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| Is it Time To Outlaw "Lookism" ? |
The Background: We know the number of overweight people is growing in our society. The Department of Health estimates that 18 million working days are lost a year due to obesity-related health problems. It’s reported that employers are increasingly seeking legal advice about hiring overweight job candidates. And a survey conducted two years ago with HR professionals found 93% admitted they would choose a ‘normal weight’ applicant over an obese candidate with the same qualifications and experience. Being ‘shorter’ and judged to be ‘plain-looking’ have also been shown to result in lower earnings and fewer workplace opportunities for the individuals concerned. Employers would say that their employees represent and convey the image of the firm as far as their actual and potential customers are concerned. Businesses increasingly complain about the cost and amount of regulation and red tape they have to cope with, employer organisations and probably the Government would baulk at any additional ‘equalities’ regulations. Finally, the media and others would almost certainly greet any new strand of ‘equalities’ regulations as ‘political correctness’ and the ‘nanny state’ gone mad. When it comes to our views and reactions towards the way other people look, it may not be easy to separate how much of the response is down to ‘nature’ or ‘nurture’. But the same argument can be made in respect of other forms of discrimination and it’s the actual or potential disadvantage caused to the individual in question which equalities legislation seeks to address. We now have legislation in place which
outlaws discrimination against individuals based on their gender,
ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, religion or belief
and age. Do you think legislation should be introduced to outlaw
discrimination based on a person’s physical appearance? |
After 200 days, the results were:
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