A key case affecting the rights of the elderly to nursing care championed by equality commissioners has been thrown out by judges at the Supreme Court.

Elaine McDonald, 67, was suffered a stroke in September 1999 that left her with reduced mobility and having to use a wheelchair outside her home.

She complained that a care package put together by Kensington & Chelsea Council to cover her assessed should include an overnight carer help her use a commode at night.

The council disagreed and the case has been before the courts.

Now, the Supreme Court has ruled in favour of the council with a majority verdict.

John Wadham, Group Director, Legal, at the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said: ‘We are disappointed with the ruling which is a significant setback for people who receive care in their home. Ms McDonald is not incontinent, however this judgment means she will be treated as such.

“Local  authorities will now have greater discretion in deciding how to meet a person’s home care needs and will find it easier to justify withdrawing care.  This means that older people’s human rights to privacy, autonomy and dignity will often be put at serious risk.

“The court has missed a significant opportunity to interpret the law to protect some of the most vulnerable people in society.  The commission’s inquiry into care in the home has already highlighted some of the problems with the current system of home care.  This judgment will only fuel those problems.”

Age UK is concerned the case breaches Ms McDonald’s human rights and that the ruling could have “extremely adverse and devastating consequences for many thousands of older people if other councils take similar decisions to save money”.

Michelle Mitchell, charity director at Age UK said: “The decision is shameful. Older people have a fundamental right to dignity and forcing someone to sleep in their own urine could not be more undignified.

“This judgment opens the door to warehousing older people in their own homes without regard to their quality of life.

“Care should not be just about keeping people safe. It must enable them to live dignified and fulfilled lives.”

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Hundreds of lesbian and gay union activists are expected to join the London Pride march.

The march will end at a rally in Trafalgar Square where TUC general secretary Brendan Barber will speak out urging them to challenge homophobia in schools and to join campaigns to promote lesbian, gay, bisexual and transexual (LGBT) rights overseas.

The rally is the culmination of a two-day conference where Yvette Cooper, the shadow minister for women and equalities and Maria Exall, chair of the TUC’s LGBT committee demonstrated their support for lesbian and gay rights alongside other keynote speakers like Eileen Barnard-Harris from the Cutting Edge Consortium, Marcus Morgan from the Bisexual Index and Phyllis Opoku-Gyimah from UK Black Pride.

TUC Deputy General Secretary Frances O’Grady opened the conference with a plea to the LGBT community to join protests against public spending cuts.

“It’s just over a year since the government came to power, and now is a good time to conduct an audit of its record on LGBT equality,” said O’Grady.

“I think the first thing to recognise is it’s not all bad. The government has said it is committed to maintaining LGBT equality, and to retaining last year’s Equality Act.

“Since then ministers have committed to challenging homophobia in sport, tackling homophobic school bullying and to stopping the deportation of LGBT asylum seekers to countries where they face persecution.

“Its policy of deep and rapid cuts to public spending is putting LGBT equality at grave risk. Cuts are felt the most in local authority funding for the voluntary sector, and many of the organisations that tackle discrimination against our LGBT communities are suffering grievously as LGBT services are no longer seen as a priority.”

O’Grady explained to the delegates that government spending cuts were eroding budgets that financed services for the LGBT community – like NHS trusts cancelling gender reassignment work because finances did not extend to non-essential surgery.

‘I want LGBT people to be at the heart of our progressive coalition against the cuts. A rainbow alliance against austerity. When it comes to fighting these cuts, be in no doubt that black and white, young and old, men and women, gay and straight, and of course bi and trans, we’re all in it together,” said O’Grady

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Internet giant Google is leading the global way forward for businesses and organisations to support equality.

Around 1,000 ‘Googlers’ took part in pride celebrations in a dozen cities around the world to show support for equality and in respect of those that have made personal sacrifices to advance recognition of the lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender community.

The company also confirmed the famous easter egg image that regularly features on searches like ‘lgbt’, ‘marriage equality’ and ‘pride 2011’ is a celebration of pride related queries typed in to the search engine.

