Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Equality, diversity and inclusionLatest NewsDiscriminationHR practicePositive action

Kemi Badenoch: ‘confused HR colleagues’ misunderstand Equality Act

by Jo Faragher 31 Jul 2023
by Jo Faragher 31 Jul 2023 Business and trade secretary Kemi Badenoch believes 'bad actors' are misrepresenting equality legislation
Jeff Gilbert / Alamy Stock Photo
Business and trade secretary Kemi Badenoch believes 'bad actors' are misrepresenting equality legislation
Jeff Gilbert / Alamy Stock Photo

A ‘fundamental misunderstanding’ of the Equality Act is leading to poorly executed diversity and inclusion activities and risking companies falling foul of the law, according to the business and trade secretary.

Kemi Badenoch, writing in the Sunday Times, argued that livelihoods are being threatened based on employees’ views, and urged HR teams to avoid “snake-oil salesmen” offering “dubious materials” that claim to solve their inclusion problems.

In recent days, the closure of outspoken former Ukip leader Nigel Farage’s bank account – after an internal Coutts report suggested this was because he was “xenophobic and racist” – has led to the resignation of NatWest CEO Alison Rose.

Another prominent activist claiming to have had an account closed is anti-Brexit campaigner Gina Miller, who had been told by Monzo that her own party’s account would be closed.

But Badenoch, who is also minister for women and equalities, said the account closures were “just the tip of the iceberg”, citing prominent employment-related cases such as Maya Forstater, who won a tribunal case for belief discrimination against her former employer CGD Europe, which had not extended her employment contract after she expressed gender-critical views.

Diversity & inclusion

Nigel Farage: Diversity and inclusion under fire in guise of ‘woke’ banks 

How to keep up with conflicted voices in D&I 

Is the workplace now a ‘wokeplace’?

She wrote: “The Equality Act is a shield, not a sword. It is about preventing discrimination, not social engineering.

“There are no protected groups in the act, only protected characteristics. A white man is just as protected on the characteristics of race and sex as a black woman, yet many believe the act is there just to protect minorities, when in reality it protects us all.”

Badenoch added that calls to scrap the 13-year-old piece of legislation were unfounded, adding that “the issue is not the law. It’s bad actors misrepresenting it to suit their agenda.”

She said the Department for Business and Trade was working on practical ways to support companies in their diversity and inclusion efforts, in a bid to “wrestle the issue back from the activists and the professionally offended”.

She said the Inclusion at Work panel, made up of experts from academia and business, would build evidence-based resources that would “help confused HR colleagues understand what actually works and supplant the dubious materials from snake-oil salesmen operating in a largely unregulated space”.

One of the issues raised by incorrect interpretation of the Equality Act was a risk of positive discrimination, Badenoch added.

The legislation says that it is lawful for employers to take positive action to help address inequalities at work, such as in recruitment of minorities.

However, it is unlawful to positively discriminate – where an employer for example hires someone because of a protected characteristic, rather than because they are the best candidate.

Poor interpretation of the Equality Act often means managers confuse the two, putting themselves at risk of legal claims.

Badenoch added: “It is not government’s job to write companies’ HR policies. However, it is our job to stop them doing harmful things based on a misunderstanding of the law.

“I’m committed to bringing people together, rather than atomising them into identity groups, and helping businesses to focus on delivering healthy working environments, rather than becoming social regulators.”

The government published guidance for employers on positive action in April 2023, as part of its Inclusive Britain response to an inquiry by the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities.

Change management opportunities on Personnel Today

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

OptOut
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.


Browse more Change management jobs

 

Jo Faragher

Jo Faragher has been an employment and business journalist for 20 years. She regularly contributes to Personnel Today and writes features for a number of national business and membership magazines. Jo is also the author of 'Good Work, Great Technology', published in 2022 by Clink Street Publishing, charting the relationship between effective workplace technology and productive and happy employees. She won the Willis Towers Watson HR journalist of the year award in 2015 and has been highly commended twice.

previous post
Barclays director loses claim after dismissal for sexual misconduct
next post
Teachers in England accept pay deal

You may also like

Fewer workers would comply with a return-to-office mandate

21 May 2025

Consultation launched after Supreme Court ‘sex’ ruling

20 May 2025

EHRC bows to pressure and extends gender consultation

15 May 2025

Culture, ‘micro-incivilities’ and invisible talent

14 May 2025

Why fighting the DEI backlash is about PR...

9 May 2025

So what does the election of a new...

9 May 2025

Rethinking talent: Who was never considered in the...

7 May 2025

Reform UK councils’ staff face WFH ban

6 May 2025

Lincolnshire doctor awarded £250k in race discrimination case

2 May 2025

‘Unacceptable to question integrity’ of Supreme Court judgment

2 May 2025

  • 2025 Employee Communications Report PROMOTED | HR and leadership...Read more
  • The Majority of Employees Have Their Eyes on Their Next Move PROMOTED | A staggering 65%...Read more
  • Prioritising performance management: Strategies for success (webinar) WEBINAR | In today’s fast-paced...Read more
  • Self-Leadership: The Key to Successful Organisations PROMOTED | Eletive is helping businesses...Read more
  • Retaining Female Talent: Four Ways to Reduce Workplace Drop Out PROMOTED | International Women’s Day...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+