Workplace dignity and diversity
Celebrating 60 years of progress
© Allen & Overy LLP 2012
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Workplace dignity and diversity | Celebrating 60 years of progress | 2012
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About this report
The Diamond Jubilee is an opportunity to
reflect on the changes and progress made
during the 60 years of Queen Elizabeth II’s
reign. There’s no better place than the
workplace to highlight just how monumental
progress has been.
Contents
Simply put, in 1953 discrimination against race, sex,
religion, marital status, pregnancy and sexual orientation
was not only lawful, it was commonplace. These
personal characteristics now have statutory protection
against discriminatory behaviour by an employer or
work colleagues.
Attitudes too have changed – businesses and their
people generally welcome diversity as a commercial
and moral imperative.
This report celebrates the progress made with
anti-discrimination measures in the workplace.
It charts the history of the events, legislation and
landmark cases that have taken Britain’s workplaces
out of the dark ages into a brighter and fairer era.
© Allen & Overy LLP 2012
About this report03
The changing workplace in Britain
04
Timeline 1953 – 2015
06
Discrimination awards past and present
20
Anti-discrimination measures in Europe
21
Future perfect – predictions
22
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Workplace dignity and diversity | Celebrating 60 years of progress | 2012
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The changing workplace
The workplaces of 60 years ago were very different. So
was everything else. At the time of Queen Elizabeth’s
coronation, Britain was coming out of a period of
post-war austerity. Manufacturing, farming, coal
mining and the trade union movement were thriving.
Immigrants from Commonwealth countries were
welcomed to Britain with open arms to fill chronic
labour shortages.
The proportion of women active in the workplace was
only 35%, compared with 88% of men. Sexism, racism
and other forms of prejudice were commonplace.
Sexual acts between gay men were a criminal offence.
There was no protection against any kind of
discrimination in employment.
People hand-wrote letters and checked spellings in a
dictionary. Secretaries took shorthand and typed on
manual typewriters. Holiday and working time were a
matter for each employer. Flexible working was a
concept yet to be conceived.
Today, Britain and its workplaces are unrecognisable –
global businesses, a service economy, technology driven
and highly regulated. The number of women in the
workforce has increased exponentially, although not
radically in senior positions. Almost every characteristic
from religion to sexual orientation, pregnancy and age is
protected by anti-discrimination measures. Not only is
the Government making new employment rules and
regulations, so are Europe, regulators and intergovernmental agencies. Diversity is a commonplace
aspiration in most businesses and a reality in many.
The 2012 workplace is a better place.
But there is still work to be done.
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Workplace dignity and diversity | Celebrating 60 years of progress | 2012
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1967
1961
Membership
of EEC vetoed
Timeline (1953 – 2015)
1957
In 1953...
The six members of
the European Coal and
Steel Community sign
the Treaty of Rome
setting up the EEC
One in ten households
had a telephone
In 2012...
Average house price England
and Wales is £160,372
Treaty of Rome
1968
Sexual Offences Act
Race Relations Act
Decriminalised homosexual
acts in private between two
men over 21 in England
and Wales
The Act made it unlawful to
refuse employment to a person
on the grounds of colour, race,
ethnic or national origins
1966
England win the World Cup
1953
Queen Elizabeth II crowned at a ceremony
in Westminster Abbey in London
1953
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Workplace dignity and diversity | Celebrating 60 years of progress | 2012
Equal pay
After 40 years of equal pay legislation, the gender pay
gap persists. The April 2011 figures from the Office of
National Statistics show the full-time gender pay gap
between men and women’s median full-time hourly
earnings (excluding overtime) has reduced by one
percentage point to 9.1% from 10.1%. This figure is
encouraging when compared with the statistics of 1970,
when the gender pay gap for hourly earnings was 36.2%
for full time employees.
9
%
Employment Protection Act
Maternity pay and leave and the
right to return to the same job after
leave were introduced as well as
the right not to be dismissed on
grounds of pregnancy
1972
VAT first introduced to
the UK on the 1 April!
1975
The Government is considering a number of proposals
to reduce the gap, including compulsory pay audits for
companies who lose equal pay claims.
This Act placed a general duty
on employers to protect the
health, safety and welfare of
their employees
1973
Britain joins
the EC
In 1953...
