A guide to affirmative action law in the UK

Most UK citizens pride themselves on living in a society where fairness and tolerance are the order of the day. The obvious corollary is that discrimination in all its forms, is wrong. Yet, recent changes to the law permit or even encourage discrimination. Here’s a brief guide to affirmative action law in the UK.

What is discrimination?

A person can be said to discriminate when he treats another person differently because of some respect in which that person differs from an acceptable or ostensibly neutral societal norm. Recognised characteristics which are now protected (i.e. in respect of which, discrimination is illegal) include age, gender, race and sexual orientation. This is not a closed list.

What is affirmative action?

The Equality Act 2010 In 2010, the UK’s diverse anti-discrimination laws were brought together in one Act. It prohibits discrimination in employment and in the provision of public services, whether direct or indirect. It also prohibits any harassment or victimisation arising from perceived differences. The Act also permits positive discrimination, also known as affirmative action, in making decisions relating to employment. We can define affirmative action as policies that take factors, such as race, gender, age and sexual orientation into consideration in order to benefit an under-represented group, usually as a means to counter the effects of a history of discrimination. This means that employers are permitted to take a protected characteristic like age into account when deciding who to recruit or promote, providing all else, such as the candidates’ experience and suitability for the job is close to equal.

Is it really necessary?

People who support affirmative action programs insist that they are necessary as, due to the indirect or perhaps, even unconscious nature of discrimination, systemic inequality would never correct itself without some kind of conscious intervention. They assert that being conscious of previous disadvantages and the unique situations of other groups and making allowances for these, is necessary in order to guarantee a level-playing field for all.

Anti-affirmative action

Opponents are anti-affirmative action because they think that it is just another kind of discrimination. They would argue that a system based on affirmative action law does not encourage hard work and commitment, but rather motivates people to try to fit themselves into protected groups. Neither the protected nor the non-protected group perform at their best, which results in a loss to society as a whole.