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Resolution 2257 (2019)
Discrimination in access to employment
1. The right to work is a fundamental
right, guaranteed by many international instruments on the protection of
fundamental rights, including the European Social Charter (revised)
(ETS No. 163). Access to the labour market can, moreover, be a very
powerful factor of integration and social cohesion.
2. The Parliamentary Assembly notes with concern that in a large
number of European countries, developments in the labour market
and the rise in job insecurity are making it increasingly difficult
for individuals to have access to long-term employment. As a result,
many people find themselves seeking a job more and more often and
for longer and longer periods of time.
3. The Assembly is also concerned that for some people these
problems are compounded by discrimination based on grounds such
as their sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national,
ethnic or social origin, belonging to a national or ethnic minority,
colour, language, family name, religion, political opinions, trade
union activities, pregnancy, disability, state of health or physical
appearance or any other real or supposed situation.
4. Discrimination can have dramatic consequences and can irreversibly
impact the victims’ career path, prompting them to give up on an
occupation linked to their qualifications or to leave their country
to find a better job abroad. For States, this represents not only
a waste of human resources but also an economic burden and highlights
the urgent need to take action to step up the fight against discrimination
in access to employment.
5. The Assembly has already made a number of recommendations
to member States of the Council of Europe aimed at remedying the
structural inequalities affecting certain groups within our societies
who find it harder than others to access employment or who are more
subject to discrimination in this field. Several recent resolutions
address these issues, such as Resolution 2235
(2018) on empowering women in the economy, Resolution 2153 (2017) on
promoting the inclusion of Roma and Travellers, Resolution 2039 (2015) on
equality and inclusion for people with disabilities, Resolution 1958 (2013) on
combating discrimination against older persons on the labour market, Resolution 2014 (2014) on
raising the status of vocational education and training, and Resolution 1993 (2014) on
decent work for all.
6. In order to combat discrimination in access to employment
effectively, States must take both general measures to promote access
to employment for groups that are disadvantaged in this field and
measures to encourage employers, both public and private, to eliminate
all forms of discrimination in their recruitment procedures. These
measures must also take account of the increasing role played by
artificial intelligence, based on algorithms, in the shortlisting
of applicants used in large and medium-sized enterprises and in
the civil service.
7. In the light of the foregoing, the Assembly calls on Council
of Europe member and observer States and States whose parliaments
enjoy observer or partner for democracy status with the Parliamentary
Assembly to:
7.1. in order to identify
the most urgent measures, collect data regularly on access to employment, broken
down according to as wide a range of grounds of discrimination as
possible, and at least according to all the grounds recognised at
national level;
7.2. ensure that anti-discrimination law is complete, covering
all grounds of discrimination, and includes accessible and effective
legal remedies for people who are victims of discrimination in access to
employment;
7.3. adopt an integrated policy designed to promote access
to employment for disadvantaged groups in this area, and in this
context to:
7.3.1. promote access to education and training
for members of disadvantaged groups in the field of employment;
7.3.2. take effective measures to help the long-term unemployed
to return to work;
7.3.3. help people learn the official language or languages of
the country or region in which they reside;
7.3.4. bearing in mind that employers have the same prejudices
as the general public, combat these prejudices and the stereotypes
that prevail among the population;
7.4. take measures to actively encourage employers to identify
and bring to a halt all discrimination in their recruitment procedures
and, to this end, to:
7.4.1. make it compulsory for large
and medium-sized enterprises to use anonymous CVs, and encourage
them to use standardised application forms and design all algorithms
used in these procedures in such a way as to eliminate any risk
of discrimination;
7.4.2. promote optional unconscious bias training and the establishment
of standardised interviews;
7.4.3. promote the introduction by public and private companies
of in-house diversity auditing;
7.4.4. support various measures liable to have an indirect positive
impact on access to employment for people who are disadvantaged
in this field, such as recruitment grants, deploying employment
mediators or creating diversity labels, and carry out regular evaluations
of the effectiveness of these measures;
7.4.5. introduce a legal obligation for public-sector employers
to promote diversity;
7.4.6. support voluntary initiatives by public and private companies
to promote in-house diversity and convey positive messages about
diversity in society, placing particular emphasis on initiatives
which incorporate regular reporting on the results obtained.
7.5. with regard to the Council of Europe member States, ratify
the European Social Charter (revised) and the Additional Protocol
to the European Social Charter providing for a system of collective complaints
(ETS No. 158), if they have not already done so.