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25 May, 2017
Diversity is now almost universally recognised in the corporate world as a value to adopt and promote. As well as being good for the corporate image, diversity in an organisation's leadership and workforce is also increasingly recognised as having measurable economic benefits – the "diversity dividend".
A 2015 study of public companies across multiple jurisdictions by McKinsey & Co. found a statistically significant relationship between companies with women and minorities in their upper ranks and better financial performance as measured by earnings before interest and tax. There are also studies showing the potential benefits to companies and the national economy arising from employing people with disability.
As businesses recognise the benefits of diversity, we are seeing more organisations adopt measures to promote and increase diversity, such as pay equity audits, unconscious bias training and "blind" recruitment or work allocation strategies. However, these initiatives are not without their challenges and raise the question of "How far is too far?".
The articles below consider how anti-discrimination laws around the globe are being tested and developed in new and interesting ways both in workplaces and in the provision of goods and services.
Managing a diverse workforce: Freedom to express religious beliefs? – We look at different jurisdictions and whether freedom of religion is an individual right and/or a protected characteristic under anti-discrimination legislation.
Workplace diversity and indirect discrimination – Most jurisdictions protect people with specific characteristics against direct and indirect discrimination – indirect discrimination can be harder to identify and prevent and we explore this concept in this article.
Discrimination in service provision: How far is too far? Discrimination when providing goods and services – in most jurisdictions, businesses are prohibited from discriminating against prospective customers. We explore the application of this concept.
For further information, please contact:
Jon Lovell, Partner, Ashurst
jon.lovell@ashurst.com
