New crackdown on equality in the workplace

An army of union equality officers will be let loose in companies throughout England to crack down on discrimination against women, it was announced this week.

More than £5m of taxpayers' money will be handed to the trade unions to train up the legion of equality watchdogs in the workplace.

The plans were unveiled by Ruth Kelly, the Minister for Women, as part of a Government action plan to give more mothers the right to request flexible hours and part-time work.

Ministers want to end pay discrimination against women who cut their hours so they can spend more time with their children or caring for an elderly relative.

But business leaders attacked the plans for equality officers as another example of 'the dead hand of the state' meddling in workplace relations.

They welcomed the plans for flexible working but said firms are already bound by equality legislation and warned that creating a new battalion of snoopers would just add another layer of red tape to the burdens on business.

Critics claimed that the equality officers, who will be told to fight all forms of discrimination on the grounds of gender, race or disability, would do more to help Labour's trade union paymasters than ordinary working women.

David Frost, Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce, said: 'This is more red tape. Employers are absolutely smothered already with the sheer scale of employment legislation. Having introduced this legislation, why does the Government seem to lack trust in companies to implement it. As firms are trying to deal with it, they don't need the dead hand of the state monitoring their every move.

'All we get is more and more legislation and regulation. Businesses already know that if they want to attract the brightest and the best people that they have got to offer flexibility.'

Miss Kelly unveiled her Action Plan in response to a report by the Women and Work Commission published in February, which found that giving women the opportunity to do better quality jobs at a time that suits them could inject £23 billion a year into the UK economy.

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