Average house price in
England & Wales was £2,750
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Equal Treatment Directive
76/207/EEC
Required Member States to implement the
principle of equal treatment for men and
women as regards access to employment,
vocational training and promotion, and
working conditions
Health and Safety
at Work etc Act
Equal Pay Act
United Kingdom
changes to decimal
system for currency
The Act prohibited discrimination
on the grounds of race, colour,
nationality, ethnic and national origin
1974
1970
1971
Race Relations Act
Landmark case – Defrenne v
Sabena (CJEU 1976)
Equal pay applies to you and me
The CJEU decided the principle of
equal pay for equal work for men and
women applied directly with no need
for UK law on the subject. It took a
while for UK employers to realise what
this meant. It wasn’t until 1986 that the
CJEU confirmed access to pension
schemes should have been equal from
the date of the Defrenne decision:
8 April 1976. Suddenly part-time
workers could join pension schemes.
1976
Sex and power
Changes do not happen overnight but it is reasonable to expect
significant developments to have been made over a 37 year period.
The Sex Discrimination Act made its debut in 1975 with the laudable
aim of making sex discrimination unlawful and promoting equality
between men and women. Leaving Margaret Thatcher aside,
women have not risen to the dizzy heights one might have expected
after almost four decades. And the statistics bear this out.
Research by the Equality and Human Rights Commission on the
number of women in positions of power or influence in Britain in 2010/11
shows that some progress is being made in some sectors, including
the senior judiciary and heads of professional bodies. But in other areas
like Parliament, it is estimated that it will take 14 general elections for the
number of women MPs to equal their male counterparts.
The survey also predicted that it would take 70 years to achieve an
equal number of women directors in the FTSE 100.
With pressure from a number of directions, there is evidence that
business is taking board diversity seriously. In 1999, the number of
women on FTSE 100 boards was 6.9%, with the percentage rising
to 15.6 in 2011.
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Workplace dignity and diversity | Celebrating 60 years of progress | 2012
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Landmark case – Barber v Guardian Royal Exchange (CJEU 1990)
In 1953...
Equal pay means equal pensions
Landmark case – Showboat Entertainment v Owens (EAT 1983)
Discrimination by association
Karen Seward
Partner
Since the Equality Act 2010 and decisions
like Coleman v Attridge Law the concept of
associative discrimination has become a familiar
one. Back in the 1980s, this was a novel concept
and it was the Showboat case that paved the way
for the law as it stands today.
In the days before harassment was a separate
ground for claiming discrimination and claims had
to be brought as a form of direct discrimination, a
white worker was dismissed for refusing to obey
a manager’s order to exclude black customers
from the entertainment centre. The EAT pushed
the boundaries of protection and held that
discrimination “on racial grounds” was wide
enough to include the race of a third party. This
meant that discriminatory action on the grounds
of race was covered even if it was not directed at
the person making the claim.
Giannis Waymouth
Senior PSL
1990
Landmark case – Bilka-Kaufhaus v Weber von Hartz (CJEU 1986)
The CJEU observed that indirectly discriminatory treatment could
only be justified by reference to objective reasons, using a three
stage test. First, the discriminatory practice must reflect a real need
on the part of the business; second it must also be appropriate, and
finally, it must be necessary to achieve that objective. Previously the
test turned on what would be acceptable to right thinking people,
having sound and tolerable reasons for doing so.
The legacy of the Bilka-Kaufhaus case was to raise the discrimination
bar, forcing employers to jump higher over the equality hurdles.
Mark Mansell
Partner
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1991
Treaty of Maastricht
1986
The Court of Justice of the European Union’s (CJEU) decision in
Bilka-Kaufhaus was a game changer in discrimination law as it
introduced the stricter test of objective justification, rather than
more subjective tests the English courts were using.
From May 1990 onwards, men and women should earn pension
with the same pension age and benefit structure, but pre-1990
benefits could remain unequal. We learned a new expression: the
“Barber window”. For service from 1990 until a pension scheme
changed its rules and closed the Barber window, employees got
whichever was the better of male and female rights.
Parliament votes for
commercial television
In 2012...
Criminal Justice and
Public Order Act
The age of consent for
homosexual males is reduced
from 21 to 18 after an
attempt to equalise the age of
consent for homosexuals and
heterosexuals narrowly failed
1994
Landmark case – Webb v EMO Air Cargo (CJEU 1994)
1983
Objective justification
Different pension ages and benefits for men and women used
to be the norm so the pensions world was shocked to be told
by the CJEU in the Barber case that equal pay applied to
pensions, and had done since 1976. The CJEU took pity and
only required compliance from the date of their decision in
Barber: 17 May 1990.
