Employers urged to focus on motivation to maintain productivity

More than three-quarters of UK workers know or suspect that colleagues are on the lookout for a new job, according to research from Investors in People. The findings have prompted a warning to bosses to take steps now to improve employee motivation and safeguard productivity.

The research, which surveyed more than 1,600 UK employees, also says that one-fifth (19%) of employees are unhappy in their current job, with a further 33% feeling unsure and considering their future.

Itchy feet may be the result of this discontentment - nearly a quarter of staff say they expect to spend just a year or less in their job, with just under half (49%) planning to spend less than three years in their current role.

The job-hopping trend is also reflected in the finding that nearly one third (32%) of those questioned have had two jobs in the past five years, while 12% have had three.
Ruth Spellman, chief executive of Investors in People, said: "It's clear that the days of collecting a gold watch for loyal service are long gone - today's employees demand more from their employers.

"For employers, continuing to motivate people at work is an ongoing issue. It is vital that they act now to tackle the underlying causes of why people want to move on."

The key reasons for people leaving their jobs:

Better pay/benefits elsewhere (39%)
New challenges (33%)
Opportunities for career progression/promotion (28%)
Lack of recognition for current contribution (20%)
Lack of development opportunities in current role (20%)

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Ethnic diversity goal eludes the workplace

The Commission for Racial Equality did not mention workplaces when it warned recently that the UK was becoming increasingly segregated.

But businesses employing members of only one ethnic group are worryingly common in the diverse inner cities, according to Simon Topman, president of the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce.

Referring to the tough Birmingham districts of Aston, Lozells and Handsworth, Mr Topman says: "There are white-owned businesses that only employ whites, Asian-owned businesses only employing Asians and African-Caribbean businesses with only African-Caribbean employees."

Mr Topman's gripe is not with micro businesses staffed by two or three members of one family, such as corner shops or hairdressing salons. His argument is with enterprises that hire a workforce of 10 or more from a single ethnic group, typically by informal recommendation.

Mr Topman says: "It reflects a lack of thought and may not even be the result of discrimination. But we need to intermingle to develop local economies together."

Story taken from the Financial Times. Read More

CBI seeks to limit litigation from age discrimination rules

New age discrimination laws must not expose employers to the risk of litigation when retiring staff, the CBI has warned.

Under the Government's proposals employees will be able to ask to work beyond the new default retirement age of 65. But business depends on being able to plan for the future and staffing levels are a core element so employers want to have the final decision on retirement, subject to correct procedures being followed.

The draft rules, currently proposed by the Government, will leave employers exposed to litigation and potentially costly employment tribunals, the CBI says.

The regulations amend the Employment Rights Act 1996 and allow workers to challenge 'planned retirement' as unfair dismissal regardless of whether or not the employer followed the correct procedures.

And in such circumstances the practice of tribunals is to leave employers to prove their innocence or risk costly rulings against them.

The CBI agrees that when an employee requests the postponement of planned retirement there should be a full discussion between them and the employer - but wants the regulations to ensure the final decision on retirement is left to the company without risk when the proper procedures have been followed.

Unfair dismissal cases should not be allowed to arise from a properly 'planned retirement.'
The draft proposals are part of new Employment Equality (Age) Regulations which must be implemented by the end of 2006 to meet new European Union requirements on age discrimination. Consultation on the regulations, which are broadly welcomed by the CBI, ends today (Monday).

John Cridland, Deputy Director General of the CBI, said: "These regulations are a major landmark - protecting employees against unjustified age discrimination is the right thing to do. But Government must ensure the regulations are also workable and business-friendly. These draft regulations don't give employers and employees the clarity they need.
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Pressure grows over gay discrimination

Pressure is growing on the government to protect lesbian and gay people from discrimination in the goods and services sector.

Brighton MP Des Turner has tabled an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons calling for action on the issue. He wants an amendment to the Equality Bill, due to enter parliament again next week, to ensure the sector is included in anti-discrimination legislation.

At present, hotels, restaurants, the health service and other providers of goods and services are legally allowed to discriminate against lesbian and gay people. Although traditionally a smaller issue, the impact of the lack of laws increased in profile when a series of B&Bs across the country refused to allow gay couples to stay in their lodgings.

Since then, campaigners and members of the private sector have lobbied the government for change. Last month, tourist board Visit Britain announced it would push for change after a B&B in Dorset refused to allow a gay couple to stay. The board also said it would outline its guidance on the issue in a bid to ensure all lesbian and gay tourists were protected from abuse as much as possible.

Turner, who is the MP for the city’s gay centre Kemp Town, says he “welcomes” the Equality Bill in the Early Day Motion, but calls for the protections to be extended."

This House welcomes the Equality Bill, but calls on the Government to extend the protections for religious groups, in respect of discrimination in the provisions of goods, facilities and services, to lesbians and gay men,” the Motion states.

“There is a pressing need for such legislation at the earliest opportunity to end widespread discrimination in areas such as healthcare and insurance which exists purely on the grounds of sexual orientation."

