No / The UK government’s Equality Bill is rapidly changing the approach to equality in the workplace. This extends previous legislation which, in addition to requiring public authorities to promote equal opportunities, provides support for specific types of positive action. However, there continues to be a level of confusion, misinterpretation and sometimes suspicion of positive action. In general, this has resulted in an apparent reluctance to use positive action to promote representational diversity in the workplace. This is compounded by limited empirical evidence on its use. NHS Employers (the employers’ organisation for the National Health Service) in partnership with Bradford University Centre for Diversity and Inclusion collaborated on a project to establish where positive action is being used in the NHS and the key factors associated with its successful application. The work involved 20 NHS organisations in England and employed a mixed method of qualitative research including in-depth interviews, a mapping exercise and focus groups. This paper describes the methodology adopted in the study and some of the positive action initiatives employed. Key factors for making positive action a success are identified and recommendations are made which will have relevance for future policy direction.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate Sweden’s ability to adopt positive actions based on gender and ethnicity into national legislation, in regard to EU regulations. The possibility to use positive actions is established at an EU level by both treaties and directives. EU-case law narrows the practical use of the measure. Sweden has chosen to implement positive action based on gender but not ethnicity in their national legislation, despite the fact that the allowed extent to use it would have been the same. The purpose is further to gain a deeper understanding of the problems, as well as the beneficiary effects, that positive actions based on ethnicity could lead to. The thesis applies a combination of both legal method and sociology of law perspectives. Intersectional perspectives have been applied in the thesis to obtain further knowledge about the structural discrimination of ethnic minorities in Sweden. The thesis includes an investigation of the legal grounds of positive actions based on gender to enable comparisons but the main focus will be on positive actions based on ethnicity. The Swedish discussion on positive action based on ethnicity is mainly focusing on the problem of compiling statistics on people’s ethnicity, which may be a necessary consequence of the measure to achieve explicitness. The most obvious benefit with positive action based on ethnicity is that it aims to improve the situation on the labor market of disadvantaged groups. People with foreign ethnical backgrounds are systematically discriminated in the Swedish society and since Sweden currently is facing a great migratory movement, the need for measures against systematic discrimination grows. Dividing the population into different categories can lead to segregation rather than integration on the labor market. The problem arises when the will to create opportunities for foreigners contradicts the Swedish fear of categorizing people. Possible solutions with perhaps more long-term outcomes could be to increase employers awareness of the positive economic effects of diversity in the workforce and also to increase awareness among the Swedish population about the systematic discrimination of foreigners to change social norms.

Positive Action in Case Law of the ECJ The general purpose of my thesis is to analyse a relevant sources of European Union law particularly the case law of the European Court of Justice relating to the issue of positive action measures and to find out, what attitude to judicial review ECJ applies in its decision- making in this specific area. The thesis is composed of three main chapters, each of them dealing with different aspects of positive action measures. First chapter is introductory and defines basic terminology used in the thesis. This chapter is subdivided into two different sections. Section one explains what the concept of positive action means including classification of its different types and provides justification of its application. Second section focuses on the relationship between positive action measures and the concepts of equality and non-discrimination. Second chapter examines the relevant provisions of EU law which deal with the positive action measures in different areas of application of EU law with special attention to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. Third chapter is subdivided into three sections and provides an outline of relevant case law of ECJ in the area of judicial review of positive action measures. First two sections are intended to...

No / Although the rationale for equal opportunities has been accepted within the UK public sector, there is little research into people's aspirations and experiences of Positive Action (PA) as a means of achieving equality of opportunity during the whole employment cycle. A research project was carried out to explore meanings of race-, disability- and gender- related PA initiatives and their impact on workforce diversity in Higher and Further Education and the National Health Service in England, with the aim of developing an understanding of the concept of PA and informing good practice in the effective use of such measures in these sectors. Using a combination of research methods including a literature review, interviews and focus groups, the paper highlights understanding of the concept of PA as well as its practice and interpretation amongst key stakeholders including senior managers, designers, current recipients and their peers.

Yes / This paper provides an overview of the laws regulating positive action in the UK. It also presents key findings from a selection of research studies on positive action in the UK conducted between 2003 and 2009 by the Centre for Inclusion and Diversity at the University of Bradford, and provides examples of positive action drawn from these studies.

