Concern over level of compliance with equality law by companies

COMPANIES which ignore equality legislation leave themselves open to racism claims in the workplace.

Small private businesses have the worst record for not taking reasonable steps to prevent discrimination against Travellers or other ethnic minorities. But remarkably, one-in-three State bodies has no policies or procedures in place to minimise the risk of a racism charge.

“The basic level of compliance with equality legislation is a source of concern,” the chief executive of the Equality Authority Niall Crowley said yesterday. “Most business and organisations tend to be reactive when a discrimination issue arises, but being reactive is too late,” he said.

Discrimination cases on race and Traveller grounds soared from 8% in 2000 to 30% last year, he disclosed. Equality legislation covers nine grounds on which employers and organisations cannot discriminate on racist issues.

But Mr Crowley said: “In most companies, the legislation appears to be gathering dust on a shelf.”

To coincide with Anti-Racist Workplace Week, which starts today, the Equality Authority with its social partners conducted a major survey to gauge employer awareness of the issue.

With a particular focus on minority ethnic workers and Travellers, the survey sought to identify what organisations are doing to avoid discrimination and promote equality.

Mr Crowley said the surveym revealed four-in-five companies had taken no specific action, apart from a written equality policy, to prevent discrimination on race grounds.

About 56% of companies, with a written policy in place, appointed a staff member to deal with equality issues but only 36% organised equality awareness and training for staff. Employers, he said, are obliged under equality laws to take reasonable steps to avoid discrimination.

“We would prefer if companies were proactive rather than reactive. If they don’t take protective measures, they have little or no defence when a case is taken,” he noted.

“In terms of promoting equality, the survey shows the distance we still have to travel,” said Mr Crowley. “There are significant challenges in turning workplace policies into practice to prevent discrimination.”

Public sector and large private businesses are best prepared in terms of having an infrastructure in place but small organisations have a poor record. The survey was based on a sample of 300 privately-run companies and 100 public sector bodies. In less than half the companies with written policies on equality, 18% addressed race issues.

However, the picture was particularly bleak on the issue of Travellers. Nine in every 10 businesses or organisations, the survey showed, had not taken any specific actions to counter discrimination against Travellers.