Taken from Gay.com

Black and minority ethnic lecturers facing pay discrimination

Shocking evidence of pay discrimination in higher education is today published by AUT - the higher education union.

The report - Ethnicity and the use of discretionary pay in UK HE - shows that white lecturers are 60% more likely to be awarded performance related pay than their black and minority ethnic (BME) colleagues.

AUT is calling on the university sector to take concrete action to end pay discrimination rather than just talking about doing so. In particular, AUT is calling for the negotiation of open, transparent and equality-proofed procedures for awarding the performance bonuses in every university. Ethnicity and the use of discretionary pay in UK HE analyses data on staff and levels of pay provided by the university sector itself.

The research examines those staff awarded 'discretionary points' when they reach the top of their pay scale. It shows that 21% of white lecturers on the main lecturer pay grade have been awarded discretionary points compared to just 13% of their BME colleagues.

Sally Hunt, AUT's general secretary, said: "Once again we find evidence of discrimination in higher education. It is deeply disturbing that white lecturers are 60% more likely to be awarded discretionary points than their black colleagues.

"Employers have known about this for a long time. They must accept responsibility for such failures and take some meaningful action to end pay discrimination in higher education. Sadly, I expect all we will hear will be excuses, explanations and examples of spreading good practice. That is simply not good enough.

"It does not take much to introduce fair, transparent and equality-proofed procedures for awarding discretionary points. All it takes is a willingness on the part of the university employers to move forward."

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Mystery shoppers to sniff out bigot firms

A new campaign, Give us the Goods, launched by Stonewall aims to name and shame businesses or services that continually fail to meet gay needs.

To do this gay and lesbian people in Wales, their friends and family are asked to become mystery shoppers to identify areas where they are excluded.

Stonewall Cymru want people to test services. It could include reasons why a local video shop does not stock any gay titles or why in some libraries whether the ‘net nanny’ prevents people from accessing gay websites.

Stonewall Cymru director, Dr. Alison Parken said: “LGB people often don’t get the services they need because they won’t tell the police, their doctor, teacher, housing provider, parent or church leader about being lesbian or gay because they anticipate being badly treated.

“Worse, if they do inform people that they are lesbian or gay and need service delivery to take that into account, often the response is: “We don’t need to know that, we treat everyone the same.”

“This isn’t equality. It isn’t recognising LGB service needs and planning to provide services in an accessible or appropriate way. Many service providers and private companies, from banks to the local café will welcome knowing what they can do to improve.”

Responses from the community will be fed-back to companies and will help Stonewall Cymru in its campaign to gain discrimination in the delivery of goods and services.

Contribute to the mystery shopper experiences via the Stonewall Cymru website.

Story taken from The Pink Paper

Only 25% of small businesses have a disability discrimination policy

New research from the Department of Work and Pensions suggests that only 25% of small businesses have a written disability discrimination policy in place, and those that do often don’t follow it through in practice or in detail. However, there is evidence of a softening of attitude by employers towards employing disabled people.

The research examines small employers’ awareness of the DDA and measures how they were responding to the new duties under the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) introduced on 1 October 2004.

It looked at issues mainly relating to the employers’ awareness of, and responses to, the employment provisions in Part 2 of the DDA though it also picks up on some issues from the customer service provisions in Part 3 of the DDA.

The research is a follow–up to a 2003 survey of Employers’ and Service Providers’ responses to the DDA and their preparations for the 2004 duties. This latest report presents the analysis of the data from a survey conducted in Spring 2004 and comparisons to the initial survey results from 2003.

The main findings were:
Total awareness of DDA (spontaneous and prompted awareness of DDA by name) has risen amongst small employers from 58% to 63% (spontaneous awareness of DDA by name from 4% to 17%, and general awareness of legislation with regard to employment and disability from 59% to 74%). Media is still the main source of awareness (32%) but leaflets accounted for 13% - up from 8%.

The proportion of negative responses to statements about barriers to employing disabled people (e.g. this workplace has equal opportunities for disabled employees), have decreased. This indicates a softening of attitudes of employers towards the employment of disabled people.
Employers with disabled employees were more likely to say they had made an adjustment, with costs seeming to be less of a deterrent.

Employers less likely, than in 2003, to say they had not made any changes because they could not afford to. 61% of those that had made adjustments had made them at additional cost and 82% because it was the right thing to do for the disabled person. Most small businesses "filed" or discarded information on the DDA that was not of immediate use. A need for more information on and understanding of disabled people and the DDA is demonstrated, but it needs to be relevant at the time, for example when an organisation is recruiting or when an existing employee becomes disabled.

Quantitative research suggests 25% of small businesses now have a written policy for disabled people. However when explored in more depth, qualitative findings suggest that, whilst there is stated policy in place, it isn’t always fully worked through in practice and detail.
There is a reduction in approaches to Jobcentre Plus and other Governmental Departments for advice on disability. Instead a higher proportion of small business’ are now seeking advice from lawyers and solicitors, trade unions and professional bodies.

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