.