Committee on Employment and Social Affairs

“Racism at work: According to a report by the European Network Against Racism, people belonging to ethnic minorities have a much higher unemployment rate and are overrepresented in certain job positions or sectors. What can the EU do to address and prevent racial discrimination in recruitment?”

By Chengji Zhao (NL)

Relevance of the topic

Discrimination in recruitment has been a topic of academic and political debate for many years. Due to globalisation and therefore demographic changes, racism is an ever-present issue, and its effects on ethnic minorities in Member States call for a rapidly evolving response. Most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing racial inequalities: structural racism ¹ in employment has become more severe and ethnic minorities have been disproportionately contracting the coronavirus, given that they frequently work in low-paid and informal jobs. This means they are not able to work safely from home, as those with less practical, hands-on jobs can. This is shown in the ENAR’s Policy Paper on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore the unemployment rate amongst these groups is much higher in comparison to the majority. For women of colour, the circumstances are even worse. Given that they are also subject to sexism, they are particularly vulnerable to discrimination and sexual harrassment. In Romania, 35% of women are housewives. This demonstrates that there are still many barriers preventing women from joining the labour market.
Further, research has shown that there is an ethnic wage gap and an ethnic employment gap. There are differences between Member States and different ethnic groups. A good example is the Dutch labour market in which there is a noticable difference between the average pay of ethnic minorities and the majority of the population. This ethnic wage gap was observed at the end of the last decade. Turks earned 2% less than the majority, Surinamese 13%, Antilleans 19% and Moroccans 22%. Even in countries where we have disaggregated data, we see that being a member of an ethnic minority is a disadvantage. As shown in the ENAR shadow report, regardless of their educational background, people from ethnic minorities in the Netherlands are more likely to be unemployed. Despite the economic growth after the crisis, this gap has not been closed. Those who are employed, are victims of wage disparities. In Belgium, citizens of native descent possess on average more money and have a higher income compared to other citizens.

Key actors

The European Commission is one of the main legislative bodies of the European Union. It has the power to propose new legislation, and implements the decisions of the European Parliament. The Commission coordinates and monitors national policies and implementation of EU law and promotes the sharing of best practices in areas like rights at work, coordination of social security schemes, training, skills and entrepreneurship. The European Commission published the EU’s Social and Employment Policy in 2018. 
European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA): It advises EU institutions and national governments on fundamental rights. Many problems including discrimination, racism and xenophobia are addressed by this agency. By providing independent, evidence-based advice and consulting with a wide range of stakeholders, they help safeguard the fundamental rights of people who are victims of these problems. Their strategic plan for 2018-2020 sets out what it aims to achieve.
Member States: Because the EU has a special competence with the Member States on Employment and Social Affairs, the Member State governments are mostly responsible for their employment policies. The European Commission provides funding for projects relating to employment, social affairs and social inclusion through a range of programmes.
Private Businesses: They make decisions regarding their internal working in regards to their employees. Furthermore, the interests of private businesses are inevitably discussed when an issue requires some form of governmental intervention. They play a big role in fighting institutional racism ². Anti-racism initiatives also have a role in fighting institutional racism. Because private businesses are bound to the legislative framework of their respective countries, the institutions can exercise their influence through the policymakers of the Member States.
Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) such as the European Network Against Racism (ENAR) or the European Network of Equality Bodies (Equinet) assist in making decisive progress towards racial equality in all  Member States. This is done by adopting anti-racism policies and measures that recognise structural and specific forms of racism or by creating legislation that is legally binding in all Member States such as Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union.
The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) is a human rights monitoring body which specialises in questions relating to the fight against racism and discrimination. In 2012, they made a general policy recommendation on combatting racial discrimination in employment.