Turns the EC into a European
Union (EU). Paves the way for
monetary union and includes
a chapter on social policy, on
both of which the UK negotiates
an opt-out
Comparators in pregnancy
discrimination
Having a child is like nothing else,
so I am told. It’s neither a sickness
nor a disability, in fact there’s no
meaningful comparison that can
be made with other workers in or
out of the workplace.
The CJEU’s decision in Webb is
significant as it recognised, for the
first time, that a comparator was
not necessary when a woman
was claiming discrimination on
the grounds of pregnancy, as this
is a condition that is applicable
to women only. After Webb,
employers could no longer rely
on the defence that they would
have treated a man off sick
similarly, making it easier for
a woman to bring a claim on
grounds of pregnancy. This
position is now reflected in the
Equality Act.
25 million TV licences
Disability
Discrimination Act
The Act makes it unlawful to
discriminate against people in
respect of their disabilities
1995
Pensions Act
Requires occupational
pension schemes to observe
the principle of equal treatment
between men and women from
1996 onwards
Stefan Martin
Partner
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Workplace dignity and diversity | Celebrating 60 years of progress | 2012
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In 1953...
Current affairs programme Panorama first broadcast
Grant v South-West
Trains Ltd
In 2012...
Facebook – c. 901 million users worldwide
Employment Act
The statutory right to adoption
leave and pay was introduced.
It operates similarly to maternity
leave except that the pay is at a
flat rate for the entire 39 weeks,
whereas there is an enhanced
rate for a six-week period for
those on maternity leave
National Minimum
Wage Act
Refusal by the CJEU to allow
National minimum
same-sex partners in a stable
wage introduced
relationship the same status
as a worker who has a stable
relationship outside marriage for
the purpose of discrimination
1997
X, Y and Z v UK
European Court of Human
Rights acknowledged the notion
that “family life” could include
family life between a transsexual
and his partner’s child
Protection from
Harassment Act
“Stalking” legislation that applies
in the work place
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1998
2002
1999
Maternity and
Parental Leave
Regulations
Smith and Grady and
Lustig-Prean and
Beckett v UK
Sex Discrimination
(Gender Reassignment)
Regulations
Parental leave, introducing the
statutory right to 13 weeks’
unpaid parental leave, available
to both working parents. As an
unpaid right, the take-up is low
European Court of Human
Rights held that investigation
and discharge of personnel
from the Royal Navy on the
basis that they were gay was
a breach of Article 8 of the
European Convention on
Human Rights
Extends protection to those
undergoing, or have undergone,
gender reassignment
2000
Employment Equality Sexual Offences
Part Time Workers
Framework Directive (Amendment Act)
(Prevention of Less
Age of consent equalised
Favourable Treatment) 2000/78/EC
for both homosexuals and
The directive implements
Regulations
heterosexuals
Regulations made it unlawful for
employers to treat part-timers
less favourably in their terms
and conditions of employment
than comparable full-timers
protection from discrimination
in the workplace based on age,
disability, sexual orientation and
religion or belief
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Workplace dignity and diversity | Celebrating 60 years of progress | 2012
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In 1953...
Average weekly
wage £9.25
Employment Equality
(Religion or Belief)
Regulations
Employment Equality
(Sexual Orientation)
Regulations
These regulations were
introduced to comply with the
EU’s Racial Equality Directive.
Discrimination on grounds of
religion and belief made unlawful
Made direct and indirect
discrimination against a worker
based on sexual orientation unlawful
Flexible working introduced
The Queen had reigned for almost 15 years when sex between gay men was
decriminalised for those aged 21 and over. The distance travelled during the
Queen’s reign has been huge. A worker’s sexual orientation is now protected
in the same way as gender, disability, religion, race and age. It was not an easy
journey though. Several legal attempts at preventing workplace prejudice by
bringing sexual orientation under the sex discrimination banner failed. Today,
claims for sexual orientation discrimination only account for a small proportion
of the cases accepted by the employment tribunals – 640 in 2010/2011
compared with 18,300 complaints based on sex discrimination.
Flexible working
The statutory right to request flexible working is not a
right to work flexibly; it simply requires the business to
consider the request seriously.
It was originally available to parents of children under
the age of 16 (or 18 if disabled) but the maximum age
of the child has now been increased to 17.
Many organisations offer flexible working to all
employees irrespective of whether they have
parental caring responsibilities.