To techies, an easter egg is a hidden bonus inside coded inside computer software by the manufacturer triggered by a secret preset action, like pressing certain buttons on a keyboard simultaneously.

Google is also setting an example for US corporations with employees who have same-sex partners by paying benefits over and above those required by the law to promote equality.

The action is spurring other high-profile firms and organisations to reassess their equality policies. The main outcome is they pay any extra tax that their gay employees owe on health insurance for their partners as federal laws do not treat them as an economic unit in the same way as they do married couples.

Grossing up – as paying the extra benefits is known – is a special badge of pride for corporations who respect diversity and equality.

Besides Google, some of the other corporations grossing up are Apple, Facebook, Barclays and the New York Times.

“This has quickly became a litmus test among employees for how welcoming their firm was,” said Daryl Herrschaft, director of the workplace project at the Human Rights Campaign. “A lot of folks were very proud of their companies and wanted to tell a lot of people, and in doing so, it sparked some competition.”

Many other corporations have publicly voiced support for grossing up but have yet to implement the policy.  A recent article in the new York Times reckoned around 58% of Fortune 100 corporations are pro grossing up.

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Booze and diversity don’t seem to mix well in some pubs and clubs that seem to be hotbeds of discrimination.

Drinkers at one working men’s club are accused of jeering and booing women trying to join them for a drink – while another was asked to leave because she upset regulars.

Mill View Social Club, Sunderland, is now under scrutiny from governing body the Club and Institute Union (CIU) for breaching the equality laws for trying to ban women.

Regulars at the club say one bar is reserved exclusively for men and staff are instructed to ignore orders from women buying drinks.

Members at the club are mostly retired miners and shipyard workers.

Drinkers at a The Royal Oak pub in Penrhyndeudraeth, North Wales, were threatened with a gun by the landlord after a row about customers speaking Welsh.

Police were called after the landlord brandished the weapon after arguing with customers protesting  that he had allegedly ordered staff and customers not to speak Welsh in the pub.

The row erupted only two days after a new 25-year-old English manager was installed at the pub by the brewery Marstons. The manager was arrested on suspicion of possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence and was later bailed pending police inquiries.

Penrhyndeudraeth is a small town where Welsh is the first language.

In Swindon, Wiltshire, a man suffering a nerve tremor after recovering from a brain injury has criticised pubs and bars for banning him because they think he is a drunk.

Andrew Thornton, 39, spent weeks in a coma in intensive care after a road accident as a child.

Now, he finds socialising in licensed premises difficult because the staff assume he has already had too much alcohol.

As a result of his protest, managers at some venues want to introduce him to staff to resolve his problem.

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Religious discrimination is coming under scrutiny as equality rights champions seek to protect people from bigotry in and out of work.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has vowed to protect a believer’s right to their faith – or lack of faith – and to take more cases to court to prove their point.

The pledge arises from research by the EHRC in to people’s perception of religion and beliefs.

The EHRC is concerned discrimination and diversity laws do not match people’s expectations of the law.

The laws go beyond freedom of speech and cover protecting people while going about their day to day lives as well as while they are at work. They also shield those who do not have a religious belief, like atheists and humanists.

EHRC chair Trevor Phillips said: “Our business is defending the believer. The law we’re here to implement recognises that a religious or belief identity is, for the majority of people in Britain, an essential element of being a fulfilled human being and plays an important part in our society.

“Religion or belief is as much part of our identity as other characteristics such as race, gender, or being a parent. People should not be penalised or treated in a discriminatory way because of it.

“My worry is there are people who may feel they’re being treated unfairly because of their faith and who in fact may be being treated unfairly because of their faith but for some reason feel they can’t get our support in getting justice.

“We’ve already undertaken a number of legal cases about religion or belief discrimination, but want to do more to build a body of case law in this area. We are in the process of meeting with faith and belief groups to get a better sense of what the issues are for their members.”

Meanwhile, The Church of England needs to take affirmative action to increase numbers of priests from ethnic minorities and the number of non-white parishioners, a report ahead of next month’s General Synod in York, has suggested.

