After 30 years of race relations and legislation protecting ethnic minorities at work, the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) is appalled that racism is still widespread in workplaces across the UK.
Of 5,000 complaints made to the CRE in the past six months, 43 per cent relate to racism at work. The most common complaints are workplace bullying, lack of career progression and being unable to secure interviews.
Recent analysis from the Employment Tribunal Service revealed that in 2005/06 there has been a 23.7 per cent increase in the number of race discrimination cases submitted to employment tribunals since last year. In 2005/06, the average award for a race discrimination case was £30,361.
In addition, the latest unemployment figures released from the Office of National Statistics showed that the unemployment rate for ethnic minorities is over 11 per cent – twice the national average. They also showed that a black person is three times more likely to be out of work than a white person.
Kay Hampton, CRE chairman, said: “This is a triple whammy for ethnic minority people: they find it hard to get a job, they are likely to get paid less and they are still suffering from racial abuse in the work place.
“People are being put at an extreme disadvantage due to their ethnicity – a Mr Ahmed is much more likely to struggle to find employment than a Mr Armstrong and this is absolutely unacceptable.”
CRE statistics are supported by new research from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation which found that people from ethnic minority groups do not receive the same rewards as people from white backgrounds with similar qualifications. In 2004, white men were paid an average of £1.80 per hour more than ethnic minority men.
