EU gay group tackles diversity error

The European Parliament's Intergroup on Gay and Lesbian Rights has vowed to seek an amendment to a statement from the European Parliament Bureau on diversity after it was revealed that sexual orientation was removed from the document.

The decision has been criticised by LGBT activists working at the European level as a dangerous precedent in the light of efforts to stop the creation of a so-called hierarchy of discriminations within the European Union.

The Intergroup has acted pro-actively in this matter, raising the point with individual Bureau members in order to reach a positive outcome.

"Our information reveals that there is a lot of confusion on the exact details of the meeting. Because detailed minutes are not available of these meetings, it makes it all the more difficult to determine the events that led to this omission with certitude," Michael Cashman, President of the Intergroup on Gay and Lesbian Rights said.

"I believe the intentions of having a statement of principles was meant to highlight political will in favour of diversity within the Parliament's secretariat, which, of course, I support, however, I feel that the text as it now stands leaves too much to interpretation."

Dutch MEP Sophie In't Veld remarked that conflicting interpretations of the statement of principles made it too easy for the text's spirit to be misinterpreted, placing the Parliament in an awkward position despite initial good intentions, "We need to remember the European Institutions have well-developed policies on diversity, the resolutions passed by the Parliament on homophobia further highlights the commitment of our House to diversity. We welcome initial feedback that the Bureau may be willing to revisit this issue to improve the text."

The International Lesbian and Gay Association expressed surprise at the omission after reports that a draft resolution of the European Parliament’s Secretariat, the administrative arm of the political body, had initially included sexual orientation, but was defeated by four votes to two, with two abstentions.

Deborah Lambillotte, co-chair of ILGA-Europe Executive Board said: “We are more than surprised by such a decision. The omission of sexual orientation by the Parliament seems to be matching recent bad scores on diversity, equality and anti-discrimination by some of the member states.

“The principle which is now an integral part of the EU body of law and compulsory for the member states was completely disregarded and ignored by a disgraceful vote by the European Parliament's secretariat.”

The resolution details anti-discrimination principles within the workplace of the European Parliament. It states that employees should not be discriminated against based on sex, disability race, colour or ethnicity.

£10bn government initiative aims to get women jobs in male-dominated industries

Employers in male-dominated industries are being encouraged to take part in a £10m government initiative that aims to boost the representation of women in the workforce.

Five Sector Skills Councils are spearheading the Women and Work project which includes personal development programmes, managerial training, mentoring schemes and bursaries for technical qualifications.

The two-year initiative, led by the Sector Skills Development Agency (SSDA), is targeting employers in the construction, environmental, food and drink manufacturing, and logistics sectors.

Fiona Mortimer, women and work project manager at the SSDA, told Personnel Today: "The main benefits for employers are a better skilled and more diverse workforce. We hope to start a culture of change in the male-dominated sectors and get them to take diversity more seriously."
The programme aims to help up to 10,000 women find a new career or progress in their current roles.

Rebecca Jenkins, sales director at logistics firm Wincanton, which is taking part in the project, said she hoped it would make the working environment more appealing to women.

"The industry is moving in the right direction and I expect the climate for women to improve year on year," she said.

The initiative follows the government's Women and Work Commission report, published in March this year, which estimated that increasing women's participation in the labour market could generate between £15-23bn for the UK economy.

This story was taken from Personnel Today

Senior execs ignore benefits of anti-ageism

More than one-quarter (28%) of HR managers still do not believe that their board or senior management team is fully committed to eliminating ageism in the workplace, exclusive research has revealed.

The latest quarterly Recruitment Confidence Index (RCI) by Cranfield School of Management, which is published today in association with Personnel Today, found that the attitude of members of the board was regarded as the most important factor in eliminating age discrimination.

Almost 80% of respondents said support from the top executives in the organisation was important in being successful at eliminating ageism. Yet only 9% of respondents had the chief executive or the board championing the issue on a company-wide basis.

And only 28% of the 600 HR managers surveyed believed their chief executive or board was fully aware of the benefits a workforce that included all ages could bring to an organisation, such as a wider skills base, greater flexibility, and reduced recruitment pressures.

Shaun Tyson, professor of HR management and director of the HR research centre at Cranfield University, said he was surprised that so many HR managers admitted their CEOs and senior team had not prioritised the tackling of ageism.

