Theresa May is ramping up her efforts to portray the UK as institutionally racist, and show she is solving the alleged problem by forcing private companies and public sector employers to reveal their “ethnicity pay gap”.
According to the proposals, bosses must reveal how much different ethnic minority employees earn compared to white people, with difference likely to be blamed on racism and discrimination.
The move will mirror the gender pay gap audit carried out and published last year, leading to claims the UK is deeply sexist and unfair.
The results are likely to reveal disparities as different ethnic groups in the UK have traditionally been concentrated in different employment areas.
Indians, for example, are most likely to work in the highest skilled occupations while more than two in five people from Pakistani and Bangladeshi backgrounds work in the three lowest-skilled types of job.
And, according to the Office for National Statistics, 74 percent of Indians aged 16 to 64 are in employment, compared to just 55 percent of Pakistanis and Bangladeshis and 76 percent of white British people.
Critics of affirmative action argue this is due to historical, cultural, and personal choice reasons, rather than rampant discrimination against Pakistanis but not Indians.
Almost a year ago, Mrs May’s government announced one of the world’s most extensive audits of racial disparity.
The report revealed various differences between ethnic groups, in areas including health, education, and housing, promising £90 million from dormant bank accounts to tackle disparities.
The “Audit’s Ethnicity facts and figures website data… reveals significant disparities in the pay and progression of ethnic minority employees compared to their white counterparts,” Number 10 said this week.
The NHS, Armed Forces, schools, and police forces have also been ordered to set out plans to increase the proportion of public sector leaders from ethnic minority backgrounds this Thursday.
Karen Blackett OBE, WPP UK Country Manager and Chairwoman of MediaCom UK and Ireland, was named as the government’s new “Race at Work Champion”.
“Embracing diversity and inclusion is not a choice, it’s a business necessity,” she commented.
She added: “As the Government’s Race at Work Champion, I’m committed to helping businesses address inequality at all levels by taking practical steps such as introducing apprenticeships, offering mentorships and capturing ethnicity data to create a more inclusive and representative workforce.”
Mrs May praised a review into race and ethnicity by far left Labour MP David Lammy, commenting:
“Every employee deserves the opportunity to progress and fulfil their potential in their chosen field, regardless of which background they are from, but too often ethnic minority employees feel they’re hitting a brick wall when it comes to career progression.
“That’s why I’m delighted to launch the Race at Work Charter, which gives businesses a clear set of actions to work towards in helping to create greater opportunities for ethnic minority employees at work.”
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