Up to two-thirds of the 3.8m small to medium sized businesses (SME) in the UK could face age discrimination claims unless they review their working practices before new regulations come into effect in October 2006, according to insurance group, Axa.
The new Employment Equality (Age) regulations will bring age discrimination into line with laws on sex and race discrimination in employment and vocational training.
According to Axa's annual survey of SME managers, four out of 10 small business leaders are not aware of the new legislation and more than four out of 10 of the third of respondents that were aware, have not begun to take action or review their company practices.
Of those questioned, more than half of SME managers were concerned about the negative effect of increased employers' liability likely to be incurred with an older workforce, and almost a third were worried about having to fund longer pension plans.
And while nine out of 10 small business leaders believe investment in training and mentoring courses are important to overall success, nearly a quarter felt the cost and time they would need to invest in training older workers would have a negative effect on the profitability and productivity of their business.
AXA's Lou Macari said: "Older workers offer years of experience and can instil a greater sense of continuity in companies while younger workers tend to move between businesses and industries on a regular basis. However, considerations such as training, flexible working and increased expenditure on pensions, employers' liability and healthcare insurance, will always have a more noticeable impact on cash-conscious SMEs than big corporates.
"We urge SMEs to take time to audit their employment policies and review pension schemes, retirement policies and healthcare arrangements as part of their overall planning and strategy, so they are prepared well ahead of October 2006.
European companies employing diversity policies see business benefits
A report from the European Commission has revealed that 83% of companies believe that diversity policies make good business sense but nearly half of respondents have yet to implement policies. Companies in the north and west of the EU were more informed and were more widely implementing diversity policies than those in southern Europe and the new EU Member States.
Launching the report, 'The business case for diversity: good practices in the workplace', Vladimir Spidla, the EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, said: 'This study clearly shows that companies are making steady progress in the implementation of diversity and equality strategies at the workplace. They are doing this not only just for ethical and legal reasons but also for the clear business benefits they bring. It is particularly worth noting that a lot of companies wish to go beyond legal requirements and lead the field in diversity issues.'
According to the report, 42% of respondents believed that the most important business benefit of implementing a diversity policy was to resolve labour shortages and the ability to recruit and retain high quality staff. More than 38% of respondents thought that a diversity policy enhanced a company's reputation and standing in the local community. And more than 26% of companies saw improvements in their capacity to create and innovate.
The report also includes a good practice information from companies with diversity policies including providing non-discrimination training for managers and staff; creating employee networks to represent disabled, gay, lesbian, ethnic minority employees; company-wide campaigns on the value of older employees and diversity objectives for managers linked to performance appraisal.
New statutory code of practice on racial equality in employment
On 24 November 2005, the CRE published its new statutory code of practice on racial equality in employment.
The code is a set of recommendations and guidance on how to avoid unlawful racial discrimination and harassment in employment. It outlines employers' legal obligations under the Race Relations Act 1976 and contains general advice on the policies they will need to safeguard against discrimination and harassment, as well as more detailed recommendations on the procedures and practice that will help ensure fair and equal treatment for everyone.
Race for Opportunity, an initiative run by Business in the Community, hosted a Caribbean breakfast in Bristol on Wednesday 16th November to explore the business case for workplace diversity.
Race for Opportunity runs an annual national benchmarking exercise, in which companies self-assess their community involvement and multi-cultural engagement. In 2004, 113 organisations, representing 1.6 million employees, told Race for Opportunity what they have done to create a racially inclusive workforce.
The Caribbean breakfast provided an opportunity for companies to see how they can engage with ethnic minority audiences and find out more about the Race for Opportunity Benchmark. Speakers from Bank of Ireland, UnumProvident, BBC and Avon Fire & Rescue explained how the Race for Opportunity benchmark has helped them to connect with all their stakeholders.
The gender pay gap has narrowed since last year, but only by less than 1%, official figures reveal.
The 2005 Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings from the Office of National Statistics, shows that gross annual earnings for men who work full-time were £25,100 (up 3.6% from £24,200 in 2004), and £19,400 for women who work full-time (up 4.8% from £18,600).
This means the gender pay gap narrowed 0.6% from 17.8% in 2004, to 17.2% in 2005. More information
Transsexual wins sex discrimination case against airline
A transsexual airline worker who was forced from her job by managers who were unhappy with her appearance won her claim of sexual discrimination yesterday.