“I think senior managers are regarding it as a compliance issue when it’s really a case of how you want your business to run. And the business should reflect the customer base,” he said.

Half of the company boards that took part in the survey were only considered to be ‘somewhat’ aware of the risks of allowing age discrimination in the workplace. And almost half (46%) said they did not provide age discrimination training to managers within their organisation.

Tyson said training was crucial to raising awareness of diversity and equality in the workplace. “Training on age discrimination is fundamental, so boards should be meeting regularly to review their diversity policies,” he said.

One in 10 (11%) also admitted that they still do not have age policies or practices in place. One-third (33%) of employers said they had introduced age-related policies more than a year ago, while 29% had introduced them in the past three to six months.

Only half of employers (48%) said they monitored the age of job applicants, and less than 20% had a project or task group on age.


Harassment and jokes, health issues, career structures, flexible working issues and the integration of different age groups were all perceived as difficult factors in the employment of older employees.

Tyson said eliminating ageism would be a gradual process. “It’s a matter of time. There is not a clear moral case against ageism, and it’s endemic in society. So it will be a long and difficult process to get people into a different mindset at work.”

This story was taken from Personnel Today

Top jobs at English councils still held by whites despite diversity agenda

English councils have rebutted union accusations that they are failing to promote staff from black and minority ethnic (BME) backgrounds to senior roles.

Figures published by the GMB union last week revealed that in 22 local councils, less than 1% of the top 5% of earners came from BME communities.

Wiltshire, North Tyneside, Hartlepool, Redcar and Cleveland, Blackpool, East Riding and York all fared badly in the report, with none of the top 5% of earners directly employed by these councils coming from non-white communities.

Most councils were significantly below the English employment average of 8.6% for BME workers, the GMB's study showed. The union used figures from the Audit Commission's best value performance indicators in 2004-05, which were supplied by local councils.

Susan Thompson, head of HR and equality at Cumbria County Council, which came in the bottom 10 in the table, said the figures were an accurate reflection of its local community.

"The council is actually above the percentage for the local population in Cumbria and is working to increase that," she said.

But she admitted the council was in a precarious situation, with just 0.9% of its top 5% of earners coming from BME backgrounds. "If one senior BME manager left, it would make a big difference to our figures," she said.
Wiltshire County Council was found to have no BME staff in its top 5% of earners, but a council spokesman disputed the figures.

"The council's latest figures show that 1.55% of the top 5% of earners at the council are from BME communities," he said.

"Equality and diversity training is now included in our corporate induction programme for new starters, and we have a diversity course as part of our management development programme."

London councils generally fared well in the league table, with at least a quarter of the top 5% of earners from Haringey, Hackney and Lambeth coming from BME communities.

Amendments to anti-age discrimination regulations laid before Parliament

The Employment Equality (Age) (Amendment No.2) Regulations 2006 have been laid before Parliament. Coming into force on 1 December 2006, the regulations make substantial amendments to Schedule 2 of the main age regulations.

They clarify and extend many of the exemptions relating to trustees and managers of pension schemes. The CBI has hailed these amendments as a victory for common sense.

John Cridland, deputy director-general of the CBI, said: “We are relieved the government responded to our concerns about the previous set of regulations concerning pensions and age discrimination.

“They would have been an administrative nightmare for employers and ultimately left many employees, especially older workers, worse off."

Concern remains that employers have just two weeks to comply with the new regulations. The Cabinet Office’s Better Regulation Guidelines state that organisations should have a minimum of 12 weeks to comply with new regulations.

Remploy warns better employer attitudes towards disabilities does not extend to mental ill health

Attitudes towards disabled people in the workplace are improving, but those with mental health problems are missing out, according to Remploy’s HR director.

The non-governmental public body, which finds employment for disabled people, has placed a record 5,000 disabled people into mainstream employment this year, and is making a big push to hit its target of 20,000 per year by 2010.

This week Remploy declared it was confident of meeting its aim after being encouraged by discussions with businesses.

“We have had really encouraging feedback from employers,” said Remploy’s HR director Anne Jessopp. “Attitudes are changing. We are now really positive about helping disabled people back into work.”

However, she sounded a note of caution.

“While the opportunities have expanded for people with physical disabilities, they are still much more limited for those with mental health problems,” said Jessopp. “This is an area where we really want to work with employers.”

