European and UK gay rights organisations have welcomed the first EU summit on equality, which began in Brussels today.
450 delegates from across Europe launched the 2007 European Year of Equal Opportunities for All at the summit, which is a joint initiative by the European Commission and the German Presidency of the EU.
Representatives from the European branch of the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA) are attending.
The association works for equality and human rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Europe.
Last week the Commission released recent Eurobarometer data on discrimination in Europe. It revealed that 50% of EU citizens consider discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation to be widespread.
Patricia Prendiville, Executive Director of ILGA-Europe, said: "We believe the European Year of Equal Opportunities for All is a great opportunity to address prejudice and discrimination."
ILGA have set three targets for 2007: 1. To extend protection against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation to social protection (including social security and healthcare), social advantages, education, access to goods and services, including housing. 2. To achieve full recognition of same-sex unions registered in one EU member states by all other members states. 3. To give visibility to LGBT people and challenge their invisibility and exclusion in society by involving them in actions and decision-making at national and European level. The Eurobarometer data for the UK found that 48% of respondents felt that discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation is widespread in this country.
43% of UK citizens said they were aware of their legal rights if they were subject to any form of discrimination.
UK Government: Industry shows commitment to enabling women to succeed
Minister for Women, Ruth Kelly, launched a new drive today to step up efforts to reduce the gender pay gap and promote better work-life balance throughout the workplace.
She announced that more than 100 companies and organisations have signed up to a Exemplar Employer scheme since its launch in September.
The Exemplar Employer scheme requires organisations to give a clear commitment to reducing the gender pay gap through projects ranging from encouraging women to find out and enter into jobs traditionally done mostly by men, to supporting mothers to return to work, to creating better quality opportunities for staff working part-time.
The first wave of organisations signed up range from high street names such as Asda to city companies such as Goldman Sachs to Parcelforce to construction firms.
Schemes include: * on line job share registers to support women returning from maternity * projects to retain women at a senior management level through mentoring schemes * support groups for parents * flexible working intranet sites * parent support groups to help make childcare arrangements easier * behind the scene days and apprentice schemes in engineering and construction
Ruth Kelly also launched and opened bids for a new Quality Part-Time Work Fund, available to employers to finance trouble shooters who will advise on how to create and retain more part time jobs for women at a senior level.
Both the Exemplar Employer and Quality Part Time Work schemes have been created by the Government in response to the Women and Work Commission report, which looked at the causes of the gender pay gap.
Creating a more flexible working world was one of the key recommendations made by the Commission as a way to way to increase the number of women - and the quality of roles available part-time and flexibly - in the workplace.
A chief executive at one of the UK's largest financial services companies has apologised for using the phrase "nigger in the woodpile".
Trevor Matthews, head of Standard Life's life and pensions business, made the comment at a staff presentation at its Edinburgh headquarters on Monday.
Matthews has posted an apology on the company's internal website and said the comment was "a terrible mistake".
He made the remark while he was setting out the firm's employee pension proposals. A formal complaint is understood to have been made by a member of staff.
Matthews told staff: "I deeply regret saying what I did - it is not in any way a reflection of what I think. As soon as the words came from my lips I realised that I had made a serious mistake by using a colloquialism that is not in any way acceptable today."
Willie Gibson, regional officer at Amicus, said: "This is absolutely scandalous. Remarks of this nature are not welcome in any walk of life, let alone at presentations of a flagship Scottish insurance company."
The union is planning to submit a formal request to Standard Life to discuss a future relationship with the company.
Olympic Delivery Authority sets out equality and diversity demands for contractors
Budding Olympic contractors without a clear equality and diversity strategy need not apply to take part in the 2012 Games.
That is the message the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) sent out to employers with the publication of its draft equality and diversity strategy last week.
The strategy, which sets out how the principles of equality and diversity will be incorporated into the Olympic project, specifies that contractors must be able to demonstrate an equality driven recruitment process.
Companies should have a suitably diverse workforce with reasonable numbers of workers from black, Asian and ethnic minority groups to help achieve the ODA's key objectives.
