Jobs for disabled workers up 70%

There has been a 70 per cent increase in the number of disabled workers recruited into mainstream jobs during the first three months of the year, representing a record high and indicative of changing attitudes towards disabled works in the UK.

The increase shows that more disabled workers are finding work alongside able-bodied colleagues, suggesting that employers may be doing more to accommodate disabled workers and exploit the talent that is available.

Bob Warner of Remploy, the company that published the statistics, asserted that positive change is being put into effect in the area of disability in the workplace."

These new figures show that investing in preparing and training disabled people for mainstream employment works," he said.

Mr Warner continued to state that on the whole, disabled workers prefer to work in a mainstream environment where they can make the most of their skills and assets."

Disabled people tell us that they would prefer to work in open employment with non-disabled colleagues and employers are now more aware of the skills and abilities disabled people bring to their business," he explained.

Visit the Remploy website

CRE launches 'Mixedness and Mixing: New Perspectives on Mixed-Race Britons'

The CRE has today launched a website, 'Mixedness and Mixing: New Perspectives on Mixed-Race Britons'.

On the site, the CRE will be running an eConference from 4-6 September 2007 and is calling for written submissions from the public, academics and third sector organisations.

The website will mark the first in a series of events aimed at taking a closer look at issues relating to mixed-race and mixed families. Over half of mixed-race people are under 16 years of age, with 79% being born in the UK. This is the fastest growing, youngest and most diverse ethnic group in Britain today.

Kay Hampton, Chair of the CRE, said: "Britain is changing and our understanding of ethnicity must develop accordingly. This on-line event provides a valuable opportunity to explore the current issues faced by one of the least understood groups in the UK, mixed-race Britons."

It is through the personal accounts of individuals today that we learn to how to shape the future of racial equality tomorrow.

Submissions may cover anything from research summaries and case studies to personal accounts and fiction. To take part, please submit 1,000 words by 13 August on the subject of mixed-race or mixed families in Britain.

Visit the website

Employers plan positive diversity recruitment

Employers in Britain are planning to more aggressively recruit gay, disabled, female and Asian workers in 2007 and 2008, a new poll reveals.

More than 215 hiring managers and 500 workers were surveyed for job site CareerBuilder.co.uk by Harris Interactive and 21 per cent said that they planned to enhance their recruitment process for women, 16 per cent for disabled workers, 13 per cent for Asian workers and gay/lesbian workers (eight per cent).

A quarter of employers polled (26 per cent) said that they planned to increase their staff numbers by more in the last six months of 2007 than the first, with nearly 49 per cent of bosses hiring more workers in the first half of the year.

Entitled 2007 UK Job Forecast, the study predicts that job growth in Britain will remain stable until the end of this year and employers will "remain committed to expanding the demographics of their staffs".

Dave Smith, Managing Director of CareerBuilder.co.uk. "UK employers will continue to struggle with a shrinking skilled labour force as Baby Boomers move closer to retirement and the smaller generations of replacement workers falls under quota."

The UK workforce can also expect to see employers become more creative in their recruitment and retention efforts, evident in higher salaries, increased training and more flexible work cultures."

A raft of new legislation protecting workers from age, racial, religious, gender and other forms of discrimination in Britain has highlighted the importance of workplace diversity in Britain.

This story was first published by Adfero

'Ginger' taunts about red hair could be next big form of workplace discrimination

A tribunal decision has prompted new fears that 'gingerism' could be the next big form of workplace discrimination.

Last week, a waitress was awarded £17,618 compensation for unfair dismissal over taunts about her red hair.

Sarah Primmer suffered a series of lewd and embarrassing comments and was eventually sacked from her job.

Personnel Today research earlier this year revealed 81% of readers thought it was acceptable to tease people about ginger hair.

A culture of 'lookism' is now emerging in the workplace, with gingers often the butt of office jokes, the survey said.

This story was first published on Personnel Today

BBC executives praised for ditching £350,000 bonuses after failing to meet diversity targets

Diversity experts have applauded the decision by BBC executives to forgo their bonuses collectively worth £350,000, after the broadcaster failed to meet its diversity targets.

The corporation set itself stringent targets in 2004 of increasing the percentage of black and minority ethnic staff to 12.5% and 7% at senior management level, to be met by 31 December 2007.

It said that while progress had been made, it would not meet some specific commitments on workforce numbers.

Sally Humpage, employee relations and diversity adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, said the BBC directors had taken a "positive step" that other organisations could learn from.

"This bold step sends out a message to the rest of the company that everyone is responsible," she said. "Organisations need to set out objectives on diversity and then measure performance around those objectives. The BBC has taken a strong lead where others can follow."

Atul Shah, chief executive of consultancy Diverse Ethics, and an adviser to the BBC, said the executives' action was laudable.

"Commercial business leaders rarely sacrifice bonuses under any circumstances and their remuneration is much higher than that of the BBC executive directors," he said.