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Mobile phone users –
5.6 billion worldwide
2005
Sexual orientation
2003
Flexible Working
Disability
Discrimination Act
In 2012...
Numerous research studies have identified
inflexible work arrangements as the principal
reason why women have struggled to find equality
in the workplace. For example, the Equality and
Human Rights Commission’s 2009 Working Better
project found that today’s parents defy stereotypes
and want to share work and family care more
equally. Their choices are constrained by inflexible
and low paid family leave provisions based on a
traditional and out-moded division of paid work
and care.
2004
Disability
Disability discrimination legislation includes
positive obligations on employers to make
reasonable adjustments when a disability
puts workers at a substantial disadvantage.
Even though disabled applicants are
protected from discrimination during the
recruitment process, the employment rates
for disabled adults are still low (50%) when
The Equality Act introduced restrictions
on pre-employment health questionnaires
in order to force the hands of employers
to select/reject objectively, and not on the
basis of a person’s perceived inability to
perform a role.
In 2012...
2006
Civil Partnership Act
Equality Act
Landmark Act which created
a new legal relationship for
same-sex couples
Various equality bodies merged
into the Equality and Human
Rights Commission
Gender Recognition Act
Age discrimination
Legal recognition for
transsexual people, provided
they have been granted a
gender recognition certificate
by a Gender Recognition Panel
compared to non-disabled adults (79%)
according to the Equality and Human
Rights Commission.
Coming of age
Age was the latest characteristic to be
given formal protection in October 2006.
It was a huge step attempting to socially
engineer workplace behaviour in what is
frequently considered to be an acceptable
form of discrimination. The reasonable
person in the street understands that
most forms of discrimination have no
place in the workplace, and that decisions
to hire and fire should be based on
objective criteria alone.
Twitter – 10 million users in the UK,
140 million users worldwide
This is not the case with age discrimination.
The stereotypical, and prevalent, view is
that performance declines with age, and
that older workers have a moral right to
leave the workplace with dignity, rather
than to be taken through a performance
management process. So it was always
going to be an uphill struggle to change a
mindset, shaped not only by tradition but
also by benign values.
Almost six years down the track, the
legislation has certainly made its mark.
The default retirement age has come and
gone. Age claims are the only form of
discrimination claims on the increase.
But there is still a reticence to embrace
whole-heartedly this form of protection.
It is the only protected characteristic that
allows direct discrimination to be justified.
The Supreme Court still takes the view
that a retirement age of 65 is potentially
justifiable on the basis of a legitimate aim
that preserves the dignity of older workers.
This landmark piece of legislation is now
out of its infancy but it is still a long way
from coming of age.
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Workplace dignity and diversity | Celebrating 60 years of progress | 2012
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Landmark case – Grainger v Nicholson (2010 EAT)
Belief in climate change
Attridge Law
v Coleman
Landmark ruling by the CJEU
allowing discrimination by
association (a mother brought
a disability discrimination claim
because she was refused
flexible working that she had
requested in order to look after
her disabled son)
2008
European Temporary
Agency Workers Directive
2008/104/EC
Equal treatment for temporary
workers in basic working conditions
when compared with their
permanent counterparts
Sarah Henchoz
Partner
It was always a matter of speculation as to just how
widely the concept of “belief” would be interpreted by
the tribunals under the umbrella of religion and belief
discrimination. Very few could have predicted that a
worker’s belief in the catastrophic effects of climate
change could be a protected characteristic in the
workplace, which is what the EAT found in this case.
This case opened the door for a host of less mainstream
beliefs to be protected in the workplace (eg anti-fox
hunting in Hashman v Milton Park (Dorset) (ET 2011)).
We may also see more claimants seeking to rely on this
ground now that the threshold for the right to bring an
unfair dismissal claim has been extended to those with
two years or more continuous service as there is no
service qualification for discrimination claims.
2010
Equality Act
The Act consolidates and
harmonises strands of
discrimination
Positive action
In April 2011, positive action in recruitment
was introduced. There has always been limited
form of positive action in terms of targeting
under-represented groups in recruitment but
this new provision caused quite a stir. The
scaremongering about unmeritorious women,
disabled people or ethnic minorities taking all
the jobs comes nowhere near the truth.
Special treatment is only allowed if both
candidates are equally qualified, and if the
person treated favourably is from an underrepresented group or suffers a disadvantage.
Positive action
in recruitment
introduced
Additional
paternity leave
Additional paternity leave was
introduced for (mainly) fathers
to take up to 26 weeks’ leave
and pay if the mother returns to
work early
In 1953...
