Labour Research June 2004

Features: Equality

CRE revises code

The Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) is consulting on its revised statutory Code of Practice on Racial Equality in Employment.

In the 20 years since the current code came into force, there have been a number of important amendments to the Race Relations Act 1976, as well as new European Union legislation governing racial equality at work.

The code is being revised to reflect these changes, and will have statutory status - so employment tribunals will be able to refer to its provisions.

The deadline for submissions to the consultation is 6 August. The draft code is available for dowloading at www.cre.gov.uk

A new Equal Opportunities Commission study concludes that recruiting more women is a clear solution to severe shortages of skilled workers in some parts of the economy - but gender segregation must be tackled to achieve this. Back-up looks at the EOC's findings.