Employers that engage with diverse groups from local communities will also be favoured, in addition to organisations that promote opportunities for disabled people.
Sir Roy McNulty, acting chair of the ODA, stated in the draft consultation: "Our goal is to be an organisation that delivers real and practical outcomes for equality and diversity alongside the park, venues, infrastructure and transport which we will deliver for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games."
The ODA said it would try to ensure equality and diversity practices were incorporated into its business processes.
An ODA spokeswoman said: "We will be seeking to work collaboratively with our suppliers and partners to achieve the aims outlined in our draft equality and diversity strategy.
"Equality requirements will be built into procurement and contract management and we will require all suppliers to monitor their recruitment process with this in mind."
The consultation period for the draft strategy runs until 23 February. The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) is also in the process of developing an equality strategy for the project.
Shaw Trust’s ground-breaking ethnic employment scheme, which helped to earn the national charity a coveted diversity award, looks like being a trend setter.
The two-pilot Careers Visits innovation, which doubled Black Minority Ethnic (BME) applicants at a stroke, is to be rolled out as a nationwide provision, and other organisations are watching with interest.
“We have tried every which way to engage more fully with the BME community, including the usual routes of advertising, but the Careers Visits’ scheme, where people were invited in to see what we do and the sort of projects and jobs on offer, were a resounding success,” said Di Barber, National Equality & Diversity Adviser for Shaw Trust.
“We are the the leading provider of employment and independence services for people disadvantaged in the labour market by disability, ill health or social circumstance - so naturally we want to ensure that our own employment doors are wide open to everyone.”
Shaw Trust, which has also recently been named as one of Britain’s Top Employers, has just received a QED/JCP award for employer diversity. The QED-UK's Employer Diversity Project, endorsed by Jobcentre Plus, and sponsored by Bradford and Bingley, establishes Shaw Trust as achieving the highest standards of good practise in terms of diversity management. Some 250 businesses from public, private and voluntary sectors are registered on the QED/JobCentre Plus benchmark, but only 27 gained an award.
“What was once unique in diversity management is now ubiquitous, and so we wanted a challenging benchmark for our own employment practices,” said Di. “The JobCentre Plus/QED Employer Diversity benchmark provided this and we are very proud indeed to be singled out for special mention in terms of our Equality and Diversity Action Plan.”
'Core British values' should be on citizenship curriculum, says government
UK schools should teach cultural diversity and "core British values" as part of citizenship lessons, according to a government report.
The study, by Sir Keith Ajegbo, former head teacher of a London school and a Home Office adviser, found that UK schools did not put enough emphasis on British identity and history.
The review recommended that secondary schools should make cultural diversity a compulsory part of the citizenship curriculum.
Ajegbo said that more needed to be done to engage white children on the issues of identity and diversity.
"Many indigenous white pupils have negative perceptions of their own identity," he said.
"It makes no sense in our report to focus on minority ethnic pupils without trying to address and understand the issues for white pupils. It is these white pupils whose attitudes are overwhelmingly important in creating community cohesion.
"Nor is there any advantage in creating confidence in minority ethnic pupils if it leaves white pupils feeling disenfranchised and resentful."
Education secretary Alan Johnson described his concept of "Britishness" in an interview with BBC Radio 4's Today programme this morning.
"It involves the values that we hold very dear in Britain which is free speech, which is tolerance, which is respect for the rule of law," he said.
Labour ministers were tonight campaigning against conservative Catholic groups seeking to opt out of gay rights laws amid reports of a Cabinet rift. Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly was said by the Independent on Sunday to be engaged in an internal battle to allow Catholic adoption agencies to turn away same-sex couples.
Ms Kelly has been criticised for her links to the Catholic movement Opus Dei - which opposes abortion and artificial contraception and is accused of being secretive and elitist.
The row centres on the Equality Act passed last year, which bans discrimination in the provision of goods, facilities and services on the basis of sexual orientation in a similar way to rules on sex and race discrimination. Detailed regulations being discussed now should give "full effect" to that legislation, Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer said today.
He told the BBC Sunday AM programme: "We have introduced laws which prevent discrimination against people on the basis of their sexual orientation; those laws should be given full effect.