Yes / The central aim of this chapter is to describe the policy and practice of affirmative action measures. It synthesizes findings from published studies and highlights the rationale, drivers, benefits, beneficiaries, effectiveness, and impacts of affirmative action policies and practices in different countries. The chapter will discuss the possible lessons from these studies and highlight the link between affirmative action policies and practices and contributions to achieving target 5 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

<p>Positive action is measures that usually constitute discrimination but which are justified when achieving the purpose of an effective equality between people of the society. Positive action regarding gender is regulated in primary law, secondary law and case law of the EU whereas positive action regarding other discrimination groups is regulated in secondary law and negligible regulated in case law.</p><p>There is a boundary between positive action and discrimination. Primary law gives little guidance on determine that boundary. Secondary law provides more advanced guidelines of how to determining were the boundary is.</p><p>When determining were the boundaries lays between positive action and discrimination the guidelines given by the European court of justice in case law can be used. The majority of these guidelines are focused on positive action regarding gender. May these guidelines be used as an analogy to determining whether or not positive actions regarding the other discrimination groups are justified or not?</p><p>What constitutes de lege lata regarding positive action and is change required from a de lege ferenda perspective? Will de lege lata fulfill the aim of a full and effective equality between the people within the working life?</p>

<p><b>Background and problem:</b> It is important for a policy aiming at overcoming discrimination to be justifiable as just or as creating justice. When a policy is implemented lacking such qualities it is argued to be unjust, which creates a problem. During the last decades there has been massive immigration to the Western countries from countries marked by war and disaster. This has created problems of integration into the “new” society, and the use of preferential policies has become increasingly topical. Whether or not the use of preferential policies is a just method is the basis of this thesis.</p><p><b>Aim</b>: The aim of this thesis is to study the concept of preferential policies in an impartial perspective of fairness. By impartial it is meant to present facts speaking both for and against preferential policies as being just. The main question of this thesis is whether or not preferential treatment is a just method to create equality within the society.</p><p><b>Method</b>: A research method of textual analysis has been used combined with an analysis of structure of arguments.</p><p><b>Theoretical framework</b>: First, definitions of discrimination and preferential policies as such are focused upon in the third chapter. Second, the concept of social justice and its connection to preferential policies is treated. The question if preferential policies should be directed towards individuals or groups is a central question in the debate and it will demand its space in this thesis. Here the importance of merit will be discussed. The section about individuals and groups will be followed by a section discussing the importance of ethnic diversity which will be followed by a comparison of the development of preferential policies in the USA and Sweden. Last, there will be a section where an attempt to generalize between arguments is made.</p><p><b>Conclusions and Discussion</b>: In this part a conclusion and a discussion will be presented. Here conclusions will be drawn from the gathered material. Finally there will be a discussion on the subject and of how the research procedure has proceeded.</p>

Positive action is measures that usually constitute discrimination but which are justified when achieving the purpose of an effective equality between people of the society. Positive action regarding gender is regulated in primary law, secondary law and case law of the EU whereas positive action regarding other discrimination groups is regulated in secondary law and negligible regulated in case law. There is a boundary between positive action and discrimination. Primary law gives little guidance on determine that boundary. Secondary law provides more advanced guidelines of how to determining were the boundary is. When determining were the boundaries lays between positive action and discrimination the guidelines given by the European court of justice in case law can be used. The majority of these guidelines are focused on positive action regarding gender. May these guidelines be used as an analogy to determining whether or not positive actions regarding the other discrimination groups are justified or not? What constitutes de lege lata regarding positive action and is change required from a de lege ferenda perspective? Will de lege lata fulfill the aim of a full and effective equality between the people within the working life?

Positive action is a method of achieving gender equality. The positive action is an exception to the Equal Treatment Directive 2006/54 which allows for exceptions aimed for achieving full equality between women and men in the working life with the requirement that it must be within Article 157 (4) of the Treaty. The essay will have the positive action of gender as the starting point to create a solid reason to study a possible introduction of ethnic positive action into Swedish legislation. In order to achieve a worthwhile result, the paper will address relevant sources of law as well as relevant documents. A comparative feature will also be made with the Norwegian legislation, where the country has already chosen to implement a provision that says that the employer has the opportunity to use ethnic positive treatment. The paper will take both the negative as well as the positive aspects of a legislation that could prevent the structural discrimination which is happening right now in Europe and in Sweden. With the background of the unrest in Europe and in the rest of the world makes this essay current and something that has to be discussed. / Diskriminera, Etnicitet, Jämställdhetsdirektivet, Jämställdhet, Positiv särbehandling