§ Mr. Barry FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what instructions jobcentre staff receive about reporting employers to the Equal Opportunities Commission when there has been no complaint of sex discrimination. [14501]
§ Mr. ForthResponsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Employment Service Agency under its chief executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Mike Fogden to Mr. Barry Field, dated 12 February 1996:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question about what instructions Jobcentre staff receive about reporting employers to the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) when there has been no complaint of sex discrimination.It may be helpful if I begin by explaining that both employers and the Employment Service (ES) are required to operate within the provisions of the Sex Discrimination Acts 1975 and 1986. Whilst doing all we can to help employers fill their vacancies, the ES is required to challenge any indication that an employer may be seeking to recruit unlawfully. In the first instance, my people would attempt to resolve the matter by explaining what the law requires and asking the employer to reconsider their recruitment practices. Where instances of this sort cannot be resolved by the ES in that way, details are referred to the EOC for their consideration.I should also stress that my people at Jobcentres run the risk of being a party to discrimination if they display a vacancy for an employer who has indicated they intend unlawfully to discriminate against a job applicant. This position is not affected by the absence of a complaint by a jobseeker.I hope this helps to clarify the position.