Discrimination in Employment. By the Comparative Labour Law Group, edited by Folke Schmidt. [Published by Almquist & Wiksell International, Stockholm. 1978. 542 pp. (including index). No price stated.]

Date01 November 1979
Published date01 November 1979
DOIhttp://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2230.1979.tb01571.x
732
THE
MODERN
LAW
REVIEW
[Vol.
42
and
111.
But it seems quite extraordinary to include an incomplete version of
the 'I'cxtile P,roducts (Indications of Fibre Content) Regulations
(S.I.
1973
No.
2124)
in Appendix
I1
and in Appendix
IV
to include a copy of the
l'asscngcr
Car
Fuel Consumption Order Form
(S.I.
1977
No.
1063)! What
relevance are these esoteric statutory instruments to most practitioners? How
much more useful would have been samples
of
the standard agreements issued
by the Indcpendent Broadcasting Authority.
or
even indeed the conditions of
the Royal War,rant Holders Association? And in the light of
EEC
develop-
ments it is
a
pity that the
EEC
Draft Directive on Advertising does not appear
in thc Appendix.
The strength of this book is that United Kingdom legal decisions on adver-
tising are either fully discussed
or
extensively noted. It will ,therefore be a
useful rcfcrence book, although it is
a
pity that the author did not ,pick up
small items such as the fact that the Patents Act 1949 has been overtaken by
the Paten,ts Act 1977. It will
also
prove a uscful book to students since the
author's style is clear and intelligible, and difficult areas of law are expertly
analysed.
HUGH
BRETr.
DISCRIMINATION
IN
EMPLOYMENT.
By
thc
COMPARATIVE
LABOUR
LAW
GROUP.
edited
by
FOLKE
SCHMIDT.
[Published by Almquist
&
Wiksell
International.
Stockholm.
1978.
542
pp.
(including index).
No
lprice
stated.]
IF
asked to specify what provisions there are in British law concerning
discrimination in employment,
a
British labour lawyer would almost certainly
refer to the Sex Discrimination and Race Relations Acts but might well pause
before adding anything further. It is clear that in employment as in other areas
of
lifc discrimination is not confined to the grounds covered by these two Acts.
It would however be difficult if not impossible to draw up a definitive list of
the characteristics on
the
basis of which people may be distinguished from
each other either generally
or
just
for
the purposes of employment, The
Comparative Labour Law Group's study of discrimination in employment does
not attempt to provide such
a
comprehensive analysis. As the editor Folke
Schmidt points out
in
the
Preface, the topics considered are selective and certain
critcria which it would 'be generally conceded do form the basis for dis-
crimination in employment are either excluded
or
considered only briefly.
Five members of the group have each contributed a chapter on
a
particular
area
of
discrimination. These chapters present an analysis of the law and legal
procedures relevant to that area
in
the six countries from which the group's
members come: Sweden, United States, Britain, France, West Germany and
Italy.
Folke Schmidt's contribution on sex discrimination adopts
a
broadly
historical perspective considering first the nineteenth-century protective legisla-
tion and the opening up of closed professions before concentrating on the
three areas which dominate the modem law: equal pay, equal opportunities
and women workers
as
mothers. A particular merit of the sections on equal
pay and equal opportunities is the structure he adopts, identifying the meaning
of equal pay and exceptions to the prohibition of sex discrimination as key
problems, and evaluating the experience of the 'law, particularly in the United
States and Britain, in adopting different solutions to them. A clear framework
within which the information is presented in
a
systematic way makes
Ws
a
very readable chapter.
American and British experience
is
even more dominant in Benjamin Aaron's
chapter on discrimination based on race, colour,
"
ethnicity
"
and national
origin.
He
also adopts a broadly historical approach,
a
background section
preceding one on tho modern
"
comprehensive statutory prohibitions
"
in the

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