Actions of social partners to tackle workplace discrimination

• Author: Tina Weber - Catherine Cerf
• Pages: 33-50

33

The mega-trends of globalisation and technological,

demographic and environmental change are impacting

on European societies and shaping socio-economic

developments and the accompanying political debate.

These trends are already impacting – and have the

potential to have even more of a substantial influence –

on developments contributing to the emergence of

discrimination in society and in the workplace. To give

just one example, the last five years have demonstrated

the impact of geopolitical developments on global

migration flows, which in turn have shaped the political

debate in many European countries and contributed to

a rise in Islamophobia and discrimination based on

race, ethnicity and religious beliefs. Without drastic

policy intervention, it is clear that climate change will

trigger significant global migration flows in the future,

triggering distributional issues, which have in the past

been seen to impact on levels of tolerance within

society.

Discrimination in society is unfortunately an enduring

issue, but in recent years, increasingly polarised

political debate, the rise of ‘new nationalism’,

right-wing movements and anti-migration attitudes

have given increased relevance to social partner actions

to tackle discrimination, both in the workplace and in

wider society. While it cannot be denied that

xenophobic sentiments and discriminatory behaviour

are also an issue among employers, workers and

workers’ organisations, arguments in favour of a diverse

society hold sway for ethical and economic reasons.

As mentioned earlier, the Employment Equality

Directive and the Race Equality Directive call on Member

States to ‘take adequate measures to promote dialogue

between the social partners, with a view to fostering

equal treatment’. Both trade unions and employers

arguably have a common interest in promoting a

workplace free from discrimination. Although the first

mission of trade unions is to protect and advance the

interests of their members in the workplace, their role

extends beyond the workplace, not least because

advancements in working conditions affect workers’

living conditions and can thus have spill-over effects

for society as a whole. Similarly, equal treatment and

non-discrimination, both in the workplace and beyond,

is one of the ideological principles underpinning the

work of the trade union movement.

However, it is also recognised by trade unions

themselves that as discrimination is embedded in all

structures of society, so it is within the trade union

movement, leading an increasing number of unions to

target – among other things – right-wing ideas and

racism that can also be found in their own membership.

Discrimination harms companies and societies in

different ways: for instance, it can impact negatively on

workers’ performance and place barriers in the labour

market that can limit access to skills and human capital.

The lack of diversity in an organisation also means that

companies fail to reflect their customers, damaging

economic success. Thus, the so-called ‘business case’

for non-discrimination has also been made.

National social partner initiatives

The evidence shows that the prevalence of workplace

discrimination remains high. This section looks at the

extent to which this issue is being prioritised by social

partners at the national level. It begins by exploring

whether workplace discrimination on different grounds

is on the radar of the social partners. It then goes on to

look at the nature and type of measures introduced by

trade union and employer organisations to address

workplace discrimination.

When considering this information, it is important to

note a number of factors that influenced the extent to

which relevant actions have been identified.

The account is based on the views and initiatives

reported by the Network of Eurofound

Correspondents, based on a review of literature,

web-based resources and interviews with

peak-level social partner organisations.

The information request focused on the views of –

and initiatives implemented by – social partners at

the cross-sectoral-level. This means that, to a

certain extent, the number of workplace-focused

practical actions and agreements is limited, since at

this level the direct link with day-to-day workplace

issues is more limited than at the level of the

sectoral social partners. On the other hand, at peak

level, the level of involvement in the national policy

discourse tends to be greater. Since there is no

cross-industry collective bargaining in many

Member States, this limits the extent to which

collective agreements addressing non-discrimination

issues have been identified. It should be noted that

some experts have highlighted relevant sector-level

collective agreements. These have been included in

the account below, but this should not be

interpreted to mean that such sectoral agreements

do not exist in other countries, as they may simply

not have been reported (if, for example, the sectoral

level was not the focus of the information request).

4 Actions of social partners to

tackle workplace discrimination

34

It was emphasised in a number of countries that the

focus of social partner action is on promoting

diversity and equal treatment more generally,

rather than addressing individual grounds of

discrimination. As a result, a specific category of

‘general’ initiatives has been identified, taking this

holistic approach and emphasising the importance

of accounting for multiple

discrimination/intersectionality.

In some countries, the level of activity in this area

by cross-industry social partners is based on their

assessment of the quality of existing legislation and

the levels of complaints linked to workplace

discrimination raised through relevant channels.

Where legislation is perceived to be of good quality

and the number of complaints is low, the extent to

which social partners engage with this issue can

also be limited, despite the fact that the number of

formal complaints lodged may not in fact reflect the

actual experience of workplace discrimination. As

previously indicated, a low number of complaints

can be due to several factors: lack of awareness of

the law, reluctance to come forward, fear of

negative repercussions, lack of resources or

practical support to pursue cases, absence of

dissuasive sanctions or the fact that such issues are

addressed directly at workplace level.

The level of activity by cross-sectoral social

partners can also be linked to the overall level of

policy and public debate on the issue, which varies

significantly from country to country and can ebb

and flow according to the legislative agenda, the

existence of high-profile cases or other factors such

as economic and demographic trends (including

migration).

Lack of capacity can also play a role, as social

partners tend to focus their attention on what is

considered to be their ‘core business’ (depending

on the Member State, this can be involvement in

collective bargaining and/or the broader

policymaking process).

Based on the answers to the question of whether

the issue of workplace discrimination is high on the

agenda of the cross-industry social partners, it is

difficult to assess clearly whether this applies to

both trade unions and employer organisations.

Therefore, when discussing whether the issue is on

the radar of the social partners, no distinction is

made here between employer and trade union

organisations. It is, however, notable in the

presentation of social partner actions that there is a

significantly higher share of trade union activities in

this area. This could be due to the fact that such

actions are more likely to be implemented at

individual employer level, rather than by employer

organisations.

Grounds of workplace discrimination on

the radar of cross-sectoral social partners

The box below provides an explanation of how

countries were ranked with regard to the question of

the extent to which the issue is on the radar of the social

partners.

Role of social partners in tackling discrimination at work

The issue is considered to be high on the agenda of social partners at national level if the issue is discussed in the

specific context of the need to address workplace discrimination, both at cross-sectoral and other levels.

Workplace discrimination is seen to be on the radar of the social partners ‘to some extent’ if relevant actions are

discussed, but in a different context – for example, the need to integrate older people and people with disabilities

is discussed in the context of labour shortages. The same applies to measures that are only indirectly linked to

addressing workplace discrimination (collective agreements providing for additional leave days for workers with

disabilities or older workers, for example). Other reasons for rating the issue as only addressed ‘to some extent’

include:

the number of initiatives implemented are very limited or have a limited impact (as they are focused on just a

few employers)

emphasis is placed on the issue for a limited period of time, for example in the context of a relevant

legislative initiative, with few actions having taken place since, despite the persistence of instances of

workplace discrimination

Box 1: Criteria used for ranking importance of

workplace discrimination for social partners