Remploy, which receives an annual government grant of £111m, traditionally found disabled people work within its own factories. But with the decline in British manufacturing and the changing expectations of disabled people, these jobs are under threat.

However, the body has committed to redeploying any factory workers whose jobs are made redundant into mainstream employment when it produces its ‘modernisation plan’ early next year.

EOC welcomes key milestone in path to biggest change to sex equality law in 30 years

After the Gender Equality Duty Code of Practice was laid before Parliament on Wednesday, the Equal Opportunities Commission has made the Code available on its website today. It represents a key milestone in the path towards the biggest change to sex equality legislation in 30 years.

The Gender Equality Duty, which comes into force in April 2007, has been introduced in recognition of the need for a radical new approach to equality – one which challenges public bodies to provide services and adopt policies that promote equality for women and men, rather than leaving it to individuals to challenge poor practice.

Many public authorities in England (and those with functions in both England and Wales) must have gender equality schemes in place by the end of April 2007.

Jenny Watson, Chair of the Equal Opportunities Commission, said:"This is an exciting time for equality in Britain. The gender equality duty will be a powerful tool to deliver real change and practical improvements in the lives of women and men through helping public services tackle gender inequality, which remains persistent and widespread.

"The duty will help public sector managers to make public bodies more responsive to the realities of how we live our lives – in addition to making more efficient use of tax payer's money. It should be a catalyst for real change in the way public bodies think about their work, and the way policies and services are designed and delivered.

"who deliver services are realising that a one-size-fits-all approach to design and delivery no longer meets the needs of 21st century Britain. The duty will help the public sector understand and address the different needs of women and men -- leading to more user-friendly services as well as making better use of the talents of both women and men in the workforce."

Go to the Equal Opportunities Commission website

Stonewall to propose anti-gay incitement law

Gay charity Stonewall has vowed to keep a close eye on the new Criminal Justice Bill announced today as the campaigners aim to have homophobic incitement added to the law.

The Queen’s speech at the state opening of Parliament today promised a Criminal Justice Bill with new powers to put victims at the centre of the law and order system.

A spokesman for Stonewall, which recently raised £10,000 of donations to campaign for a law against incitement of anti gay hatred, welcomed the announcement.

“We are pleased that there will be a new Criminal Justice Bill. Stonewall believes there should be an extension for the offence of incitement to homophobic hatred, so will be making the case for this and keeping an eye on th4e bill’s progress,” he told PinkNews.co.uk.

Read the full story on PinkNews.co.uk

Workplace pressures push equality off agenda in NHS

Equality and diversity issues are slipping off the NHS agenda as managers face increasing financial pressures and job cuts, according to the Royal College of Nursing (RCN).

Josie Irwin, head of employment relations at the RCN, told delegates at the NHS Employers diversity and equality conference last week that the government's diversity policies had not had a significant impact.

"The reality is that the grand policies designed by the Department of Health and board-level discussions haven't really changed anything," Irwin said.

Staff are too busy coping with additional workloads to worry about diversity as hospitals and trusts face massive job cuts, she added.

But Surinder Sharma, national director for equality and human rights at the Department of Health, said diversity issues were clearly reflected in the department's business agenda.

"Each member of our board has personal equality objectives related to their business areas," Sharma said.

But he admitted the NHS needed to start taking equality issues more seriously.
"It's no good playing at this," he said. "In time, the NHS will have a single equality scheme and we have to set ourselves some clear goals."

Carol Baxter, head of equality and diversity at NHS Employers - the body responsible for pay negotiations across the health service - said it recognised that more work needed to be done within the NHS.

"We need to continue building the business case for diversity and equality and keep the spotlight on the legislation," she said. "We have to win the hearts and minds of staff and leaders."

First published in Personnel Today

EC considers issue of TUPE and cross-border transfers

Rules to protect workers' employment rights when their company is bought by a foreign business are being reviewed by the European Commission (EC).
John McMullen, head of employment law at legal practice Watson Burton, said although the UK only brought in its new TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations) in April, the growing number of cross-border deals was causing concern in Brussels.

Speaking at the IRS TUPE and Staff Transfers Update conference in London, McMullen said the commission was now working on rules for what happens when there is a transfer of a business or an outsourcing deal from the UK, either to a country within the European economic area or outside.