The report recommends racial imbalance should be addressed to introduce “positive intentionality” to attract “missing faces and missing voices and actively seeking ways to enable them to be seen and heard”.

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Lazy managers are failing to get the best from their older workers because they neglect their training and performance appraisals, according to a new study.

Not only could they improve skills and performance – but failing to address these issues could lead to discrimination claims.

With the scrapping of the default retirement age, older workers are expected to make up a larger percentage of the workforce, so organisations need to learn how to manage them properly, says the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).

Less than half of workers aged 65 and over (46%) have a performance appraisal at least once a year, compared to two thirds of employees under 65 (65%).

Around 44% of employees aged over 65 have either never had a performance appraisal or have not had one for at least two years. The average for other employees is 27%.

Older workers are also much less likely to learn new skills – with 51% of the over 65s reporting they received no training in the past three years, compared to an average 32% across other age groups.

Dianah Worman, diversity adviser for the CIPD, said: “The survey finds too many older workers are currently neglected in the workplace when it comes to training and performance management, with some employers perhaps assuming older staff are nearing the end of their working lives and need less attention.

“The removal of the default retirement age will rightfully put a stop to lazy management of older workers, with employers forced to maximise the talents of an ageing workforce.

“Failure to address poor performance of older workers may also pave the way for discrimination claims following the phasing out of the default retirement age if there is a dispute over capability.

“Employers should treat all employees fairly at work to ensure they get the best out of all staff, whatever their age.”

The findings were disclosed in a report Employee Outlook: Focus on an Ageing Workforce that looked at performance appraisals for 2,000 workers in public and private organisations.

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Most workers don’t think their boss is up to the job of managing them and the stress of working with them is making them ill, according to a new study.

These incompetent bosses believe they are better at their job than they really are and their poor decisions and lead to too many mistakes, says research by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI).

The findings quizzed 2,000 workers about their managers, and the tragi-comic picture of bosses who make working harder rather than easier for employees at many firms.

The survey highlighted:

• Two thirds of workers cannot approach their bosses with problems

• More than half don’t think their manager is any good at their job

• A third of workers believe their incompetent bosses think they are good managers

• Six out of 10 employees wanted to discuss a work issue with their manager but couldn’t, so many workers made decisions beyond their pay grade – leaving 10% to cover errors

An unforeseen finding revealed around 40% of workers blame their bosses for stress at work – and another 10% say their manager is responsible for their poor health.

This adds to sick days that are costing industry billions of pounds every year, claims the CMI.

According to the latest figures from the Confederation of British Industry, 190 million working days were lost last year due to sickness and absence, costing businesses £17 billion.

CMI chief executive Ruth Spellman said: “The results reflecting employees’ lack of confidence at work shows that managers ‘must do more to meet their teams’ needs, if UK plc is to thrive.

“Managers need to make brave decisions if they’re to lead the team confidently. Or, to take Lord Sugar’s advice on the Apprentice, perhaps UK business needs fewer ‘Steady Eddies and Cautious Carols.”

Nevertheless, some workers seem to put up with their poor managers rather than move, according to separate research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

The findings disclosed many workers are reluctant to leave their jobs and that the median turnover rate has remained consistently low throughout the recession – 12.5% for 2011; 13.5% in 2010; 15.7% in 2009 and 17.3% in 2008.

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Will Sullivan be hammered for backing Britain?

Originally published07/06/2011

Showing discrimination can creep up and hit the most progressive thinking bosses round the back of the head if they don’t watch their words as well as their actions.

A good example is some candid end of season comments by David Sullivan, co-owner of relegated premier league soccer club West Ham United.

The club’s fan may sing of blowing bubbles, but Sullivan was frothing at the mouth when outlining his requirements for a new manager.

Less than an hour after relegation, the club sacked Israeli manager Avram Grant.

Around 48 hours later, Sullivan was speaking about the search for a new manager on Sky Sports.

He told the reporter that the club will ‘definitely get a British manager, whether he is English, Scottish or Welsh makes no difference. he will be home grown.”

The problem is the undertones of that message in the context of discrimination law.

Sullivan probably did not think through what he was saying and gave a quick reply to a question that caught him off guard.

