Editor's letter

“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others,” declare the ruling pigs in George Orwell’s 1945 novella Animal Farm.

If unfamiliar, and as your children could probably tell you, the short book is well known as a satirical allegory on the early history of the Soviet Union – the Bolshevik revolution and rise of Joseph Stalin. Overthrowing a farm’s exploitative (human) owners, animals seek to establish a fairer society where labour is for the common good and reward evenly distributed. But by the end, the pigs – who take charge of operations – have enacted new rules, removed rights, persecuted minorities, disposed of dissenters, and essentially become the very tyrants they sought to replace. ‘Equality’, a founding principle, has been revised and qualified away. The message, while chilling, isn’t a particularly subtle one. Power corrupts.

Today our governments and political parties continually stress the struggle to improve equality – enhancing equality of ‘opportunities’; fighting discrimination where it exists; extending ‘choice’ in education; and empowering those from ‘less advantaged’ backgrounds to improve their circumstances and lifestyles. Universities and workplaces therefore monitor the ‘diversity’ of their candidates – in terms of race, gender, disability, educational background and sexual orientation – and attempt (or so they claim) to improve imbalances.

And now we have the draft of the long-awaited Equalities Bill, including the possibility of positive discrimination as an extra tool in diversity efforts. Where candidates are equally qualified, the plans would enable employers to choose a female or ethnic minority candidate – or indeed a white male if underrepresented – without fear of being sued for discrimination. Not without controversy, it is envisaged it will be particularly useful in the spheres of senior management, where the white male demographic still dominates.

Elsewhere the Bill also looks to tackle the gender pay gap, encouraging firms to be transparent with salary details and the pay gap itself. Public sector organisations would be obliged to disclose details, with private firms expected to follow suit (without being forced). ‘Gagging clauses’, prohibiting employees from discussing their salary details, would also be outlawed. “Women will be able to see they are paid less than men and will be able to complain about it and challenge it,” declared minister for equality (and women) Harriet Harman.

Government data suggests women working part time currently earn almost 40 per cent less than men in full-time roles, while a recent Law Society survey found the median annual salary for a male lawyer was ₤60,000, compared to ₤41,000 for females. In May 2008, Fiona Woolf, past president of the Law Society and a previous chair of the Association of Women Solicitors (AWS), announced a two-year campaign to address the issue. Moreover, the current chair of the AWS, Fiona Fitzgerald, points to the fact that, while 60 per cent of new solicitors are female, only just over a fifth (21.8) per cent of female solicitors are a partner, compared to almost half of males.

Law firms are increasingly publishing a range of diversity statistics themselves, simultaneously professing that further action needs to be taken. Most large firms have set up focus groups and forums to represent minority groups, and talk eagerly of widening access to the profession in the first place.

However, many also say they are opposed to positive discrimination as a rule – preferring to handpick the talent wherever they happen to find it.

It will be interesting to note how, if at all, law firms respond to a further crack down on inequality in the workplace. Harman said one of her main aims was to ensure no business could remain “entrenched in the old boy network” – something law firms could certainly have stood accused of in the past.

Richard Brent

Editor

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