McMullen said the EC was conducting a survey with member states on the issue and consulting on whether the Acquired Rights Directive - the overarching EU staff transfer directive - should be amended to apply across borders.

It is expected that a report looking at the way various countries treat staff transfers will be published before the end of this year. The commission will then decide whether to amend or propose a new directive - all of which could take from 18 months to two years.

McMullen said: "Nobody is quite sure what the trans­national effect of TUPE is, so it is up to the EC to make it clearer what happens to employees when there is a cross-border staff transfer.

"This is important as these transfers are becoming increasingly common.
"Any organisation currently involved in having to work out whether TUPE applies to a transnational transfer or a cross-border acquisition will be pleased to receive this clarification."

UK workers are the most pessimistic in the world about job security

UK workers are the most pessimistic in the world about their job security, according to a major global study published on Tuesday.

About one-third (30%) of UK employees fear redundancy in the coming year, according to the bi-annual Global Career Confidence Index by HR consultancy Right Management.

This is the highest figure recorded across the 18 countries surveyed worldwide, and an increase of nine percentage points since May 2006, the largest rise globally. The number of UK workers who believe it would be difficult to find alternative employment of a similar grade if they were made redundant, has risen from 71% six months ago to 77% now. Only France, Germany and Italy have less optimistic workers.

Out of a perfect confidence score of 100, the UK experienced the world's sharpest drop, falling 6.9 points to stand at 45.3 points, significantly lower than the global average of 58.6.

Peter Coles, director at Right Management in the UK, said: "The drop may appear unusual with the UK economy remaining strong and the recruitment market relatively buoyant. However, the continuing restructuring of the labour market with the growth in outsourcing, particularly in the public sector has led to increased uncertainty for many about their future job security."

The Norwegians are the most optimistic in the world, with only 4% of workers believing there is a chance they could lose their job. Japan and Denmark ranked second and third respectively.

Boardroom diversity is good for business and society

The stereotypical white male middle-class board serves most companies at a time when nearly all significant businesses face intense competition. Market forces are encouraging chairmen to take a critical look at the profiles around the table.

Both commercial and public organisations are under fierce pressure to deliver value. For commercial enterprises, this is profit and profitability; in the public sector it is the efficient and effective delivery of universal services.

The emphasis on diversity in the Higgs corporate governance code two years ago stimulated a fresh focus on the composition of commercial boards. The public sector has shown the way. Though political correctness is frequently derided, government has led the commercial world in placing qualified people from diverse backgrounds into leadership roles.

Are boards changing for the better? The evidence is only moderately encouraging. Too many boards remain staffed by men of similar education, career paths and social tribe. An effective board must understand and respond to the markets it serves. A monoculture tends to look inwards and fails to test its own assumptions. Better to look out of the window than in the mirror.

The old Marconi board was widely seen as uncritically homogeneous, leaching Lord Weinstock's capital on a series of high-technology acquisitions, egged on by the City and the media. Its board members were highly skilled, yet failed to ask whether the emperor had any clothes. Collective responsibility matters but group-think, however good the group, can wreck value.

There is an internal imperative, too. Companies no longer offer merely employment but membership. They expect commitment, not just work, from their staff. If a company is to engender loyalty, employees want to be led by people whose values they share.

There are sound commercial reasons for promoting diversity in the boardroom. We should be clear, though, what we mean. Legislation addresses age, gender, race, religious belief, disability and sexual orientation but there are other dimensions such as education, place of residence, social class, occupational status and life experience.

There are some notable examples of women in leadership roles spanning a wide range of business sectors. But there are still very few men or women of minority ethnic backgrounds in visible leadership positions. Many are in family and unquoted businesses.

Change is coming, but slowly: we are far from embracing difference in its widest sense. The temptation to recruit known and trusted people is strong. According to IMD, the Swiss business school, the percentage of women on FTSE boards has risen from 10 per cent to 11.4 per cent in the past two years. France has seen a rise from 6 per cent to 7.6 per cent but in Germany it has dropped from 10 per cent to 7.2 per cent - where two-thirds of those are employee representatives.

Try a different way of looking at diversity. A multiplicity of ideas and approaches emerges when boards absorb people from different fields and backgrounds. In the past year, Andrew Harrison, former chief executive of the RAC, became chief executive of EasyJet; Paul Deighton, chief operating officer of Goldman Sachs Europe, became chief executive of the London organising committee for the Olympic Games; and Luqman Arnold, ex-chief executive of Abbey National, became chairman of the Design Museum.

