Equal opportunities & diversity news and update

 

General News

Brent Council Announce Equality Plans

Brent Council have published their Combined Race and Disability Equality Scheme 2006-07 outlining how Brent will seek to promote race and disability equality among both its own staff and the residents it serves in the coming year.

The scheme includes plans to increase the percentage of black and minority ethnic (BME) staff in senior council roles to 20% and the number of disabled staff employed by the council to 4.5%. It also looks to improve accessibility for disabled people at polling stations, to develop cultural activities for disabled young people, and help residents with disabilities to gain jobs at both the council and other public sector organisations.

Brent's head of diversity, Tracy Walters, said:
        "We have long regarded the diversity of Brent's population as one of its greatest strengths,         but it is crucial that we recognise and embrace that diversity at all times if we are to         provide the best possible services to our residents. The new combined scheme shows that         we take this issue extremely seriously and gives us clear and accountable targets for the         coming year."

From December, all public sector organisations will have a new duty to promote gender and disability equality as part of the Equality Act.

Race Update

Diversity to be a Factor for Olympic Contracts
The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA), the body in charge of the infrastructure of the 2012 Olympics, has said it will give bonuses to companies that manage to employ a pre-arranged percentage of black and ethnic minority workers.

The move follows a meeting between Trevor Phillips, the head of the Commission for Racial Equality and Jack Lemley and David Higgins, the ODA's chairman and chief executive last month. Phillips is believed to have told the ODA that diversity should be a factor when determining contracts.

Earlier this year, the Ethnic Minority Employment Task Force, a body of seven government departments, trade unions and business leaders, expressed worries that ethnic minority communities in East London could be overlooked in the run up to the Games.

English NHS Trusts Failing Race Relations Rules
A study of all 570 NHS trusts across England by the Health Care Commission has revealed that just seven have published information under the 2000 Race Relations (Amendment) Act on their websites.

Details of a race equality scheme and action plan setting out how the organisation will make race equality "central to all its functions" has to be published by law and reviewed every three years.

The Department of Health will now write to NHS chief executives asking for a prompt response to the findings.

The commission's study found:

• Only seven of the 570 trusts had all of the required information readily accessible
• Nearly one-third of the trust websites had none of the required information
• 60% of websites had an updated plan setting out how the organisation would make race   equality central to all its functions
• 6% of the websites included statistics showing the ethnic profile of the workforce
• 2% outlined what action had been taken to address problems related to race equality rules

Carol Baxter, Head of Equality and Diversity at NHS Employers, said the findings clearly showed that there was a lot of work to be done to ensure that trusts are fully compliant with race relations legislation. 

Sexual Orientation Update

PSNI Applicants to Reveal Sexual Orientation
Applicants to the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) are, for the first time, to be asked their sexual orientation. Under the plans, potential officers will also be able to declare if they are in a civil partnership.

Maura Muldoon, Diversity Manager at the PSNI, said the force has to reflect changes in Northern Ireland society.

She told the ‘Sunday Life’ newspaper.
        "Things like the Civil Partnership Bill are evidence that issues surrounding sexuality are         becoming more acceptable in our society. The PSNI has done a lot of work around trying         to make sure that true diversity, which is about having a voice as well as a presence, is         the reality of the situation in the organisation."

Gay Police Officer Claims Sex Discrimination Over Earrings
A gay police officer from the Hampshire force has claimed at an employment tribunal that he was a victim of sex discrimination after being called a “crusading faggot” for wearing an earring.

After being “singled out” and ordered to remove a stud from his left ear, PC Neil Bloomfield had argued male officers should not be prevented from wearing the jewellery if women colleagues were allowed to. The rules were introduced in 2004 in a drive to improve officers’ dress standards. However, they were criticised by gay officers and the public service union Unison warned of the risk of sex discrimination claims.

PC Bloomfield said:
        "I have been ‘out’ as a gay in the force for years. I wear a stud in my left ear and this for         me is an indicator of my sexual orientation. I believe I have been singled out by the strict         enforcement of the dress code against me. It is quite clear that it is not generally well         enforced and that a large number of breaches are allowed to continue.”