"We do take the view in this country that you shouldn't be discriminated against on that basis and think that applies to everybody, whatever your religion."
According to reports, Ms Kelly had the backing of Prime Minister Tony Blair but was facing stiff opposition from other senior colleagues.
Critics have suggested Ms Kelly's links with Opus Dei render her unsuitable for a Cabinet role tackling discrimination.
Ms Kelly has repeatedly refused to say in interviews whether she thinks homosexuality is a sin, while insisting that her adherence to the group is a "private spiritual" matter that has no bearing on her job.
Keith Porteous Wood, executive director of the National Secular Society, said: "The Catholic Church has been exerting enormous pressure on Ms Kelly.
"The Archbishop of Birmingham, Vincent Nichols, even went so far as to threaten to close Catholic adoption agencies if gay couples were permitted to adopt.
"If Ms Kelly does give in to the demands, the regulations will be seriously undermined."
He added: "We now know that her adherence to Opus Dei is completely incompatible with her job in a government department that promises to protect people from the very discrimination the Catholic Church wants to practise."
Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain - who introduced similar laws to Ulster -said there was no need to water them down for other parts of the UK.
The Cabinet had not yet made a decision, he said, but added that banning discrimination on any grounds was "a fundamental principle".
"We do not need to do something different in England and Wales because there is very, very clear legislation to protect the rights of children," he told ITV's Sunday Edition.
Openly gay Environment Minister Ben Bradshaw told the BBC Politics Show: "I'd be very surprised if the government was thinking of bowing to pressure from conservative Catholics.
"This Labour Party has an excellent record on equality, we've got rid of most of the discriminatory laws against lesbian and gay people."
Dr Evan Harris, president of the Liberal Democrat campaign for gay and lesbian equality, said the Government must "call the bluff" of religious groups.
He said: "The Catholic Church have threatened to stop their adoption work and even close homeless shelters if they are not allowed to discriminate and harass citizens who are gay or lesbian.
"So the Government must call their bluff and refuse public funding or public contracts to such organisations unless they agree to non-discrimination."
The Department for Communities and Local Government said there were "strong views" on all sides of the debate and it was "premature" to speculate on the regulations.
A spokesman said: "We are absolutely committed to bringing forward effective protection from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and fully recognise the value of gay and lesbian parents.
"The debate around better protection on the basis of sexual orientation has been beset by wild speculation on all sides.
"There have been absurd claims, for example, that ministers of religion will be forced to bless same-sex couples. Equally, there is no question of preferential treatment for an individual faith."
Employment Appeal Tribunal rules 'jealousy sacking' of ex-lover did not amount to sex discrimination
A solicitor who had a sexual relationship with his personal assistant, and then sacked her when he found out that she was seeing someone else, has won his appeal against a sex discrimination charge.
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) found that the 'jealousy sacking' amounted to unfair dismissal, rather than discrimination. Legal experts believe the decision is a boost for employers as it removes an avenue for costly discrimination cases. The unnamed East London law firm now faces a maximum compensation charge of £58,400. The solicitor, whose identity has been protected by the tribunal, was originally convicted of sex discrimination, which carries an uncapped compensation limit.
Lawyers acting for the personal assistant claimed she was a victim of sex discrimination due to what is known as the 'but for' clause. They argued that but for her being a woman, she would not have been sacked, as she would not have had a relationship with her boss in the first place. However, the EAT ruled that the dismissal itself was not connected to her gender, but to her actions.
"Big companies have regular problems with employee relationships, and many outlaw them for fear of what happens if they break down," said Greg Campbell, head of employment at law firm Faegre & Benson.
"This decision emphasises that as long as you treat male and female employees equally, there is no sex discrimination case."
HR believes older staff offer 'lower return on investment' in training
HR professionals are guilty of age discrimination towards older workers when it comes to training and development, in-depth research has revealed.
The study, by the University of Surrey and the British Psychological Society, found that HR managers regarded employees over the age of 50 as "poor investments" when allocating training provision.
The research analysed the decision-making process of 48 HR managers asked to allocate a training budget of £6,000 across employees. The list included both older and younger workers, with the managers asked to justify their decision.
