Women are still being paid less than men, thirty years after the introduction of equal pay legislation, a new report has found.The government-commissioned "Shaping a Fairer Future" report from the Women and Work Commission found that women are earning 17% less than men.
This was "bad for women and bad for Britain", the report said.The report said that increasing women's employment and ending gender segregation could benefit the economy by as much as £23 billion.
Commission chairperson Margaret Prosser said: "Many women are working day-in, day-out far below their abilities and this waste of talent is an outrage at a time when the UK is facing increasing competition in the global market place and an outrage for those women personally.
"We all recognise that the gender pay gap is complex and multi-faceted. There is no one solution - no magic bullet. We need action that starts from the early days in school and continues through all stages of a woman's working life to tackle the cultures that put women at a disadvantage.
"The report made a series of recommendations, including £20 million of government funding to increase skills levels; an initiative to promote quality part-time work; a localised approach to matching jobs and skills; and development and training of equality representatives.The report also recommended establishing a national World of Work programme to improve vocational training, provide 'work taster' days for primary school pupils and using work experience to encourage girls to think about non-traditional jobs as well as promote apprenticeships for women especially in sectors with skill shortages.
Responding to the report, Prime Minister Tony Blair appointed Minister for Women Tessa Jowell as the 'Cabinet champion' to produce an action plan. Speaking at Downing Street today, Mr Blair said that much had already been done to end discrimination. However, he added: "This is as much of an issue to do with culture and to do with the reality of how the workplace works for women than it is with deliberate acts of discrimination. What we need is a whole range of different policies that are designed both to change the practise and the culture of the workplace."
Commenting on the report, Dianah Worman, CIPD Diversity Advisor, warned that equal pay audits alone would not reduce disparities between men and women in the workplace. She said: "Smart employers will already carry out regular pay audits. Research shows that treating people fairly is a key factor on improving employee satisfaction and employee attitudes - both contribute to better business performance. So, it is in the interest of employers to explore the underlying issues that are often highlighted in equal pay audits, such as poor diversity training, weak performance management systems and biased appraisal processes in order to create a culture based on fairness."
However, Jenny Watson, Chair of the Equal Opportunities Commission, said: "These recommendations will take us further down the road to closing the pay gap. We already have the highest female workforce participation in Europe, excepting Scandinavia, and with 1.3 million new jobs opening up in the next decade, making the most of these talents could be Britain's competitive edge." Read the full report [opens as a PDF]
Whitehall departments are perilously close to being subjected to enforcement action for failure to deliver on their legal duties under the Race Relations Amendment Act (2000), according to the Commission for Racial Equality.
CRE - which can enforce compliance of the Act - found that 15 Whitehall departments are failing in their duty to put race equality at the heart of their service delivery. By law, central government departments are required to assess new policies and legislation for their impact on race equality.
Nick Johnson, director of policy and public sector, said: "Vital legal measures were introduced to address the problems of racial inequality and discrimination. Making sure that we tackle inequalities is a responsibility for everybody, including Whitehall departments and they must deliver on their promises.
Race equality should not be treated as an add-on, but mainstreamed into all policies. The consequences of ignoring it can be dramatic - whole communities faced with unmanaged discrimination. Who would believe that health, education and business policies, for example, would not have an impact on race?"
Stonewall Scotland today launched the Diversity Champions Scotland. The programme aims to provide all the benefits of the Diversity Champion's programme in England and Wales as well as Scottish specific information and activity.
The founder members of Diversity Champions Scotland include the Scottish Executive, Scottish Enterprise, the Scottish Prison Service, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, Scottish Court Service, Glasgow University and Standard Life.
Scottish members will benefit from access to expert advice on improving the workplace for gay employees and attracting more gay staff.
Calum Irving, director of Stonewall Scotland said: "Enlightened employers these days realise that people perform better when they can be themselves. By working with us and other Diversity Champions, members can learn how to create a workplace where lesbian and gay employees are afforded respect and play a full role in the life of the organisation.
Ethnic minority law firms will be among those hardest hit by a review of the legal aid system, according to the Birmingham Law Society. The proposals, whereby firms will bid for criminal legal aid contracts, are likely to favour large firms who can tender the most competitive prices.
And ethnic minority firms, which tend to be among the smaller 'niche' firms will become "progressively more disadvantaged" according to Richard Follis, president of Birmingham Law Society.
The proposals in the review are aimed at trimming the criminal legal aid budget and speeding up the progress of cases through the criminal justice system. The reasoning is that if a firm has a fixed budget to spend on defending a client in magistrates court, they will be less inclined to accept delays and adjournments.
Mr Follis said he feared one of the principal side effects of this aspect of the review would be less choice for the consumer via the inevitable loss of small law firms.
