ABSTRACT
Introduction There are moral, business and legal reasons for employing a diverse workforce. This chapter explores the legal imperative in adopting an equality and diversity policy. But how far does the UK legal framework support the management of diversity? There is no doubt that breach of the discrimination legislation can be costly for employers, but, as we shall argue, traditionally the legal approach has been to compensate those who have been discriminated against, i.e. after the event, rather than to create an ethos of valuing and encouraging workforce diversity. Recent developments, however, have demonstrated a shift in approach, by placing a positive duty on some employers to promote race equality. This duty may be extended to other groups in the near future as pressure mounts to enact
Aim To critically examine the nature and content of discrimination legislation in Britain and critically analyse issues affecting the development of the law.