Employees under the age of 30 were significantly more likely to be favoured by employers and provided with more generous training, the study concluded.
Dr Almuth McDowall, co-author of the report and professor of occupational psychology at the University of Surrey, said: "We looked at what HR managers are basing their decision on when it comes to training, and found that older workers were perceived to offer a significantly lower return on investment.
"HR managers simply do not recognise they are discriminating against older workers but there is a clear bias towards younger workers when it comes to training."
Sam Mercer, director of the Employers Forum on Age, said employers were risking legal challenges. "In our experience, the older you get, the less likely you are to be trained," she said. "But training is critical to motivation and engagement, and employers could be opening themselves up to age discrimination claims by giving older workers fewer opportunities to train."
Sue Gill, head of skills and training at Tourism South East, said the government needed to provide employers with more incentives to train older workers. "There is very little government funding for older workers, whereas people under the age of 25 have a range of options, including apprenticeship schemes," she said.
Richard Smelt, group HR director at Carphone Warehouse, said he was surprised by the findings.
"I certainly can't see HR managers deliberately discriminating against older workers, but maybe there's a perception that older employees will be more expensive and difficult to train," he said.
Ian Russell named as new head of disabled people recruiter Remploy
Ian Russell has been appointed as the non-executive chairman of Remploy, which provides employment opportunities for disabled people.
Remploy is a non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Department for Work and Pensions. It receives a grant-in-aid each year in exchange for delivering employment opportunities for about 9,000 disabled people.
Announcing the three-year appointment, work and pensions secretary, John Hutton, said: "I am delighted that Ian Russell has agreed to the appointment at this crucial time in Remploy's history.
"He will play an important role in agreeing proposals for a five-year strategy for the company with ministers and leading the company through its implementation."
Russell was chief executive of utility firm Scottish Power from 2001 until 2006. He has had a career in finance, working for companies such as HSBC bank, confectionery giant Mars, and professional services firm KPMG.
IBM has been named the UK's most gay-friendly employer, according to an annual survey.
Gay equality group Stonewall has published its annual Workplace Equality Index, showcasing the UK's top 100 employers for gay people.
Top employer for 2007 is technology firm IBM. In second place is last year's winner, Staffordshire Police. The Greater London Authority and Manchester City Council tie for third place.
Lloyds TSB was named the most improved employer in the index. Larry Hirst, country general manager at IBM UK, said: "To be recognised by Stonewall as the leading UK employer for workplace equality is a source of tremendous pride. I'm convinced that the principles of diversity, inclusion and equality must sit at the heart of any truly modern, successful and confident organisation."
Employers were ranked according to criteria ranging from implementation of an effective equality policy to demonstrating how they engage with their lesbian and gay staff, customers and service users.
The index assesses actual practice, such as recruitment and mentoring activity, as well as just policy.
"Employers actively engaged in the talent market take workplace equality very seriously," said Stephen Frost, Stonewall's director of workplace programmes.
"They know Britain's 1.7 million gay staff and their colleagues now use this information in their career planning."
Army fails to attract Muslims in £90m diversity recuitment drive
The Army is facing a recruitment diversity crisis after failing to encourage Muslim recruits to sign up.
The service launched a £90m national recruitment campaign last year specifically aimed at boosting the number of soldiers from the Islamic population in the armed forces.
But only 15 Muslim people from the Midlands region, which has an estimated 200,000-strong Islamic population, have since joined, the Birmingham Post reports.
The campaign, which included activity days and promoted the use of headscarves for female Muslim soldiers, hoped to target 1,200 new recruits by April 2007.
The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are thought to be the main deterrent for Muslim recruits. There are only an estimated 330 Muslims in the entire armed forces.
Equality rules have only managed to raise women's representation on company boards to 10%
Progress for women company directors is being made, despite the discouraging findings of the Equal Opportunities Commission’s (EOC) latest Sex and Power report, according to the CBI.
The report found that only 10% of women were on the board at FTSE 100 companies and claimed that it would take 60 years for women to match their male colleagues.