"The practical effect of getting firms to bid for work is that very small firms will no longer be able to carry out legal defence work," he said. "Having small firms doing that has been good for the public because of choice. There is more chance of finding a small local firm and not having to travel.
"There is not a huge over supply of criminal lawyers in the West Midlands," he added. "It is not that easy to get yourself an experienced criminal layer in certain parts of the West Midlands. If we lose the network of small firms then it will get progressively harder."
In addition, he said, it would mean clients would not benefit from the local knowledge solicitors in an area had of magistrates and law enforcement issues which affected sentencing.
Research by the Legal Services Commission has indicated that a bidding system would be detrimental to agencies which have a higher than average proportion of lawyers with ethnic minority backgrounds, he said.
"This is because they tend to be the smaller, niche firms rather than the size of firms who will be able to offer competitive tenders. These are the firms which tend to be in the i nner city, in areas of deprivation."
Ethnic minority clients would also lose out, he said.
"It would tend to discriminate against the people of those backgrounds who use those firms as well, who want to be represented by people who are of their own background, who are local and who perhaps speak their language," he said.
Chief Crown Prosecutor David Blundell, said although small firms could be forced to adapt, the new system would revolutionise the way the defence worked in court.
"The review is introducing market forces into the system so there will be competition between firms who should then bid for work," he said.
"The expectation is that firms will amalgamate. The implication for courts and the CPS is that the defence will be very, very efficient, because every delay will be costing the firm money."
Management and unions 'have not thought enough' about equality
The blame for women being paid less than men lies on the shoulders of both employers and unions, according to the head of the Women at Work Commission.
Speaking ahead of next week's launch of the Commission's investigation into the gender pay gap, Baroness Prosser said initiatives such as the NHS's Agenda for Change had highlighted just how big pay differences could be, because considerations about equality had historically been ignored.
"If you look at what's happened in the public sector, in the NHS and Agenda for Change, thousands of pounds have been paid out to women whose jobs have been traditionally undervalued," Prosser said. "Those jobs were jointly evaluated and graded by management and union, so somewhere along the line they have not thought enough about equality."
Tony Blair will launch the Women and Work Commission report next week and signals the government's intention to carry out its recommendations for closing the gender pay gap. These include the appointment of 'equality representatives' at all medium and large employers.
Bank's diversity drive could alter supplier culture
A report from Personnel Today highlights a move by one of the UK's biggest companies to request diversity information from its suppliers, which could set a trend for employers across the country.
Barclays is planning to call on its legal advisers to provide diversity statistics on their gender and ethnic make-up, as part of its corporate social responsibility policy in the UK.
The bank will require law firms, including Allen & Overy and Clifford Chance, to supply details of their workforce demographics to ensure diversity levels are "an acceptable standard".
Barclays is thought to be one of the first private sector companies in the UK to request diversity statistics, although it is increasingly common in the public sector.
Amanda Jones, head of diversity at the Co-operative Group, which operates its own ethical trading policy, said the move would have a knock-on effect for other private sector organisations. "It's a positive step, but each firm will have to follow suit in its own way," she said.
Dianah Worman, diversity adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, described the initiative as a "bold move", but said the statistics should not be used in isolation or be over-simplified. "There are a number of ways in which we need to move forward to diversity and this is just one of them," she said.
Employers in Britain are increasingly aware of the problem of by IRS Employment Review has found. A study of 92 UK employers by IRS Employment Review found that virtually all now had formal anti-bullying or dignity at work policies in place, and that the great majority of policies had been introduced in the past five years. More than one-third said the issue had moved up the management agenda in recent months.
The research uncovered a total of 535 complaints about bullying reported over the past 12 months across the 92 organisations surveyed. Three-quarters reported at least one complaint in the past two years.
The negative effects of bullying reported by respondents included problems with staff absence (26 per cent of respondents) and turnover (24 per cent), but the most widespread impact had been on working relationships (39 per cent) and morale (28 per cent).
The report warned that those that fail to get to grips with the problem may find themselves on the receiving end of employment tribunal claims under legislation outlawing discrimination and harassment on grounds of sex, race, disability, religion and sexual orientation.
From 1 October 2006, it will also be unlawful to discriminate against, harass or victimise someone at work because of their age.
Charlotte Wolff, the author of the report, said: "If anti-bullying tactics are to succeed in the workplace, the message must come from the top of the organisation. Employees need to understand what type of behaviour is unacceptable and know that they will be supported with sensitivity if they report a wrongdoing. Managers need to create a culture that is free of bullying."
She added: "If employers fail to tackle the problem, they will be faced at best with poor morale, higher absence and increased staff turnover, and at worst with a costly and reputation-damaging employment tribunal claim for harassment or discrimination."
