Equal Opportunities

Russell Evans

Pre-reading task

You are going to read an article about equal opportunities at work in the UK. Before you read， think about your own situation. Does your company have an equal opportunities policy？ Why？ Which groups of people do you think have been helped by equal opportunities law？

Equal Opportunities

By Russell Evans

On 25 November 1898， a photographer from an English seaside town put an advert in a local newspaper for a ‘young lady to work in his studio. He wanted someone to help him develop black-and-white photos and to work as a receptionist. Why did he want a woman for this job and not a man？ Perhaps he imagined that a female worker would be more artistic or cheaper to hire than a male. He may have believed that a young woman on his reception desk would make a better impression on his customers. Unfortunately， we will never know as the photographer died in 1907. Anybody working in the modern business community would immediately see a problem with the advert. By advertising for a ‘young lady， the advert discriminated against men and older people. This means that it stopped them applying for the job.

In the UK， there have been laws for many years to stop discrimination like this. The photographers advert today would be against the law， and the photographer could be taken to court. UK law says that employers cannot treat one person less favourably than another because of a personal characteristic， such as gender， having a disability， or age. Other ‘protected characteristics include your race， colour， nationality， ethnic or national origin， whether you are married or single， whether you have or want to have children， your sexual orientation （gay， straight， etc.） and your religion or lack of one. You could be breaking the law if you dont hire someone because of any of these reasons， or dont pay one person as much as another for doing the same work.

So what is the reason for all this？ Although the law about discrimination has a long history， the basic idea is very simple. It is about fairness. If you need someone to teach science， the only thing you should think about is how good they will be at teaching science. It does not matter if your science teacher is a man or a woman， or where they were born， or if he or she has a disability. These personal characteristics do not affect the persons ability to teach; they should not be used to assess suitability. If you gave the job to a man when there was a better qualified woman applicant， you would be treating her less favourably than the man. This would be unfair and illegal.

Some of the largest and most successful companies in the world see that there are clear business advantages to treating people fairly. For example， Google says it wants a workforce with a broad range of attributes， experiences and points of view. It says having employees from many kinds of different backgrounds makes the company stronger， and produces better， more innovative work. ICBC is the worlds biggest company. It says a variety of people with different ideas provides the essential fuel for success and progress. The United Nations has said that having people from as many different backgrounds as possible working together is as important for progress in human culture as biodiversity is to the world of nature. Leading economists agree that companies， countries and regions that have effective equal opportunity policies make more profits and can grow faster than organisations and places that do not.

So why doesnt everyone agree that fair employment policies at work are a good idea？ One factor may be the fear some people have of others who are different. They may be prejudiced against foreigners， for example， or believe in old-fashioned and unfair ideas about women working. They may believe that people with disabilities cannot work as well as able-bodied people， or may dislike gay people. Another factor is that not everyone fully understands the idea of equal opportunities. In the early days of laws against discrimination， some people thought that the law would be used to give jobs to people who were less qualified to do them. This is simply not true. The law says clearly that you cant choose someone who is less qualified than someone else. In other words， the best person still gets the job. There is really only one situation in which a person with a ‘protected characteristic can be given special treatment. That is when the person is one of two equally qualified applicants. In that case the employer can employ the person with the ‘protected characteristic if that kind of person is under-represented in the workforce.

The photographer in the English seaside town lived at a time when nearly all business was local， but the world is very different now. These days it is easier and cheaper to do business with customers and businesses from all around the globe. If your company does not employ and value people from many different backgrounds， how can it expect to successfully sell its products to customers from many different backgrounds？ The message is simple： to survive in the modern business world， you need to embrace diversity and equal opportunity.

You should spend about 20 minutes on questions 1–13 below， which are based on the reading passage.

Questions 1–7

According to the article， are the following statements TRUE， FALSE or NOT GIVEN？

Answer TRUE if the statement agrees with the text.

Answer FALSE if the statement contradicts the text.

Answer NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this.

1. We know why the photographer wanted to hire a young woman.

2. The photographers advert would be against the law now.

3. ‘Protected characteristics include a persons political opinions.

4. A persons country of origin is not a relevant criterion when employing someone to teach science.

5. Leading companies think that their diversity and equality policies increase creativity.

6. Everyone agrees that giving equal opportunities is a desirable goal.

7. Diversity was poorly understood when it first became accepted.

Questions 8–13

Choose the best answers （A–D） for the questions below.

8. The seaside photographer wanted someone to help …

A. as a receptionist and typist in his studio.

B. because he was overworked.

C. with photographic and reception duties.

D. because his previous receptionist left.

9. It is against UK law …

A. to use irrelevant criteria when selecting new employees.

B. to hire someone who is not qualified to do the job.

C. to use qualifications and experience as criteria when selecting new employees.

D. to hire someone with a ‘protected characteristic who is as qualified as someone else.

10. Major corporations have adopted equal opportunity and diversity policies …

A. because they believe that this is good for society.

B. to avoid being taken to court.

C. in order to maximise their profits and ensure long-term sustainability.

D. because their shareholders believed it was the right thing to do.

11. The United Nations is concerned that …

A. a lack of equality around the world could increase social tensions.

B. human culture cannot develop unless it protects the differences between people.

C. regions which do not ensure fairness in employment will fall further behind other regions economically.

D. wealthier nations are not doing enough to encourage diversity in poorer countries.

12. Some people do not support equality and diversity policies …

A. because they misunderstand how these policies operate.

B. because they have been unfairly discriminated against in the past.

C. because they think that such policies are too expensive to implement.

D. because they believe that it is impossible to identify the real reason why someone with ‘protected characteristics was not employed by a particular organisation.

13. What is the best title for the article？

A. A history of UK employment law

B. The best person for the job

C. Increasing your profits in a global economy

D. The effects of racism and sexism in business

Answers

1. FALSE; 2. TRUE; 3. NOT GIVEN; 4. TRUE; 5. TRUE; 6. FALSE; 7. TRUE; 8. C; 9. A; 10. C; 11. B; 12. A; 13. B