However, Susan Anderson, the CBI’s director of HR policy, said: “Women are still under-represented in senior positions and more progress must be made, but it is encouraging that an increasing number of women are becoming directors, particularly from the younger age groups.
“While the EOC draws attention to the fact that only 10% of directors of FTSE 100 companies are female, women make up 23% of directorships across all companies and 28% of directors aged 18 to 29 are women. This bodes well for the future.”
Nine in 10 UK employers offer flexible working policies which are attracting more women back to the workplace, Anderson said.
Helen Ackroyd, business services director from the Adecco recruitment firm, also dismissed the report’s findings.
“During my 20 years in recruitment I have never experienced any form of discrimination or ‘glass ceilings’ for simply being a female. That is not to say, however, that statistics do not currently suggest otherwise for a number of female workers,” she said.
Jenny Watson, chair of the EOC, described the report – which also estimated that it would take 200 years for women to reach senior-level roles in the House of Commons – as troubling. “It just shows how slow the pace of change has been in powerful British institutions,” she said.
“In business, no-one can afford to fish in half the talent pool in today’s intensely competitive world,” Watson added.
Government "open to discussion" on homophobic incitement
A Home Office minister has vowed to review homophobic incitement laws amid calls for anti-gay remarks to be made illegal.
Speaking exclusively to PinkNews.co.uk, Police and Security Minister Tony McNulty said that the issue is under review and vowed that once religious and racial incitement laws are implemented it will then be easier to see how to follow up with a law against homophobic harassment.
"It's still something we will put under review, by 2008 we hope to be in a position where we know the right way of going forward with race, religion, and homophobia,” he said.
"The new incitement laws will help inform other parts of hate crime, we will see how religious hatred incitement goes and this will inform our thinking in terms of verbal abuse in terms of homophobias, things are fairly new but I'm open to discussion."
Gay charity Stonewall has recently listed a law against homophobic incitement as a key part of its campaign for equality in 2007, and Mr McNulty said the government should be open to discussion on the issue.
There are currently no laws against homophobic incitement, although anti gay remarks can be brought under Public Order Offences, as seen in the conviction of Conservative Councillor Peter Willows in Brighton last month after he described gay people as paedophiles.
However, while racial, sexist and religious incitement are due to be outlawed in a law, there is currently little that can be done to stop homophobic remarks such as in music or the media.
Amicus to link with unions in Germany and the US to create global super-union
The union Amicus has signed a deal with three international unions in a move to create a global trade union.
Amicus, the UK's largest private sector union, has signed agreements with the German engineering union IG-Metall and two of the largest labour organisations in the US, the United Steelworkers and the International Association of Machinists.
It said it wanted to prevent companies playing off their workforces in different countries against one another.
Amicus is due to merge with the Transport and General Workers Union in May, creating a super-union of two million UK workers.
Derek Simpson, Amicus general secretary, said: "The world is changing and the new global realities involve transnational companies being able to trade-off countries and workforces against each other.
"Our aim is to create a powerful single union that can transcend borders to challenge the global forces of capital and I envisage a functioning, if loosely federal, multinational trade union organisation within the next decade.
"As a single union we will be able to focus on delivering better pay and conditions for our members and have the organising strength to reach out to new trade union members in our existing work places, as well as in new industries."
German publisher flouts EU regulations by excluding males
A German publishing company has been threatened with legal action for breaking EU discrimination law by refusing to employ men.
Alice Schwarzer, editor-in-chief and founder of Emma magazine, said she was proud of the feminist journal’s rigid gender policy. Schwarzer ensures that all new recruits, from cleaners to art directors, are women.
A male journalist from Stern, one of Germany’s biggest news magazines, claimed he repeatedly tried to get a job at Emma, but was turned down specifically because of his gender.
The journalist, who wished to remain anonymous, said Schwarzer eventually offered him work experience after he threatened legal action against the bi-monthly publication.
The magazine, established in 1977, is thought to be the only organisation in Europe that refuses to employ men, which is a breach of EU regulations on discrimination.
Schwarzer, an influential figure in Germany, is author of the feminist novel The Little Difference and its Huge Consequence, which has been translated into 11 languages.
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