The Equal@work conference in 2010 looked at issues around monitoring diversity and considered employers’ perspectives. The 2011 conference looked at reasonable accommodation of cultural diversity in the workplace and at what is being done on the ground by companies. In 2012, the conference looked at third country nationals’ ability to access the labour market, and at the glass ceiling for ethnic minorities in 2013. Last year, in 2014, participants discussed the collection of equality data as a mechanism for improving diversity practices. Following these meetings, a number of recommendations were put forward to relevant stakeholders at all levels.

Over the years, ENAR has worked to ensure the social inclusion of ethnic and religious minorities and migrants and to enable their full participation in the EU labour market. Since 2009, ENAR has been actively transferring and testing good diversity management practices in different national contexts, in collaboration with its members and corporate partners in a multi-stakeholder dialogue, thereby broadening respective horizons, generating trust and inspiring innovation, from European to local levels.

ENAR has succeeded in establishing a trusting network of key international companies, trade unions, public employers, academia and civil society organisations that develop innovative approaches to diversity management, which merged into the Equal@work Platform in 2011.

The Equal@work Platform aims to provide innovative solutions to combat racial discrimination in employment. At the European level, stakeholders:

■ anticipate future trends regarding diversity in the labour market;
■ share best practices and facilitate mutual learning;
■ design new projects and actions; and
■ provide feedback and recommendations to European policy makers

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Since 2009, ENAR has been working closely with employers, NGOs and public authorities to facilitate the access of workers from ethnic minority and migrant backgrounds to the labour market. Since then, subjects as diverse as monitoring diversity from the employers’ perspective to addressing reasonable accommodation have been examined. One of the main characteristics of ENAR’s work in this field is the attention its members pay not only to theoretical debates but also to the real practical issues that impact on individuals as they seek to make a positive influence on the practices of employers.