§ Note on guide to manpower policy and practice in industry and commerce.
§ It is intended that the Ministry of Health and Social Services should issue a comprehensive Guide which will draw together for convenient reference the key features of good practice in regard to such matters as manpower planning, recruitment, training and development, pay systems, environmental factors and industrial relations.
§ The Working Party welcomes this proposal and has already approved the skeletal outline of those portions of the draft Guide which are of most interest to it. A considerable portion of the Guide will also reflect the outcome of the Joint Review Body's examination of Industrial Relations in Northern Ireland and will be prepared in consultation with that Body. The Guide as a whole will then be the subject of detailed consultation with representative employer and trade union interests as a preliminary to issue by the Ministry.
§ Whilst the Guide has a much wider purpose than that which is of concern to the Working 181W Party, it is nonetheless true that sound manpower policies and practices both at industry and company level can in themselves contribute significantly to the elimination of discriminatory employment practices. The Guide can therefore serve as a valuable yardstick for measuring a company's general attitude and practice in relation to the Declaration of Principle and the Anti-Discrimination legislation recommended by the Working Party. Any provision of the Guide which is relevant would be taken into account in considering questions arising under the legislation but it is not intended that the Guide itself should impose legal obligations nor that failure to observe it should of itself render anyone liable to proceedings.