Wolverhampton Wanderers
topped the First Division
(Premier League equivalent)
© Allen & Overy LLP 2012
So far the cases under this heading of discrimination
have been limited in number, but we think there is real
potential for this area of discrimination to grow and be
used in a wide variety of circumstances.
This applies to a wide range of protected
characteristics including age, disability, gender,
race, religion or belief, and sexual orientation.
The objective must be to overcome or minimise
the disadvantage or to encourage participation
by a particular group.
What about a situation where women are
under-represented on the board of a PLC but
a man is the better qualified candidate? If a
woman was selected in those circumstances,
then the man would have a good claim for
unlawful sex discrimination.
Women on Boards
report published
Mandatory quotas ruled out
for now, but recommends that
FTSE 100 boards should aim
for a minimum of 25% by 2015
2011
Agency Workers
Regulations
In 2012...
Wolverhampton Wanderers relegated
from the Premier League
Equal treatment for agency
workers in basic conditions
including pay
Hassle-free workers
Temporary workers have traditionally been
viewed as employees without the hassle. What
could be better than a high-quality worker who
can be used to cover absences, fixed-term
project work, or where there is a fluctuating
demand in work? The worker might not even
impact on head count budget. The assignment
can then be ended when there is no longer the
business need, without the procedural and
substantive hurdles that may apply to
permanent workers.
Most of the administrative and management
burden lies with the temporary agency. And
whilst the cost is not necessarily cheaper than
permanent employees as it is often the case
that Temporary Workers are paid a premium, the
benefit of flexibility, particularly in an uncertain
economic climate, is a useful tool for responding
commercially to changing business needs.
The hassle factor was introduced for this sector
of the workforce, on 1 October 2011. The
highly publicised European Temporary Workers
Directive implemented in the UK provides
temporary workers with equal treatment to
comparable permanent workers in basic working
conditions, including pay. Nevertheless, it is still
anticipated that employers will continue to hire
temporary workers.
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Workplace dignity and diversity | Celebrating 60 years of progress | 2012
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In 1953...
Women on boards
Children and Families Bill
EC consults on women on boards,
putting gender diversity onto the
European agenda
2012
Red tape reform
2013?
Although not published yet, the bill
is expected to introduce flexible
parental leave. The first 18 weeks
will be reserved exclusively for the
mother, with the remaining 38 weeks
to be designated “shared parental
leave” taken by either parent
Manchester City 17th in the First Division
In 2012...
Manchester City topped the Premier League
Government consulting on
removing the discrimination
questionnaire process, and
the ability of tribunals to make
wider recommendations in
discrimination cases
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Workplace dignity and diversity | Celebrating 60 years of progress | 2012
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21
Discrimination awards
past and present
Anti-discrimination
measures in Europe
Comparison of past and present average discrimination awards.
Regulation by Europe has greatly
contributed to the progress made both
in the UK and other Member States in
relation to anti-discrimination measures.
Award
Past
£
Present
£
%
Race
1996
£9,461
2010/2011
£12,108
+28%
Sex
1996
£5,774
2010/2011
£13,911
+141%
Disability
1997
£3,743
2010/2011
£14,137
+278%
Religion
2005
£5,186
2010/2011
£8,515
+64%
Sexual orientation
2005
£9,894
2010/2011
£11,671
+18%
Age
2007
£8,695
2010/2011
£30,289
+248%
EC Directives cover sex, race/ethnic origin,
religion and belief, disability, age and sexual
orientation. Some Member States go further than is
required and cover a whole range of characteristics
such as physical characteristics, political belief and
wealth. The table shows some of these additional
grounds currently being protected.
Country
Additional grounds
Belgium
skin colour, national origin, civil status, birth, current or future health condition,
wealth, physical characteristics
Czech Republic
skin colour, language, political or other opinion, political party or movement
membership or activity, membership of employee representative body, nationality,
citizenship, social background, property, state of health, family and family obligations
France
origin, customs, family situation, nationality, political beliefs, name, physical
appearance, state of health
Hungary
nationality, political opinion, any other circumstances not related to the
employment relationship
Italy
political conviction, personal conviction, language, citizenship
Luxembourg
origin, skin colour, family situation, health, customs, political and philosophical opinions
Poland
nationality, political beliefs
Slovak Republic
family status, skin colour, language, political or other opinion, national or social
origin, affiliation to a national minority, property, lineage or any other status
Spain
social origin, social condition, political conviction, language, family situation
The Netherlands
political conviction, philosophy of life
UK
gender reassignment, marital or civil partnership status, pregnancy or maternity leave
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Workplace dignity and diversity | Celebrating 60 years of progress | 2012
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Future perfect – predictions
Who knows what the workplace will look
like in another sixty years. The pace of
change cannot continue at the same rate,
and neither is there need for it to do so.
