Kingsley Napley sends the womenintechnology.co.uk network a quarterly update on employment law, with a focus on how it impacts women in the workplace. One particular item stood out this quarter: a consultation has kicked off about whether or not to repeal equality laws, which is ironic given that a Single Equality Bill is going to be unveiled as part of the Queen’s speech in the autumn. The announcement says:

Harriet Harman, the Minister for Women, has launched a consultation on proposals to repeal legislation preventing potential employers from taking race or sex into consideration when hiring. The plan is described as “positive action” rather than “positive discrimination” – it would not allow a candidate with worse job credentials to be given preferential treatment; the measures would allow race or sex to be taken into consideration when choosing between candidates with exactly the same qualifications.

A similar system currently exists in Norway. The implementation period has now finished on a law that stipulates 40% of directors must be female. The government in have published a list of 12 companies accused of breaking the law by failing to appoint women to 40% of their non-executive board directorships.

New York has just rejected a London-style congestion charge: just because other people are doing it doesn’t make it right. Let’s see what the consultation comes up with and hope people have more sense than to implement this policy.

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