As headhunters, we see moves like these with increasing frequency. Many organisations seek people from outside their sector. There is an acceptance of the need for a fresh approach.

The CBI employers' group went for diversity of the deeper kind when it appointed Richard Lambert, former editor of the Financial Times, as its new director-general. In time, the culture change that appointments like his represent will gain impetus.

The most forward-looking organisations recognise changing demographic trends, availability of skills and the benefits of a more diverse workforce. Valuing diversity emphasises inclusion and mutual respect. Nothing illustrates an organisation's attitude to the future more clearly than its choice of new board members. By this measure, boards are starting to turn away from received wisdoms. They are looking out of the window for new members. This is good for business and society.

By Virginia Bottomley and Margaret Sentamu
Virginia Bottomley heads the Odgers, Ray & Berndtson board practice. She co-chairs the firm's diversity working group with Margaret Sentamu, who was formerly head of the Church of England's Ministry Division selection unit.

This story was first published in the Financial Times

Amicus calls for a new single equality act

Amicus has launched its negotiators guide on equality for their workplace reps at their annual Equalities Conference in Blackpool.

Amicus representatives will be discussing how to achieve equality at work for Black and minority ethnic, disabled, LGBT and young members at Amicus' National Equality Conference in Blackpool.

Derek Simpson, Amicus General Secretary said: "The Government must take more action to create equality in the workplace. The pay gap is still too big, women are still concentrated in lower paid jobs and it is clear that the voluntary approach is not working. It is time for a real change in the workplace."

Amicus representatives have been working hard to negotiate equality in the workplace and Amicus continues to build on this work by recruiting more BME, disabled, LGBT and young members to the union.

Siobhan Endean, Amicus Head of Equalities added, "Amicus demands that the Government takes action to reduce the 50% unemployment rate for disabled people. Our Amicus Disability Champions are working hard to reform the workplace and negotiating disabled access, but could do so much more if equality representatives had statutory rights."

The Government has implemented a whole new agenda in the field of equality since coming to power in 1997, but there is still a long way to go and much more to be done to make equality a reality for working people in the UK.

Amicus has also got a strong campaign to tackle homophobia in the workplace and our negotiators' guidelines in this area emphasises the importance of employers developing policies in this area and ensuring that they are implementing them in practice.

UK in top three in least biased table

Levels of workplace discrimination in the UK are low by global standards, a major survey has found.

The UK is ranked 25th on the list of 28 countries worldwide, and 14th among the 16 European countries in the survey. In Europe, the highest rates of workplace discrimination were in Sweden, Hungary and Italy, while UK, Denmark and Luxembourg had the lowest.

The Global Workforce Index, by employment agency Kelly Services, surveyed 70,000 people in 28 countries, including almost 6,000 UK respondents.
It found that 40% of UK jobseekers believe they had been discriminated against when applying for work in the past five years.

One-third (31%) had experienced discrimination in their day-to-day working life. The major source of discrimination was age, cited by 17%. This was followed by race (8%), gender (6%) and disability (2%).

The survey also highlighted the range of potential problems that might arise as a result of the age discrimination legislation, introduced on 1 October.
More than 50% of workers aged 45 or older felt they had been discriminated against on the basis of their age. However, 16% of younger workers aged up to 24 also believed they were victims of age discrimination.

Discrimination was highest in engineering, IT, distribution, manufacturing and utilities in the UK.

Stonewall launches job guide for gay and lesbian students

Gay charity Stonewall has launched the second edition of Starting Out, Britain’s only national lesbian and gay recruitment guide, designed for graduates and job-seekers.

The guide, sponsored by investment bank Credit Suisse and being launched at the University of London Union (ULU), is targeted at the 150,000 lesbian and gay students in Britain and includes 174 major employers.

Ben Summerskill, Stonewall chief executive, said the guide helps organisations reach an untapped market, “Employers working with Stonewall are seeking to attract the very best talent and skills. Reaching out to Britain’s lesbian and gay graduates is a natural extension of this.

“Organisations featured in Starting Out are able to reach untapped markets of lesbian and gay recruits.”

Read the full story on PinkNews.co.uk