Marlene Davidson who was formerly called Malcolm, worked for airline Flybe for four years without incident, but after beginning a sex-change procedure she was mocked, bullied and told to use disabled lavatories, the Exeter tribunal heard.
Davidson was overlooked for promotion five times. She resigned in 2003, complaining that she had been forced out by discrimination.
She won her case and has been awarded an undisclosed amount of damages, thought to be about £25,000, according to The Times.
John Hollow, the tribunal chairman, criticised Flybe for failing to give her enough support. The Times reported that Don Darby, Flybe's personnel manager, said he had been "dumbfounded" to learn that Davidson was undergoing a sex change.
Label would let firms display their 'gender friendly' credentials
A VOLUNTARY labelling system recognising "gender-friendly" companies should be introduced in Britain in to tackle the pay gap between the sexes, a conference heard yesterday.
Delegates were told that the government should award the status to firms providing equal opportunities. The system would function much like "free range" or "fair trade" labels for egg producers and coffee traders. France has such a system and delegates from that country have been using a European Union gender equality conference in Birmingham this week to gather support for its implementation across Europe.
They say the labelling system would help to tackle the EU-wide pay gap, under-representation of women in the workplace and the low number of women in top managerial positions. The proposition comes a day after a high-ranking European Commission official said Europe will fail to meet its basic economic targets unless it finds innovative ways of bringing women into the workforce.
In a conference paper, the French delegation wrote that a "voluntary equality label" is a "means of setting an example and a new image". It also suggested that the system would help recruitment and retention of staff as a growing number of socially-aware employees enter the workforce.
The Government is expected to back changes to its Equality Bill proposals today, implementing broad protections for lesbian and gay people in the goods and services sector if the Bill becomes law.
Despite previously suggesting it would not include changes to the Bill but instead draw up separate proposals for gay equality in the coming years, the Government is planning to accept a new amendment drawn up by gay peer Lord Waheed Alli.
The new amendment, which is likely to be accepted in the House of Lords this afternoon, is likely to outlaw discrimination against lesbian and gay people in the hospitality sector and will bar hotels from refusing gay business because of prejudice.
Black and ethnic minority staff are still being discriminated against in the workplace despite anti-racist legislation. According to a new book being launched at House of Lords tonight, Tackling the Roots of Racism, published by The Policy Press and supported by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, identifies 'elite racism' as one of two categories of victimisation that minorities suffer.
Minority groups continue to make slower progress than white counterparts within organisations even though changes to recruitment procedures have possibly made a difference to their employment of minorities.
Authors Dr Reena Bhavnani, Professor Heidi Mirza and Veena Meetoo, of Middlesex University, say laws against racial discrimination and harassment are still ineffective in improving the quality of life for different ethnic minority groups. They fail to address underlying everyday attitudes and behaviours which frequently go unchallenged - and these subtle and overt behaviours quickly become an expected part of everyday life.
Private sector employers should learn from their public sector counterparts when it comes to promoting diversity, according to the UK's top civil servant.
Cabinet secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell laid down the gauntlet as he unveiled a 10-point plan to improve diversity in government departments. The programme includes linking the pay and bonuses of senior civil servants to whether their departments hit diversity targets. The CBI has repeatedly called for tougher performance measures in the public sector to keep tabs on the performance of Civil Service mandarins.
But O'Donnell said that public sector figures should instead be "pushing the private sector to get in there" to improve diversity.
O'Donnell said that the number of women in senior positions in the Civil Service showed just how far ahead of the private sector it is.
Government figures show that women now hold one in four (26%) of the top management posts in the Civil Service.
In contrast, figures from business consultancy Deloitte's 2005 Board Structure and Remuneration report show that only 3% of executive directors and 9% of non-executive directors in the FTSE 350 are women. In 2005, the number of female non-executive directors rose by just 1%.
"When you look at the FTSE directors and you look at the proportion of women, it's not good," O'Donnell told Personnel Today. "You have to ask yourself, is British business missing out by not getting the advantages of a much more diverse workforce?"
Waqar Azmi, the government's chief diversity adviser, added that diversity levels among senior managers in the public sector compared "very well with the private sector".
A spokesman from the Institute of Directors said women made up 17% of new members last year – up from 11% the year before. "We would like to see more women joining, but this does offer some encouragement," he said.
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