The main areas of prejudice have been targeted with
anti-discrimination legislation, and atypical workers
(part-timers, fixed-term workers and agency workers)
have been given a degree of protection in relation to
their terms and conditions. But even with all these
measures, the playing field is not level yet.
Sixty years ago Britain was coming out of a period of
austerity and into one of growth. The climate was ripe for
opportunity for all. The current economic climate is the
mirror image of 50’s Britain. With pressures from all sides
for a leaner but more talented workforce, and a demand
for flexible workers who can embrace new business
models and ways of working, it is difficult to see how
there will be any room for prejudice or nepotism.
And then add Generation Y into the mix.
For this generation, the status quo is constantly being
challenged; diversity of people, practices and opinions
are the norm. Put all these ingredients together, and it
makes for a heady cocktail.
We think the future looks bright for workplace dignity
and diversity.
Karen Seward
Mark Mansell
Stefan Martin
Sarah Henchoz
Sheila Fahy
Partner
Partner
Partner
Partner
PSL Counsel
Class, race and belief moving centre stage
Precious intellectual capital
Increasing age discrimination claims
More speculative discrimination claims
Obesity is the next big issue
The increased heat in the war for talent will result in the
production of a truly diverse workforce. This will lead to a final
assault on the last great prejudice – class. Class discrimination
can be seen as largely responsible for the difficulty those
from diverse backgrounds find in getting their first foot on
the professional job ladder. The law will need to expand its
protections to encourage and promote a fundamental, but
irreversible, change in behaviours.
As the population continues to age, employers will have
no option but to turn to those more experienced workers,
casting aside long held prejudices about not teaching old
dogs new tricks.
The next five years will see a big rise in the number of age
discrimination cases. The flood of cases that had been
predicted has so far only amounted to a trickle, although
it is the only area where discrimination claims are on the
increase An ageing population that needs to work for longer
combined with increasing competition between young and old
workers for a limited pool of jobs could spark a big hike in age
discrimination claims from both the young and the old.
As the service threshold for unfair dismissal claims rises so
too will the number of speculative discrimination claims.
Tribunal resources will continue to be stretched dealing
with these if the Government doesn’t introduce some of its
proposals for dealing with claims more robustly.
Fat will be the new age discrimination. Previously, it was
considered unthinkable that obese workers either deserved
or needed protection, or any special consideration. But with
obesity statistics showing that an increasing number of the
population getting fatter, this will surely be an issue that gets
higher prominence on the workplace agenda in the
foreseeable future.
Reverse colonialism will gather pace and will bring about a sea
change in established cultural norms in the UK workplace. Laws
that outlaw race and belief discrimination will move centre stage
as employers grapple with complex questions of workplace
“fit”, so frequently a current cause of unconscious bias.
The increased emphasis on the provision of the highest quality
services means that experience is an increasingly precious
commodity – meaning that businesses rather than seeking
to show their older workers the door, will increasingly look at
finding strategies to retain precious intellectual capital.
With companies taking a greater focus on broadening the
number of women in senior positions, greater focus will also
need to be placed on how to motivate and retain that talent at
a more junior level fostering it through to those senior positions
so that women will be able to demonstrate they have obtained
the role on merit rather than simply to fill a quota or target.
Could this lead to a greater number of sex discrimination
claims from men? Will we also see a more targeted approach
to increasing the number of ethnic minorities and disabled
people in senior roles?
It has already been flagged by the Government, the HSE,
the European Commission and the health service as a high
priority. Whether obesity becomes a protected characteristic
remains to be seen, but one thing’s for sure, this is the next
BIG issue.
These are our predictions for the future.
© Allen & Overy LLP 2012
www.allenovery.com
For more information, please contact:
London
Contacts
Allen & Overy LLP
One Bishops Square
London
E1 6AD
United Kingdom
Karen Seward
Sarah Henchoz
Sheila Fahy
Giannis Waymouth
Tel +44 20 3088 3936
Tel +44 20 3088 4810
Tel +44 20 3088 3681
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