Key conflicts

Racism is a reality for many ethnic and religious minorities in the EU. However, the extent and manifestations of this reality are often unknown and undocumented, especially in official data sources. This means that it can be difficult to analyse the situation and to establish solutions to it. Although the accumulative effect of micro-incivilities ³ on individuals can be staggering, it is hard to take this to tribunal. Installing additional surveillance in the workplace however, limits the privacy of employees. Furthermore, it does not prevent micro-incivilities outside of the workplace. Therefore it only prevents racist behaviour from occurring at the workplace, but it does not eliminate it out of the system.
The ENAR Shadow Report shows that labour participation of immigrants and descendants are such that they are overrepresented in sectors such as trade, transport, hotels and restaurants and the service sector. Furthermore, social research conducted in Denmark by The National Centre for Social Research concluded that immigrants find it difficult to use their education in high quality jobs compared with Danes and, in general, have a lower salary return on their education. Educational programmes which slowly close the knowledge gap only increases the number of overqualified employees with an ethnic background. This demotivates a large part of the ethnic minorities to continue further education and that results in overrepresentation in aforementioned sectors.
Additionally, ethnic minorities have fewer chances of getting through recruitment processes, especially for highly skilled professions. Quantitative research in Ghent By Prof. dr. Stijn Baert showed job applicants with foreign sounding names (Turkish, Moroccan or Ghanaian names) have 30% less chances of being invited to a job interview compared to applicants with a similar profile but with Flemish sounding names.
Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on Europe’s economy. Many people working in the catering industry for instance have become unemployed. Because of the high supply and low demand of employees in these and other low-skilled industries, it makes it very difficult for these people to find a new job. Black and minority ethnic groups are more likely to be unemployed and in precarious work than their white counterparts. When forced to reduce the workforce, companies also take racial features into account. This is shown as a result of a recent report from the UCL Centre for Longitudinal Studies, Carnegie UK Trust, and Operation Black Vote, which concluded that millennials from ethnic minorities are 47% more likely to be on zero hours contracts. Therefore existing economic disparities could lead to a profoundly devastating impact of COVID-19 on people from ethnic minorities.
Finally, the aforementioned inequity is the result of institutional racism. The problem lies with the policies and practices of institutions. The roots of the problem when talking about structural racism are not so obvious however. As the awareness regarding this issue is lacking, many people do not dwell upon it. Nevertheless, action is required to increase balanced representation of people from all races in the workplace at all levels. In order to take action, it is necessary to identify the disparities. This proves to be a challenge. According to research conducted by YouGov, only 38% of employees feel that their employers are comfortable talking about race.

Measures in place

In 2000, the Member States transposed the EU’s Nondiscrimination Directives ⁴. This is the first time there has been an individual rights-based approach in order to enforce the rights of ethnic minorities. Not only does it aim to eliminate inequality between people from different backgrounds, but it also aims to help women of colour by promoting equality between men and women. This is done by ensuring that everyone has equal access to social protection such as social security and healthcare.
The previously mentioned NGO ENAR undertakes advocacy based on the expertises and experiences of their members. By engaging with decision makers at national and EU levels, ENAR aims to influence the EU to implement anti-racist policy. Through the platform, POC are given the opportunity to report their experiences of racism at national or EU level, and participate in EU decision-making and consultation processes. For instance, they have launched the Equal@work Platform where many people from different corners come together to find solutions to ensure equality in the labour market.
By conducting interdisciplinary research combining legal and social aspects and conducting surveys, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) provides evidence-based advice on numerous subjects, covering the impact of the economic crisis, to intolerance targeted at ethnic minorities. The agency works closely with EU institutions and with Member States. With their high-quality publications they have a lot of influence on legislation. Together with the Commission they work to encourage diversity in the workplace. In a survey, they have concluded that 83% of European companies profit from having diversity in the workplace. This diversity gives them the opportunity to select from a wider range of people and thus find the most suitable employees. More than half of the companies in the survey, however, still have to implement a policy that stimulates diversity. The delay lies in the fact that those companies need more information about the development of such a policy. The FRA together with the Commission supports those companies and thus ensures equality in the workplace.

What now?

– The European Commission published the EU’s Social and Employment Policy in 2018. Could this be adapted and modernised to address the problem of racial discrimination in recruitment?
– Talking about personal experiences related with racism is difficult. A lot of employees are scared to speak up because they fear this might affect their job negatively. Given that a lot of victims are working low-paid and informal jobs, they cannot afford this. What can we do to address this discomfort?
– The recent COVID-19 pandemic has left many people unemployed. Keeping in mind the importance of preventing the growth of an ethnic employment gap, how can we tackle this current shift in the labour market?
– How can we provide education for people from ethnic minorities in order to give them a chance to escape poverty and therefore start closing the ethnic knowledge gap? An article about possible ways to tackle the ethnic minority gap: https://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/voices/comment/tackling-ethnic-minority-employment-gap

Links for further research:

ENAR Shadow Report: Racism and Discrimination in Employment in Europe 2013-2017
Being black in the EU often means racism, poor housing and poor jobs – European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights
Renewed efforts needed to eliminate racial discrimination, especially in the workplace, say Heads of Europe’s human rights organisations – European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI)

1. This term refers to racism being a feature of the social, economic and political systems in which we all exist. It allows privileges associated with “whiteness” and disadvantages associated with “colour” to endure and adapt over time
2.  This term refers to the policies and practices within institutions that, intentionally or not, produce outcomes which put a racial group at a disadvantage
3. Micro-incivilities, also known as micro-aggressions, are commonplace behaviours or aspects of an environment which signal, wittingly or unwittingly, that someone doesn’t belong, or is not welcome. The intent to harm can be ambiguous in these instances
4. 2000/43/EC and 2000/78/EC