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Harman wants employers to discriminate and choose the best woman for the job
Nicholas Cecil27.04.09
Men applying for jobs could lose out to equally qualified women under reforms proposed by Harriet Harman today.
Labour's deputy leader unveiled the Equalities Bill which will allow companies to choose female candidates ahead of equally qualified men because they are women.
The "positive" discrimination move is likely to be welcomed by some people but will also spark concerns that men could miss out unfairly on jobs.
However, Commons Leader and equalities minister Ms Harman defended the new measure, which would allow bosses to avoid sexual discrimination cases.
She said: "If you have got two equally qualified candidates, you might actually want to have the woman because she is a woman.
"Now at the moment, if you choose her because she is a woman, you could face a sex discrimination case.
"So this says to employers, if you want to, and want to be able to diversify your workforce, or a particular part of your workforce, then actually you can choose, if you have got equally-qualified candidates, you can choose the one from the group that is under-represented."
She gave an example that this could be used for male-dominated middle management in some firms.
The same rules for "equally qualified" individuals applying for work would cover other groups, such as ethnic minorities, which could lead to claims that white jobseekers are losing out.
Ms Harman also defended controversial "gender audits" under which companies face having to reveal differentials between the salaries paid to men and women they employ.
Bosses have criticised the proposal, accusing ministers of heaping fresh red tape burdens on firms as they face tough years ahead.
Ms Harman has also told millions of public servants that they have a duty to close the gap between social groups.
However, the Tories have accused her of unleashing a new "class war" with the Bill.
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