An upcoming conference to be hosted by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) on diversity will discuss the subject that the organisation has criticised the government for not simplifying.

The CIPD has previously called on the government to simplify discrimination legislation, with the law and best practice both up for debate and aiming to shed light on the matter for confused employers.

"Legislation has functioned as an important lever for change in many organisations and plays an important role in tacking unfair discrimination, but we know employers get confused if they don’t understand what the law is trying to achieve," said Dianah Worman, CIPD diversity adviser.

She added that understanding what diversity is as well as how it impacts on the performance of a business is "vital".

The CIPD conference, on May 20th, will feature expert speakers such as Trevor Phillips, chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, Charlotte Sweeney, head of diversity and wellbeing at HBOS and Stevan Rolls, head of human resources at Deloitte.

According to the CIPD website, the organisation came into effect in 2000, when the Institute of Personnel and Development was granted chartered status.