International business chiefs have said "punitive legislation" mooted by Government is not the way to achieve the desired promotion of black Bermudian executives.

The Association of Bermuda International Companies (ABIC) was responding to Monday's announcement that Government may impose fines and create an enforcement agency to educate international companies that do not promote black Bermudians to top jobs.

The move will transform the Commission for Unity and Racial Equality (CURE) from a policy-making entity to one with powers of enforcement, in the light of statistics showing black people are still a minority in executive positions — down from 29 percent to 27 percent last year.

ABIC Vice Chairman Harry Wilken said: "We understand and support the CURE's aims and the objective of workplace equality, and strongly believe that the promotion of Bermudians is in the best interest of Bermuda business. However, our preference is not for a legislated or punitive approach, but a solution where Government and employers partner to deliver improvements that are measurable and maintain the competitiveness of the workforce and business."

Announcing the plans, Minister for Community and Cultural Affairs Wayne Perinchief claimed: "I believe there's an element of racism in the maintenance of the white male in middle and upper management."

However, Mr. Wilken said ABIC, along with other employer organisations, has been working with the Ministry of Community Affairs and technical officers at CURE to better understand the existing and potential middle and senior management pool in Bermuda.

"Our members act properly and aggressively to train and promote Bermudians, and as an organisation, we operate the largest university scholarship programme in Bermuda," he said. "A critical element in converting the CURE agenda into tangible results is to have a sustained flow of adequately educated and trained Bermudians available for middle and top management jobs across all industry sectors."

However, he claimed ABICs efforts are "hamstrung by a lack of clear data," explaining: "It is impossible to identify existing and potential pools of qualified employees — and to properly measure progress in hiring particular groups — without having meaningful data. Workplace surveys conducted by CURE do not include information on educational levels attained. The prevailing success rate in education is also such a serious challenge that all parties must continue to work to establish effective programmes that will best serve Bermuda's interests. ABIC and its fellow employer organisations continue to believe that CURE's desired outcome will not be achieved through punitive legislation."

Mr. Perinchief said the legislation had been drawn up after consultation with major employer bodies, that racial quotas have been ruled out and it is not intended to be punitive. He told this newspaper: "We can no longer leave the issue of imbalance and under-representation of blacks in the workplace to good will."

Currently employers of more than ten people fill out an annual survey on the racial, gender and nationality breakdown of their workforce, detailing the salary and promotion hierarchy. If companies were doing badly they might get interviewed by the Commission for Unity and Racial Equality (CURE), said the Minister, but only if the company agreed. Under the new law, affecting companies with 40 or more employees, bosses will have to root out areas which could have contributed to institutionalised racism and put forward programmes to iron out disparities. Companies will not be sanctioned if their demographics stay the same, but failure to prove they have changed their human resource policies could lead to fines or even a board of enquiry.

CURE will make recommendations to companies having no success in changing their hiring and firing culture and the new policy will be policed by a team of compliance officers who will also educate companies on improving employment practice. Mr. Perinchief also said Government is helping companies by putting a graduate registry online to make them aware of qualified Bermudians about to enter the job market.