More executives being recruited from Eastern Europe
British employers are recruiting increasing numbers of professional and managerial level workers from Eastern Europe because they cannot find enough skilled staff in the UK.
The latest findings from the Recruitment Confidence Index (RCI) reveal that one in 10 organisations surveyed recruit from Eastern EU countries, making this the most popular source of managerial, professional and technical workers from overseas.
To date, the focus has been on the number of semi- and unskilled workers being recruited to the UK, particularly in sectors such as building and construction.
But the latest RCI research, produced by Cranfield School of Management and The Daily Telegraph, suggests that the real story is about far more than just Polish plumbers, with an increasing number of workers from Eastern Europe being recruited into more skilled and senior roles.
One in 10 organisations said they recruit to managerial, professional and technical positions from Eastern EU countries. A further seven per cent recruit from the rest of the EU, while four per cent recruit from Asia and the same proportion from the United States and Canada.
Skill shortages are the main reason for overseas recruitment, with four out of 10 of the 1,000 senior managers surveyed across the UK reporting a fall in the quality of job applicants over the last year. Almost a third of organisations (31%) have increased their overseas recruitment because of skills shortages, two-thirds say they have experienced recruitment difficulties due to skills shortages and almost all respondents - 98% - expect these difficulties to remain the same, or even rise, over the next 12 months.
Half of organisations added that skills shortages have increased over the past year. Three-quarters of those surveyed said that they were also responding to these difficulties by developing their existing employees. Half are also offering increased training as part of the recruitment package.
"The UK simply doesn't have enough skilled people to meet the demands of a growing economy and an ageing population," said Shaun Tyson, Professor of Human Resource Management at Cranfield School of Management.
"Expansion in the economy is becoming increasingly dependent upon attracting high quality employees from overseas. We anticipate European labour markets will therefore grow in significance to employers". More information
New research from the European Social Fund and the Welsh Assembly Government further endorses good diversity practices as contributing to company profitability. The study found that nearly seven out of 10 small to medium enterprises in Wales believe their business has improved since signing up to equality and diversity in the workplace.
They cite easier recruitment, a wider choice of skilled labour and compliance with contract requirements as among the benefits of implementing an effective policy on equality - which covers age, race, gender, religion and sexual orientation.
The research was carried out as part of the SME Equality Project. Since its establishment in 1998 the project has worked to raise awareness of equality and diversity issues in small companies in Wales.
The project is the only one of its kind in the UK, and its progress is being closely watched by a number of other European countries. As part of a drive to spur businesses in Wales to comply with legislation, adopt positive employment policies and promote equality and diversity issues amongst staff, it has carried out research into the business benefits experienced by more than 2,000 businesses that have participated.
A story in this week's Personnel Today reports that another police force is rejecting white applicants in a bid to boost diversity.
Gloucestershire Police Force turned down nearly two-thirds of white men who applied in their latest recruitment drive but every ethnic minority candidate was invited for an assessment. The force said it was obliged by law to bring the ethnic breakdown of its officers into line with that of the community they serve.
A spokesman for the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE), which is investigating Avon and Somerset Police, said: "Positive discrimination is unlawful in the UK and the CRE does not support it. However, initiatives that seek to address under-representation of ethnic minorities in certain sectors are welcomed."
The Welsh Assembly has announced funding of up to £2.7m to increase the number of British Sign Language interpreters in Wales. There are 3,000 people in Wales who use British Sign Language (BSL) as their first or preferred language.
Professional interpreters allow deaf sign language users quicker and better access to services such as the NHS, the police and local authorities. Having to read, write or lipread a second spoken language, such as Welsh or English, in which they may have limited literacy, often leaves sign language users with poor access to information.
Equalities Minister Jane Hutt, said: "Today’s announcement is a major step forward in promoting social inclusion. The problems people can face if there aren’t interpreters available cannot be underestimated. There are recorded cases where sign language users have faced severe difficulties in reporting crimes; and have had to communicate with health staff in inappropriate and undignified situations."
Government risks missing poverty targets as disabled are ignored
The Chairman of the Disability Rights Commission, Bert Massie has accused the Government of 'a lazy fatalism and low expectations culture'that will lead to poverty targets being missed.
Mr Massie's comments at the launch of a nationwide advertising campaign on the impact of disability discrimination in Britain came as figures revealed that more disabled adults and those with long term health conditions are now living in poverty than children or pensioners.
“For some reason, and despite all the facts, public policy makers are not thinking about disability. It is considered something over there for the specialists to deal with. Something to do with wheelchairs and ramps,” said Mr Massie.
“Successive governments have failed to break the culture of low expectations that holds disabled people back – including the present administration. There is a lazy fatalism that too often shapes the perceptions that politicians have of disabled people. In important areas, the distance between the living standards, opportunities and life-chances between disabled people and the rest of the population has widened.”
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