Age Update

Employers Should Review Health and Benefit Plans
Mercer HR Consulting has warned that employers must review their health and benefit plans or face costly age discrimination claims.

Mercer says that private medical cover, income protection and life insurance could be potentially discriminatory when the age legislation is implemented in October. Employers will have to justify any age-related rules in their policies.

John Matthews, Principal at Mercer, said:
        "The government has been extremely unhelpful and left employers in the dark about how         their health and benefit plans could contravene new age discrimination regulations. There         are numerous areas where companies could trip up - the only way they can stave off         potential claims is by conducting a thorough review of their benefit plans."

Matthews said companies with flexible benefit arrangements were particularly at risk.

Ageism More Likely to Affect the Young
Research by insurer Royal & Sun Alliance reveals that young people are more likely to feel the effects of age discrimination than their older colleagues.

The research found that one in seven young workers feel their progression has been hindered because of their age, compared to one in 10 people over 45. The study also shows that more males feel discriminated against than females due to their age. People in the North of England feel they are the greatest victims of age discrimination and those in the Midlands believe they are least affected.

Mike Bird, underwriting manager at R&SA said:
        "Many people think that age discrimination only happens to older people, but our research         shows that a high number of young people feel their progression has been hindered by their         age. We expect there could be a dramatic increase in cases brought against employers for         discrimination to mirror the trends in the US and Ireland when the Age Discrimination Act         was introduced."

The introduction of anti-age discrimination legislation in the US resulted in a 40% increase in claims with ageism cases increasing at a quicker rate than any other form of discrimination claim. In Ireland, age is now the basis of 19% of all employment cases.

Employers Still Not Ready for Age Discrimination Law
The Age Partnership Group has published sector-specific research reports which indicate a lack of readiness on the part of employers for the introduction of age discrimination legislation on
1 October this year.

The sectors investigated are:
• Business Services
• Construction
• Education
• Health and social care
• Hospitality
• Manufacturing
• Retail
• Transport and logistics
• Other community (e.g. media, sport, public services, the arts)

The research found that:

• Eight sectors use length of experience to fix starting salaries or as a criterion in selection for   recruitment and retention
• Seven use age or length of service as the basis for redundancy decisions
• Five provide age information about candidates to short-listing and interviewing staff
• Four set maximum or contractual retirement ages, and for two of these sectors the contractual   retirement age is often below 65

The reports also examine what employers are doing to remove compulsory retirement ages and adopt flexible approaches, and look at how the age legislation affects young people in the workforce.

Retirement Age of 65 Recommended for Compliance With Age Legislation
The printing employers' organisation BPIF and union Amicus have recommended that industry firms adopt the default retirement age of 65 set by new age discrimination laws that take effect from 1 October. By doing this companies can lawfully retire employees at age 65.

Employees will have the right to request to continue working beyond their retirement date, and although employers are under no obligation to accede to these, they will be required to give them full consideration.

The BPIF and Amicus have stressed the importance for companies and unions to discuss succession and manpower planning.

Asda Will Not Ask Job Seekers Their Date of Birth
Asda has gone beyond the requirements of the new age discrimination laws which come into effect on 1 October by announcing that it will no longer ask people applying for a job at any of its UK stores to give their date of birth on their application form.

While the new regulations seek to outlaw discrimination on the grounds of age, they do not go so far as to prevent employers asking candidates how old they are when applying for a job. 

David Smith, People Director at Asda, said:
        "We simply don't see the point in asking people for their age when it's completely irrelevant         to our recruitment process. We take on the best personality for the job, regardless of when         they were born. Our oldest recruit was over the age of 80 when they joined us and they're         living proof that age isn't a barrier."

Asda is one of the UK's biggest private sector employers of the over 50s, with more than 30,000 older workers. 


Gender & Orientation Update

Sexism and Racism Still a Problem in the Police Service Claims BAWP
The British Association for Women in Policing (BAWP) claims that sexism and racism is still rife in the UK police service, citing the fact that senior level female police staff and ethnic minorities are still under-represented in the service.

