Careers

Positive action

Up until 2006 the Diversify programme was aimed at encouraging people from ethnic-minority backgrounds to consider careers in museums.  We were able to target training in this way through positive action which is a set of measures that aim to prevent discrimination, or to overcome past discrimination.

The Race Relations Act 1976 recognises that past discrimination or disadvantage may result in people from particular racial groups not fully recognising their potential and achieving the qualifications or experience to make them eligible for particular work. 

Positive-action under the Race Relations Act 1976 allows for targeted training programmes or encouragement in certain circumstances.

Diversify trainees had to be:

• Of African, African-Caribbean, Asian or Chinese descent
• Able to demonstrate that they are legally entitled to train and study in the UK

Diversify offered training and not employment. Restricting applications for a job to people from a particular under represented group is unlawful (although it is lawful to encourage people from an under represented group to apply for the job, providing certain conditions are met).

On 1st October 2010 the provisions of the new Equalities Act came into force. 

Positive action can now be applied to all groups of people with characteristics protected under the Equality Act as it is acknowledged that to enable them to benefit equally from the services provided by voluntary and community organisations, some groups may need more help or encouragement than others.

This is because some groups are disadvantaged or under-represented, or have different needs from the population as a whole due to past or present discrimination or exclusion or particular experiences.

Positive action is always voluntary - not compulsory.

The new legal context: the Equality Act 2010

The Equality Act 2010 was passed by parliament just before the general election. The law has not yet come fully into force and there is more information on the process of implementation below. But it will offer new protection against discrimination and a new impetus for organisations to work towards equality.

The main aim of the legislation was to replace a confusing array of earlier legislation with one simple act. Broadly speaking, this means that all forms of difference, which might give rise to discrimination, are given the same protection.

Previously people were protected from discrimination on grounds of gender by one law and on grounds of race by another law, with slightly different provisions, resulting in somewhat piecemeal protection. 

The Equality Act protects against discrimination on the grounds of nine characteristics in total. Six of these are sometimes known as the “equality strands”: gender, race, faith, sexuality, age and disability.

The other three were previously covered in part by the sex discrimination act and are: pregnancy and maternity, gender reassignment and marriage and civil partnership.

As well as aiming to prevent discrimination, the Act encourages organisations to work to promote equality more actively. There are two aspects to this, both potentially very relevant to museums.

Firstly, there is a new duty, which applies to all public sector organisations, to promote equality across all six of the equality strands. There is also a new duty for strategic public sector bodies (including central and local government) to try to reduce the inequalities between rich and poor.

The legislation also contains provision which - if it is implemented - would allow employers to practice positive discrimination in recruitment for the first time.

This means that, for example, a primary school with all female staff could choose a male candidate for a teaching post over a female candidate, if both were otherwise equally well-qualified, on the grounds that they wanted to improve the diversity of their staff.

Previously, positive action schemes like the Museums Association’s Diversify scheme were limited to training opportunities and it would have been illegal to select candidates for employment on this basis.

However, it is not yet clear when and how some of these provisions will come into force. Once major legislation like the Equality Act is passed into law, the government of the day needs to take further steps to bring the legislation into force. Because there has been a change of government since the legislation was drawn up and passed by parliament, government priorities have inevitably changed.

The main provisions of the Act with regard to discrimination came into force on 1st October 2010. The government is consulting on how public sector bodies should be required to promote equality. Other provisions, including measures to require organisations to report on gender equality in pay and the new measures around positive discrimination, may be repealed.

Under previous legislation, public bodies were required to undertake Equality Impact Assessments (EIAs) to look at the implications of their work for different sections of the community, and to ensure that already disadvantaged groups are not further disadvantaged or excluded by particular initiatives.

The new government is keen to reduce bureaucracy around equality and diversity and it seems likely that public bodies will no longer have to complete this form of assessment. But the principle can be useful.

It is too soon to say exactly how the Equality Act will change the legal landscape for museums working towards greater diversity and equality. But the fact that it was passed into law does indicate how much the public debate around diversity and equality has moved on, and that should give greater impetus to museum’s work in this area.

The Equality Act 2010 (external website)

The Equality Act 2010: what do I do next? (external website)

How the new legislation affects positive action (pdf)
 
Equality and Human Rights Commission (external website)

Diversify Toolkit: guidance and advice for employers (pdf)

Diversify: evaluation