EOC celebrates 30 years of the Sex Discrimination Act

Today is the 30th anniversary of the Sex Discrimination Act and Equal Pay Act and the Equal Opportunities Commission have released figures to show the progress made in those 30 years.

In 1975, women represented just one third of higher education students. In 2005, girls are outperforming boys at school and represent of 56% of those in higher education.

The number of women entering the workforce has increased by a third since 1975.

In 1975, less than 2% of managers were women. In 2005 one third of managers today are women. The average household income has increased by around £200 since the mid 1970s.

New fathers today spend nearly two hours a day on child related activity, compared to just 15 minutes thirty years ago.

Jenny Watson, Chair of the Equal Opportunities Commission said, "Women have made great strides in education and the workplace and as a result their families enjoy a higher standard of living. Many things women take for granted today, from pregnancy rights to taking out a bank loan – were only established through the Sex Discrimination Act.

"However, the achievements women have made in education are still not fully recognised in the workplace. For many women, sex equality is a thin veneer which vanishes as soon as they take on caring responsibilities. We need to make more of women's talents and skills and prevent them from being channelled into low paid, part-time work below their potential. Women working part-time earn nearly 40% less than full-time men, a pay penalty that has hardly changed in 30 years."

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The business of race

According to Trevor Phillips, head of the Commission for Racial Equality, parts of Britain are 'sleep-walking to segregation'. But do the different communities in Britain stare at each other with mutual hostility and incomprehension?

Munira Mirza investigates the evidence, and reveals new research - commissioned by Radio 4 - that shows the extent to which Black students in Britain may be held back by their own perceptions of what white people think of them.

Link to radio programme

Ticking all the boxes

Forty years after Britain's first race relations act, employers are starting to follow US firms by sending workers on race awareness courses. But instead of smoothing office relations, such lessons could be inflaming tensions that never used to exist.

A follow-up article from the BBC following the Radio 4 news program 'The Business of Race' on 12 December.

Full article

Link to radio programme

DWP in the dock over unfair treatment of transsexual

The advocate general, who proposes solutions to cases being considered by the European Court of Justice (ECJ), has declared the UK in breach of EU law by not letting a man who became a woman retire at 60.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) said that Sarah Richards – a male-to-female transsexual who underwent gender reconstruction surgery in 2001 – could not draw her pension until 65 as she was still a man.

Under UK law prior to April 2005, the sex of a person for social security purposes was that stated on their birth certificate. A birth certificate can be changed only to rectify clerical or factual errors.

The alleged discrimination lies in the UK's failure to recognise transsexual persons in his or her acquired gender on equal terms with persons recorded as of that gender at birth.

The advocate general said it was contrary to EU law for a member state to refuse to grant a retirement pension before the age of 65 to a male-to-female transsexual where that person would have been entitled to a pension at the age of 60 had she been regarded as a woman as a matter of national law.

"Given the relatively few people who would be affected by the judgment, the financial implications would not create a risk of serious economic repercussions in the UK," he said.

ECJ judges are now deciding whether to accept the proposals.
Story taken from Personnel Today

Guidelines to keep employee relations in the pink

New laws giving same-sex couples the right to enter into an equivalent of marriage are a reminder to employers to promote diversity in the workplace, advises UK employment law expert, Croner.

The Civil Partnership Act 2004, which takes effect on Monday, extends the same rights of civil marriage to lesbian and gay couples. This means employers should make extra sure they are complying with laws to protect employees from sexual orientation discrimination, which have been in force since December 2003.

Although today's ruling does not introduce new employment rights, it will further clarify existing rights for the 22,000 people the Government predicts could be in a civil partnership by 2010. Certain areas of employment law concerning equality and family-friendly rights will be amended to formally recognise a 'civil partner' as equivalent to a spouse.

Richard Smith, employment services director at Croner, says, "This is a very significant piece of legislation for the UK lesbian, gay and bisexual community and will affect the workplace in a variety of ways. It may empower more people to take a stand against sexual orientation discrimination so we are advising our clients to check that their diversity policies state that such discrimination will not be tolerated.

"On a more practical level, we're advising employers to make sure all employees are treated equally, regardless of their sexual orientation or marital status. For example, at this time of year, employers should be extra careful that invitations for the office Christmas party to employees and their partners are worded so as not to exclude non-married partners, same-sex couples - and now civil partners."

More information on the effect of this legislation on your business

BBC Radio 4 debates diversity training

On Monday 12th December, BBC Radio 4 is hosting a programme on diversity training:

A few years ago, no one had heard of diversity training, but now it's big business, with diversity trainers springing up everywhere, helping us understand our differences and guiding different ethnic groups towards peaceful co-existence.

Public sector bodies do it because the law obliges them to promote good race relations. The private sector does it because it wants to be able to sell its products to all ethnic groups.
But does it work? Munira Mirza sets out to investigate whether we can be made more sensitive to each other, or whether, by emphasising difference, diversity training might unwittingly be divisive.

Monday 12 December 2005 11:00-11:30 (Radio 4 FM)

‘Disability’ label spells career death

A new study from Warwick University reveals just how much stigma is still attached to disability amongst private sector employers.

Researchers collected the experiences of managers, disabled and non-disabled employees and staff representatives from 260 private sector and English local authorities. They found that disabled people working in the private sector were often unwilling to declare themselves as disabled because it would mean ‘career death’.

They also experienced a contradiction between corporate policy and organisational practice which led to a significant degree of cynicism about their employers’ commitment to dversity.

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Morgan Stanley vice chairman to lead UK employability review

The vice chairman of Morgan Starnley International, Amelia Fawcett CBE is to lead a comprehensive review of UK workplace and employability issues. Fawcett will focus the Business in the Community review on equal opportunities, diversity and inclusiveness, work-related health and employee skills shortages. Fawcett, is the City's most powerful female banker and over the last 15 years has helped make her firm second largest in Europe.

Her review will be business-led, consulting leaders responsible for human capital management and executives involved in campaign groups Opportunity Now, Race for Opportunity, Business Action on Health and Skills for Life. It aims to help business gain a better understanding of the priorities and challenges of workplace issues, and aims to shape a new vision for 'workplace' campaigning.

Business in the Community has been involved in workplace campaigns for close to two decades, most recently focusing on British industry's need to tackle the skills shortage among employees in a variety of sectors. Recent studies revealed that the lack of basic skills among employees was costing UK business £10 billion a year.

It is expected that in the near future every large company in the UK will be required to report annually on how they measure the quality of their human capital management and report on its impact on business performance. Such reports are likely to include measurable employment-related statistics on areas such as training, recruitment, employee turnover and diversity.
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