Monday 28 February 2011

Men face discrimination at work too, says Tory MP

Dominic Raab, the MP for Esher, has angered feminists by calling them “obnoxious bigots” and saying that men face “flagrant discrimination” in the workplace and the media.

The comments, which were made on the Politics Home website, came after the Sky Sports sexism row after which one presenter, Andy Gray, was dismissed and the other, Richard Keys, voluntarily resigned.

Mr Raab said that despite the UK having some of the “toughest anti-discrimination laws in the world”, discrimination against men often goes unnoticed by society and employers alike. He said men face a “raw deal” in the workplace; they work longer hours, have a longer commute, and face a higher risk of losing their jobs.

The MP said that huge progress has been made in the last 40-years towards closing the pay gap between men and women with the same roles, and that any remaining issues are to do with finding a balance between home and work life and not inherent sexism towards women in the workplace.

The remarks come shortly after a report was published by the Institute of Leadership and Management called “Ambition and Gender in the Workplace”. The report showed that 73% of the female managers interviewed believed a glass ceiling existed. 38% of the male managers interviewed also believed that women face a glass ceiling at work.

However, Mr Raab believes men face “subtle” discrimination all the time, at work and in the media. He said if men are rightly reprimanded for sexist comments, such as Gray and Keys, women should be too for sexist remarks about men.

Employment law prohibits discrimination in the workplace on the basis of gender, amongst many other things. However, the number of Employment Tribunal claims brought by women far outweighs the number of claims brought by male employees.

Employers can reduce the possibility of a discrimination claim being made against them by ensuring they have an equal opportunities policy in place. This should apply to all aspects of the job, from hiring to selection for redundancy.

Employers should also ensure they have suitable grievance procedures in place, so that any employee with a sex discrimination complaint can report it and have it taken seriously.

The chair of the Women’s Parliamentary Labour Party said Mr Raab’s comments show that the Conservative party is “not a family friendly party”. In addition, many campaigners for equality believe the government’s spending cuts will affect more women than men, as women are more likely to be selected for redundancy than their male colleagues.

Sex discrimination claims can arise from many different situations. An employee may have been dismissed because of their gender, or they may have been subject to sexual harassment in the workplace. Whatever the claim, Job Justice can put an employee in touch with a recommended employment lawyer in their area.

No comments:

Post a Comment