LRD guides and handbook October 2018

Equality Law at Work 2018 - a guide for trade unions and working people

Chapter 13

Positive action in promotion

[ch 13: page 98]

The law allows employers to take positive action such as mentoring or extra training to provide the support that under-represented staff need to move into higher grades or certain job roles (see page 43).

Where there are two “equally qualified” candidates for a promotion opportunity, the law allows employers to choose the candidate from the under-represented group, as long as there is evidence of under-representation (section 159, EA 10). The EHRC website provides guidance as to when this might be an appropriate tool to tackle under-representation at work.