Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether her Department has had discussions with the (a) Confederation of British Industry and (b) other trade associations on anti-white discrimination in workplace diversity schemes.

The Equality Act 2010 provides protections in the workplace and in society which generally make it unlawful to discriminate against someone because of, or in relation to, their protected characteristics. For example, if an employer were to discriminate against someone because of their ethnicity, this would be unlawful discrimination on the basis of the protected characteristic of race.

The Equality Act 2010 does allow employers to take proportionate action that aims to reduce disadvantage, meet different needs and increase participation for groups of people who share a protected characteristic, where that is in order to level the playing field.

If an action treating a particular group more favourably does not meet the statutory requirements in the Equality Act 2010, then it is likely to be unlawful direct discrimination. Guidance to help employers understand the difference between positive action and positive discrimination is available on gov.uk at www.gov.uk/government/publications/positive-action-in-the-workplace-guidance-for-employers.

The Government engages closely with the CBI and a range of other trade bodies on numerous policy areas.