Posted on 04/27/2009 12:21:25 PM PDT by Stoat
Men applying for jobs could lose out to equally qualified women under reforms proposed by Harriet Harman today.
Labour's deputy leader unveiled the Equalities Bill which will allow companies to choose female candidates ahead of equally qualified men because they are women.
The "positive" discrimination move is likely to be welcomed by some people but will also spark concerns that men could miss out unfairly on jobs.
However, Commons Leader and equalities minister Ms Harman defended the new measure, which would allow bosses to avoid sexual discrimination cases.
She said: "If you have got two equally qualified candidates, you might actually want to have the woman because she is a woman.
"Now at the moment, if you choose her because she is a woman, you could face a sex discrimination case.
"So this says to employers, if you want to, and want to be able to diversify your workforce, or a particular part of your workforce, then actually you can choose, if you have got equally-qualified candidates, you can choose the one from the group that is under-represented."
She gave an example that this could be used for male-dominated middle management in some firms.
The same rules for "equally qualified" individuals applying for work would cover other groups, such as ethnic minorities, which could lead to claims that white jobseekers are losing out.
Ms Harman also defended controversial "gender audits" under which companies face having to reveal differentials between the salaries paid to men and women they employ.
Bosses have criticised the proposal, accusing ministers of heaping fresh red tape burdens on firms as they face tough years ahead.
Ms Harman has also told millions of public servants that they have a duty to close the gap between social groups.
However, the Tories have accused her of unleashing a new "class war" with the Bill.
'When times are difficult, actually fairness is at a premium and it does not cost anything to be fair.
Public services will also use the procurement process "to improve equality." Suppliers will be expected to demonstrate they have a diverse workforce.
The new Equality Duty will require public authorities to advance equality of opportunity for transsexual people. For example, if a local authority notices that there are no support groups for people undergoing gender reassignment in their area it can fund a charity to help reach out to the transsexual community.
The legislation will widen the definition of ‘gender reassignment’ to make it clear that a person does not have to be under medical supervision to be protected from discrimination and protect people who face discrimination because of their association with transsexual people, for example, as their partner.
The bill also extends into the workplace. Employers can choose to make their workforce more diverse when selecting between two job candidates who are equally suitable. In other words, they can pick an LGBT candidate because of their sexual orientation or gender identity on diversity grounds.
How long will it be before the 0bama “administration” follows? How can they possibly resist?
I believe I see the problem here. Chances are that if your society actually has an "equalities minister", it is already doomed.
The inmates are truly in charge of the asylum over there.
One ray of sunshine....if you look at the reader comments area at any of the numerous non-queer news outlets carrying this story, the outrage from Britons is seething and scathing. This is generating a monumental level of anger among normal people....hopefully that will be enough to defeat this measure. I doubt, however,that it will be enough to prevent the 0bama “administration” from trying something similar.
Obama would rather go down the Comparable Worth route, as it will allow him to employ a huge number of new gov union employees to staff the huge bureaucracy that will determine what jobs are comparable to what.
I'm afraid you're right. The Socialist Lunatics are on the march world wide and there is probably no stopping them now. Rational people need to brace for the inevitable coming collapse and be ready to pick up the pieces after wards.
That will be bad enough, if Canada’s dalliance with this is any gauge. Considering his ‘administration’s’ committment to ‘diversty’, however, I doubt that it will end there. It’s only been just over 100 days, after all. Plenty of time left to destroy the nation, the economy and our culture.
And they can't do this now?
Indeed....this is holding a gun to the employer's head saying, "you really WANT to do this, don't you? Of course you do!"
This is the Libmob making them a deal they can't refuse.
Looks like there's been a typo. Here, let me fix it for you.
The bill also extends into the workplace. Employers will be bludgeoned and harassed into making their workforce more homosexually-oriented when selecting between two job candidates who are wildly unequal in terms of qualifications. In other words, they will be required to pick an LGBT candidate because of their sexual orientation or gender identity on political-correctness grounds.
While the ship of our economy is stalled in the doldrums and taking on water, maybe these leftist idiots will pause to look at how their counter-productive lunacy put us here. Then again, probably not.
“Equality Bill”
please.
And probably gays, too.
Hasn't it been demonstrated enough that Affirmative Action is a disaster?
Please see post #12, which includes a quote from the linked queer site.
Hasn't it been demonstrated enough that Affirmative Action is a disaster?
The same can be said for Socialism, but that doesn't deter the Left, who absolutely do not care. The goal is to completely destroy any hint of Western normalcy or culture and if any pieces remain to be picked up afterwards and shape into a Socialist Utopia that's fine, otherwise it's all fine too because the goal of Capitalism and Western values being destroyed has been accomplished, and that's all that really matters anyway.
Great. The solution to years of “discrimination” (which is nowhere near as bad as is claimed) is to ...err...do more discrimination!
Two wrongs DO make a right!! Woo-hoo!
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