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The purpose of this paper is to examine employment discrimination in the English-speaking Caribbean by analysing evidence from jurisdictions where anti-discrimination legislation has been enacted (namely Guyana, St Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago (T&T)).

This paper reviews existing anti-discrimination legislation in the three named countries, along with available court and tribunal decisions, with a view of determining whether the protections reasonably cover all minority groups.

It has been shown that, despite the existence of anti-discrimination law in T&T, St Lucia and Guyana, discrimination is still reported. T&T is the only jurisdiction with a functioning Equality Opportunity Commission and Tribunal, and where a wide range of cases has been adjudicated, relative to St Lucia and Guyana.

Legislators and policy makers may wish to consider the findings of this research in making legislative amendments or enacting new laws, with a view to broadening the range of protections. Organisational practitioners may use the findings to assist them with interpreting the law (and their responsibilities to protected groups) and its intended impact on HR practice and, where necessary, make changes where current practices are incongruent with the legislation.

Legislators and policy makers may consider the findings of this research in making legislative amendments, with a view to broadening the range of protections. Organisational practitioners may use the findings to assist them with interpreting and implementing the law.

This paper reviews current Caribbean anti-discrimination legislation and cases, which to date has not been done. It highlights the omission of sexual orientation from legislation enacted across the region. There is currently a paucity of research on employment discrimination within Caribbean territories and specifically as it relates to the effect of applicable legislation. Consequently, this paper establishes a benchmark for future researchers and it informs organisational and societal stakeholders as to what may constitute prohibited practices.

Neurodiverse conditions, or developmental disorders, are neither well-known nor understood by the general population in Trinidad and Tobago. Awareness of, or sensitivity toward, children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), in particular, is lacking in Trinidad and Tobago. Generation A is those persons who will reach adulthood in the next decade or so and be seeking employment opportunities. Given the current challenges faced by persons with ASD in securing and maintaining employment and the fact that this is a generally underexplored area of research, focusing on Generation A provides an opportunity to explore what provisions are in place for individuals with ASD to assist with future transitions into the workplace in Trinidad and Tobago. This chapter focuses on the existing policy, legal, and institutional framework in Trinidad and Tobago for ASD in the workplace, with particular reference to Generation A, to determine how it is currently addressed and what accommodations are being made to facilitate this demographic. A review of ASD-related data and select, relevant policy, law and institutions in Trinidad and Tobago has revealed that very few preparations, if any, are being made to facilitate Generation A individuals' entry into the workplace. The most relevant sector for addressing ASD needs falls to the NGO movement, but these organizations do not focus on employment preparation. Several recommendations for the key stakeholders in this process have been made that can assist in this regard.

The purpose of this paper is to further restore diversity and equality to its national contexts by presenting new and so far less visible perspectives from under-researched countries.

This special issue consists of five articles representing four countries and one country-cluster: Bangladesh, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ethiopia, Korea and the English-speaking Caribbean. Three of the contributions are focused on gender diversity, while the remaining two are more general descriptions of diversity challenges and policies in the respective countries (namely, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the English-speaking Caribbean).

In addition to providing an overview of this issue’s articles, this paper highlights developments and current themes in country-specific equality and diversity scholarship. In particular, drawing on the special issue’s five papers, and building on the main threads that weave the special issue together, the authors show both the relevance of (some) western theories while also pointing to the need for reformulation of others.

The authors conclude with a call to further explore under-researched contexts and especially to develop locally relevant, culture-sensitive theoretical frameworks.

How do smaller and less developed countries experience equality and diversity concepts? How are their approaches different from those experienced in already researched countries, or, on the contrary, what commonalities can be found found among them? How do theoretical frameworks originated in the West apply (or not) in these less studied countries? Are new, locally grounded frameworks needed to better capture the developments at play? Such are questions addressed by the contributions to this special issue.