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Since 1968, successive Labour and Conservative governments have introduced legislation to outlaw racial discrimination in employment.1 And yet, racism and racial inequality have proven themselves to be historically resilient features of the British labour market.

While one in eight of the working-age population is from an ethnic minority background, people from an ethnic minority background account for only one in ten of those who are actually in employment. Moreover, the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC) recent Healing a divided Britain: the need for a comprehensive race equality strategy report, published in August 2016, also found that people from ethnic minority groups have higher unemployment rates than White people.

It was also in August 2016 that the United Nation’s Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination reported its ‘concern’ at the: (a) the higher rate of unemployment among persons of African and Asian descent; (b) occupational segregation, with the concentration of persons belonging to ethnic minorities in insecure and low-paid work; and (c) discriminatory recruitment practices of employers.

It was in this context that the Prime Minister Theresa May announced the launch of ‘an unprecedented audit of public services to reveal racial disparities and help end the burning injustices many people experience across Britain’. The evidence presented in this report strongly suggests that this audit should also examine both racial inequality and the racism faced by ethnic minority people working in the public sector.

This report builds on the Race at Work report that was published in 2015. The Race at Work survey was conducted between 28 July and 17 September 2015. In this report we explore further the voices of 24,457 ethnic minority and White British employees aged over 16 years old, currently living in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. 6,076 people took part in the research via the YouGov panel survey, while some 18,381 respondents participated via the public open survey.

Building on the 2015 report, we offer a qualitative analysis of responses given to open-ended survey questions designed to explore the following: (1) employee accounts of experiencing and/ or witnessing racist harassment or bullying at work; and (2) How, if at all, employers promote equality, diversity and fairness in the workplace. In doing so, this report provides further insights into the nature, scale and human impact of racist bullying and harassment in the workplace. In addition to this, we draw further attention to some of the specific barriers that prevent the realisation of equality, diversity and fairness at work.

We find that:

· Racism very much remains a persistent, if not routine and systematic, feature of work life in Britain, thus contributing to the organisation of society in ways that structurally disadvantage ethnic minority workers. Ethnic minority workers are frequently subjected to racism by colleagues, managers, customers, clients and service users. Racism is experienced in a wide variety of ways, ranging from ‘everyday banter’ to violence and intimidation. Alongside Islamophobia and antisemitism, crude and overt forms of anti-Black and anti-Asian racism are also prevalent.

· Experiencing and/or witnessing racism impacts on ethnic minority employees in a number of ways. This includes having a direct impact on the mental health and emotional and psychological well-being of ethnic minority workers. Racism was also reported to have a negative impact on the careers of ethnic minority employees, reducing opportunities for additional training and career progression. Many ethnic minority workers also reported seeking alternative forms of employment as a direct response to experiencing racism.

· The promotion of equality, diversity and fairness is inconsistent across workplaces. On the one hand, some employers promote these values in a variety of ways, sometimes in an extensive manner and on a regular basis. On the other hand, a large section of survey respondents reported that they did not know or that they were unsure of what their employer did to promote equality, diversity and fairness. Some employees even suggested that the promotion of equality, diversity and fairness was ‘non-existent’.

· Some managers were said to have taken a zero-tolerance approach to racism in the workplace, offering support to those on the receiving end of racism. However, it was more common for ethnic minority employees to state that managers were also one of the main culprits when it came to racism at work. Not only this, managers were also commonly described as being indifferent to racism. When it comes to opposing racism and promoting equality and diversity, this raises serious questions in relation to leadership in the workplace.

· Trade union representatives were identified as being an important source of support in helping ethnic minority workers to ‘speak out’ and challenge racism at work. Such statements were most prominent among ethnic minority employees working in the public sector. However, like managers, it was also suggested that trade union representatives could also be indifferent to racism.

· Many employees commended equality and diversity practitioners for the role that they played in promoting equality, diversity and fairness and supporting colleagues who had experienced and/or witnessed racism. However, some ethnic minority workers were critical of the work of equality and diversity practitioners, suggesting that some practitioners did not pay adequate attention to challenging racism and addressing racial inequality in the workplace.

· Alongside racism, White resentment is a significant problem. In some cases, White British employees suggested that activities and training promoting equality and diversity were no longer necessary. It was also suggested that equality and diversity activities provided ethnic minority employees with an unfair advantage and preferential treatment. These types of reaction appear to be part of a broader, overall negative, if not hostile, response to equality and diversity work, and indicate that it is 6 necessary to inform White employees about a) the nature of ethnic minority disadvantage; b) how this is reinforced by racism in the workplace; and c) why Race Relations legislation and equality and diversity duties are still very much needed.

· In light of the above, it is important that we critically examine what equality and diversity work actually does, including identifying the barriers and obstacles that hinder this work. This includes thinking critically about the limitations of existing approaches to equality, diversity and fairness, particularly in relation to whether expressions of commitment to equality, diversity and fairness and statements opposing racism are also partnered by clear and visible activity that addresses racism and racial inequality at work.

Listening to the voices of those who participated in the 2015 Race at Work survey clearly demonstrates that there is a great deal of work still to be done in terms of developing the structures, practices and resources required to oppose racism and to achieve both equality and diversity in workplaces throughout Britain.

Having reviewed the comments and statements captured by the Race at Work survey we provide a further set of policy recommendations. For Government, this includes:

· Commissioning research that explores the ways in which, if at all, employers are fulfilling their equality duties and how employers respond to instances of racism in the workplace;

· Institute new legislation regarding the procurement of government and public sector contracts to ensure that all tenders are subject to an Equality Impact Assessment;

· Proposals for an annual government review into the nature and scale of racism in the workplace and racial inequality in labour market participation;

· Eliminating the costs of employment tribunals as a means of empowering employees to challenge racism at work; and

· Addressing the issue of ‘language proficiency’ in ways that protect the rights of ethnic minority workers.

For employers, we identify a range of measures focusing on employer leadership, responsibility and accountability. We also detail a number of recommendations in relation to:

· Employer relations with Trade Unions, Employee Network Groups and Diversity and Inclusion specialists;

· Devising equality targets (including a timeframe and action plan for achieving these targets); · Revising equality and diversity audits, processes and procedures to include reports of racism at work, paying attention to the voices of employees who have experienced and/ or witnessed racism in the workplace; and

· Changes to training and the promotion of equality and diversity.

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