Clause 36
Equality Bill
4:30 pm
Vera Baird (Solicitor General, Attorney General's Office; Redcar, Labour)
This proposal was raised on Second reading by the hon. Lady and we promised to consider it. She obviously wants to make employers take reasonable steps not to acquire information in the early part of recruitment exercises that would identify applicants as having specified protected characteristics. The purpose of that would be to avert subliminal discrimination. Many small and medium-sized businesses might struggle to put the necessary provisions in place, as they do not have dedicated HR staff and it might be difficult.