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Labour’s chance to right a Tory wrong on workplace discrimination
RICHARD BURGON MP says the government should use the Employment Rights Bill to reverse a shameful Tory decision on discrimination
WORKERS’ RIGHTS: Labour MP for Leeds East Richard Burgon on a picket line in Leeds last year

IT HAS been over a decade since the Conservative-led government scrapped statutory discrimination questionnaires — a vital tool that once empowered workers to challenge inequality in the workplace.

Back then, as an employment lawyer, I saw first-hand how this straightforward measure helped workers stand up to discrimination from bad bosses. With the Employment Rights Bill making its way through Parliament, our new Labour government has a golden opportunity to right this wrong.

The statutory equality questionnaire was part of the groundbreaking Equality Act 2010, introduced under the last Labour government. These questionnaires allowed workers who believed they had been discriminated against to obtain key information from their employers, including about how others in the workplace were treated.

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