But Luke Crawley, assistant general secretary at broadcast union Bectu, said the BBC should go further.

He said: "This is a positive and strong message it is sending out, but it would do no harm for this action to cascade further down the management board."

Mark Thompson, director-general of the BBC, who set up a diversity leadership council at the corporation in 2005, is still set to receive a bonus as determined by the remuneration committee of the BBC Trust.

This story was first published by Personnel Today

Gay students get death threats

More than 150,000 students in the UK have been bullied at secondary school because they are gay, a new survey found.

Over two thirds of lesbian and gay pupils have been victimised by homophobic bullying, with abuse ranging from verbal abuse to violence to death threats at the hands of students and staff alike. Of those, 92 per cent (143,000) have experienced verbal bullying, 41 per cent (64,000) physical bullying and 17 per cent (26,000) death threats.

The study also discovered that that half of teachers did not intervene when students used homophobic language, using derogatory labels like "dyke", "queer" or "rug muncher".

Catherine, 13, from a single sex independent school (South East) explained that “ teachers join in on the joke’.

Ben Summerskill, Stonewall chief executive, said "These deeply disturbing figures should serve as a wake-up call to everyone working in education.”

"This is a damning legacy of Section 28, which deterred schools from tackling anti-gay bullying for so long. This remains one of the few sorts of bullying about which too many schools still take no action. It blights the lives not just of gay children but of thousands of pupils perceived to be lesbian or gay too."

The Stonewall survey polled 1,145 young people and found that 7/10 of those who have experienced homophobic bullying said it has adversely affected their school work. Half of those bullied say they have missed school as a result.

Ali, 17, from a secondary school in London said, “On three occasions I’ve been assaulted and had to go to hospital to be examined and get the police involved”.

‘People call me ‘gay’ everyday, sometimes people kick me and push me, they shut me out of games during school gym and they steal my belongings, “ said James, 17, from a secondary school in the South West.

Stonewall’s survey is the largest poll of young gay people ever conducted in the UK.

This story was first published on Gay.com

Survey reveals workers take colleagues less seriously if they have an accent

It’s not what you say but how you say it that may cause judgement from your work colleagues, research has found.

A poll by hearing campaign Heal the World found that 15% of 4,000 respondents would take a work colleague less seriously if they had an accent, while 11% said an accent would influence whether or not they did business with them.

One-quarter of respondents said the Brummie accent was the most annoying, with a Scottish accent perceived as the most aggressive.
People who spoke the Queen’s English were thought to be the most intelligent, while seven in 10 respondents said it carried the most authority.

The Scouse accent was found to be the most untrustworthy according to one in three respondents, followed by Cockney, which received 22% of the votes.

Dr Glenn Wilson, a psychologist at Kings College, London, said: “Accents can play a huge role in our initial attitude towards others. This explains why some people are more likely to adapt their accent to avoid being stereotyped and to encourage a particular impression.”

“There are essentially two components to an accent – location and strength. The location of someone’s accent encourages particular stereotypes and we presume people with stronger accents are less intelligent and are educated to a lesser degree,” Wilson added.

This story was first published by Personnel Today

TUC lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender annual conference

Several hundred lesbian and gay workers are gathering in central London over the next two days to debate a series of key equality issues at the annual TUC Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender conference.

Delegates attending the event at the TUC's Congress House HQ will hear speeches from TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber, Commission for Equality and Human Rights Chair Trevor Phillips and MP Angela Eagle.

Motions to be discussed by delegates include the portrayal of lesbian and gay people in the media, the monitoring of sexuality in the workplace and the potential conflict between religious belief and sexual orientation.

Addressing the conference today (Thursday), TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: 'Sometimes it's easy to forget just how far we've come in the past decade. Ten years ago, gay rights were seen as a minority pursuit - now they're part of the political mainstream. Ten years ago, the debate was about Section 28 - now we celebrate civil partnerships. And ten years ago, discrimination against the gay community in the provision of goods and services was quite legal - now, at long last, it has been outlawed.

'But as we celebrate that progress, we cannot afford to relax our guard. This is not the time for us to take of eye of the ball. Despite all the legal gains - despite our largely liberal, tolerant society - the ugly scar of homophobia continues to blight the lives of so many people in your community. The young student bullied at college, the lesbian taunted about her sexuality, the gay couple hounded from their home.

'However welcome they may be, changes on the statute book count for little unless they are matched by a corresponding change in attitudes. Think about our workplaces. We know from our own research that four in ten LGBT workers have faced abuse at work because of their sexuality.

'And let's not forget the challenges faced by LGBT people worldwide. From the casual murder of gay men in Jamaica to state-sponsored persecution in Iran, from the alarming rise in homophobia in Russia to the death squads of Iraq, members of your community are under attack as never before. None of us can afford to turn a blind eye - an injury to one is an injury to all. But where there is discrimination, unions will seek to remove it. Where there is inequality, we will tackle it. And where there is injustice, we will wage war on it.'