Legislation requiring companies to put in plans to promote black Bermudians could be extended to all firms, not just large ones, says Community and Cultural Affairs Minister Wayne Perinchief.

The controversial Workforce Equity Act 2007 had originally been targeted at firms of 40 or more employees.

Companies will be forced to set up policies to ensure Bermuda's largest racial group gets a representative share of the top jobs, those who refuse could be hit with $50,000 fines.

Minister Perinchief said companies had been given an extension until the end of the month to submit feedback on the legislation which due to be tabled in the House of Assembly before Christmas.

Mr. Perinchief said the new deadline would not be moved as Government had been in consultation with employers for around two years on the bill.

He told The Royal Gazette: "I don't believe we are going to drastically change the draft bill some small features perhaps. But the intent of the legislation to redress the racial imbalance in the workplace is not going to change.

"The need to have a plan in place by the companies is not going to change. But what could change is and we have already had some feedback that smaller companies under 40 should be made compliant.

"I am being swayed in that direction that I may remove that barrier to compliance that everyone should comply. This comes right from stakeholders and employees themselves."

He said people had called and e-mailed with fears companies would simply split into smaller units to evade the act as it stands now.

"There are others such as IT companies that are small anyhow their workforce is primarily non-Bermudian."

Recently departed Governor Sir John Vereker said the act ran the risk of being struck down as unconstitutional as it was against the Bermuda Constitution which forbids discrimination based on people's skin colour. However Mr. Perinchief said other sections of the Constitution allowed for discrimination in order to correct a problem with a particular ethnic group.

And lawyer Tim Marshall has argued that more appropriate legislation would focus not just on blacks but also on other disadvantaged groups such as women and the Portuguese.

But Mr. Perinchief said: "They are already covered by the Human Rights Act and various other bits of legislation. Let's not get hung up simply on the issue of black Bermudians.

"I am of the mind to broaden the whole effect but not remove the specificity of it that, in particular, black Bermudians should not be discriminated against. There should not be barriers against black Bermudians because that is the group most negatively impacted."

"I would be disengenous and the legislation would utterly lose its purpose if I were to remove the focus from that particular group that is particularly negatively impacted and has been so historically since the year dot. I am not going to be swayed on that."

A forum on the Workforce Equity Act 2007 is planned for November 1 at Cathedral Hall.

Last night one employer, speaking on conditions of anonymity, said: "This legislation is putting the cart before the horse. We have two major problems in Bermuda – education is in disarray."

The employer said Dr. Henry Johnson, the overseas expert Government had hired to oversee education reforms had said it would take up to five years to fix, so by the time people graduated college it could be up to ten years before the system started producing people with the necessary skill sets.

And the employer also said the collapse of the dual-parent family had made it even harder for youngsters to get ready to challenge for the top positions.