Draft Equality Bill could be important and symbolic in tackling structural inequalities
Responding to the announcement of a Draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill in King's Speech, Rebecca Florisson, Principal Analyst of the Work Foundation at Lancaster University said:
“The Draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill has the potential to be an important and symbolic step to tackle structural inequalities in the labour market.
“Ethnic minority workers and disabled workers are much more likely to be in severely insecure work than white or non-disabled workers – meaning they face an average pay penalty of £3,276 per year, unpredictable hours and are more vulnerable to job losses due to a lack of rights and protections.
“In particular, disabled workers are 1.5 times more likely than non-disabled workers to be in severely insecure work and Black workers are 2.7 times more likely than white workers to be on zero-hour contracts.
“Equal pay for equal work has been helpful in narrowing – but not closing - the gender pay gap. So it remains necessary to address other drivers of pay inequality. Labour market disadvantage persists because some worker groups struggle more than others to access high paying and secure roles, due to discrimination and a lack of flexibility.
“Alongside the Equality Bill, measures contained in the Worker’s Rights Bill could be critical in addressing these issues. However, in order to be successful, we need to see further details on how Government plans to ensure effective monitoring and enforcement of new legislation – through their new Fair Work Agency.”
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