Julie Spence, President of BAWP and Chief Constable of Cambridgeshire constabulary, has said that there is a “real danger” that the service could claim it had a diverse workforce while the majority of management roles were held by men.

The association is one of the groups behind the ‘Gender Agenda’ within the police service, which aims to promote female police officers.

Labour Party Planning More Employment Rights for Women
The Independent on Sunday has reported that working women may be given extra employment rights under plans being drawn up by the Labour Party.

In a new package of policies, compulsory equal pay audits will force companies to reveal if they are paying women less than men for doing the same job. The minimum wage will also be raised to help millions of women, including cleaners and care workers, on low pay. Mothers could also be paid sick leave if their children are ill and given more legal rights to work part-time.

The package of workplace rights, which will be discussed at next month's Labour Party conference in Manchester, is being drawn up by the Minister for Constitutional Affairs Harriet Harman who devised earlier reforms of maternity and paternity leave.

First Direct Addresses Gender Equality
First Direct, part of banking giant HSBC, has given its commitment to work with trade union Amicus to address gender inequality among its workforce and, in its two sites at Leeds and Hamilton, will develop a programme of work to improve the pay of and opportunities for its female employees.

According to Amicus, there is currently a 43% gender pay gap in the financial services sector with women clustered in particular roles. The private sector union is campaigning to address the historical factors that contribute to gender inequality in the sector.


Maternity & Paternity Update

Failure to Take Paternity Leave Blamed on Finances
A survey by YouGov for savings firm ING Direct has found that of 1,078 fathers polled, 48% said financial considerations were a key reason for not taking the full paternity leave they are legally entitled to.

Just over a third take the period allocated to them by their employers to spend time with their new baby and 58% take less than a week off, according to the survey. Work responsibilities were also seen as a deterrent, with one in 10 saying they feared their career would suffer if they took too much time off. One in eight said their employer was not parent friendly.

Unsympathetic bosses were a major factor stopping new fathers taking the full time, with a fifth claiming their employees were needed back at work "urgently".

Disability Update

EAT Ruling on Pay to Disabled Employees on Sick Leave
An Employment Appeal Tribunal has ruled that employers do not have a duty to pay full pay to disabled employees on long-term sick leave.

The ruling resulted from a case involving HM Revenue & Customs who offered a disabled employee months' standard full pay followed by six months half pay. The employee, who was clinically depressed, claimed that the failure to pay her the full amount was either a failure to make reasonable adjustments to compensate for her disability, or unjustified disability-related discrimination.

The EAT found that the Disability Discrimination Act had not been breached and that it would be "a very rare case indeed" where the duty to make reasonable adjustments meant paying an absent disabled employee more than an absent non-disabled employee.

The EAT also found that paying a disabled employee on long-term sick leave more than a
non-disabled worker would flout the DDA's policy objective, to assist the integration of disabled people into the workplace. This would actually provide a disincentive for disabled people to return to work, the tribunal said.

Flexible Working

Younger Managers Fail the Flexible Working Test
A survey of 3,000 staff for telecoms giant BT has found that managers aged 18-29 are the most suspicious management age group when it comes to flexible working with 38% of those polled falling into this group. This compared to 30% of 30 to 50-year-olds and 25% over 50s.

Men were the found to be much less trusting than women, with the research showing they were 50% more likely than women to be suspicious of colleagues who work flexibly.
Trust was seen by staff as the single most important skill for any employer to exhibit while managing a remote workforce. 

This makes it almost twice as important as the ability to communicate effectively (21%), and more important than good organisation (14%) and the ability to motivate (12%).   

Caroline Waters, Director of People and Policy at BT said:
        "When it comes to making a success of flexible working, this survey throws the spotlight         firmly on the importance of softer people management skills. The emphasis put on trust         and strength of relationship between employers and employees points to the fact that         women, and in particular women over 50, are the ideal management role model in this         increasingly flexible business world."

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