The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has called for an end to the disparity in employment practices between the public and private sectors.
According to the body, those working in the former have enjoyed fairer treatment than employees in the latter.
A recent Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) report suggested that racial discrimination still exists in private sector recruitment.
Commenting, TUC general secretary Brendan Barber explained that the statistics show anti-black and Asian sentiment - a trend he said must be brought to an end.
"Employers in the private sector have got to get better at recruiting staff and start selecting people for interview based on ability, experience and their suitability for the job, instead of letting prejudice and ignorance cloud their judgement," Mr Barber asserted.
The DWP figures show that for every nine applications sent by a white person, a worker from an ethic minority would have to send 16 to get a positive response.