In his favour, Sullivan and his club co-owner David Gold recruited Karren Brady as football’s first women managing director of a football club when Sullivan and Gold headhunted when they were at Birmingham City.

One interpretation of his message could be that West Ham will not favourably treat applicants for the manager’s post who are from outside the UK.

Nationality is a protected characteristic under the Equality Act, which means this could lead to a charge of the club unfairly discriminating against job applicants, unless the club can prove employing an applicant born in the UK is an occupational requirement and applying that requirement is proportionate.

The thinking behind Sullivan’s remarks looks at odds with reality as well – bearing in mind the success ratios of UK and overseas managers in the premier league.

The context is the English premier league is probably the world’s richest and most watched worldwide.

West Ham’s relegation team, around half of the 44 squad players came from overseas.

Teams managed by overseas managers have won the league five out of the last 10 seasons, while four of the five teams struggling against relegation this season had British managers.

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Women are secret victims of spending cuts

Public spending cuts are undermining steps to improve rights and conditions for women.

A new study claims will increase the inequality between men and women and may impact on their human rights.

The allegation is part of research looking at how spending cuts affect women in a report called Unravelling Equality: a human rights and equality impact assessment on the spending cuts on women in Coventry, published jointly by the Centre for Human Rights in Practice at the University of Warwick and Coventry Women’s Voices.

The report writers are concerned that public spending cuts will hamper prosecuting rape and domestic violence offenders and lead to more women unable to leave violent relationships and suffering worse physical and mental health problems as a result.

Report co-author, Dr James Harrison of the University of Warwick’s Centre for Human Rights in Practice said: “Public authorities both nationally and locally have legal obligations under the Equality Act and the Human Rights Act to promote.equality and protect human rights. They need to take these obligations very seriously when making decisions about budget cuts.”

Researchers found the cuts are threatening the work of voluntary groups that are already underfunded, and may reach even further as services like police, crown prosecutors and social workers struggle to find money in their budgets to maintain aid for victims.

Other cuts, like changes in health service priorities and spending, reduced legal aid and benefit changes will also take their toll on helping women escape abusive relationships.

Mary-Ann Stephenson report co-author and Chair of Coventry Women’s Voices said: “Many of these cuts will make life harder for women. Taken together the affect will be devastating, particularly on the most vulnerable.

“Women who have been raped or abused may find it harder to get justice or the support they need. Some women and their children, particularly lone parents, may be pushed into poverty. The pay gap is likely to get worse. Women did not cause this situation, but are paying the price.”

A full copy of the report is available from http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/law/chrp/projectss/humanrightsimpactassessments/cwv/report/127948_cwv-chrp_report.pdf

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Mental health issues for workers depress bosses

Mental health issues are the most common long-term conditions keeping employees from working, according to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI).

Next come muscle and joint ailments, back pain and cancer treatment.

The workplace absence survey also pinpointed public sector workers as piling up just over an average eight days off work sick every year, compared with 25% less time at just under six days for private sector workers.

The CBI study gave an unhealthy review of the government’s ‘fit note’ policy first year – pointing out that time off work due to illness added up to 190 million lost working days costing firms and employers around £17 billion in reduced productivity.

Two thirds (66%) of employers confirmed the fit note had not yet helped their businesses, and 71% suspected GPs simply replaced the old sick note with the fit note.

The CBI also revealed long-term absence accounts for around a third (32%) of all time lost to sickness.

Worryingly, the CBI also accuses workers or shirking by taking 30.4 million unauthorised days off when they are not sick that contributes £2.7 billion towards lost productivity.

In the public sector, long-term health problems are blamed for nearly half (47%) of days lost, but the figure is down to 27% in the private sector.

Katja Hall, chief policy director at the CBI, said: “The substantial costs of absence to the economy put a premium on managing longer-term absence well.

“The fit note is a great initiative, which could play an important role in helping people back to work and stopping them slide into long-term absence. But employers are far from convinced that the scheme is working properly and don’t think GPs are getting the necessary training.

“There can be no room for complacency in addressing the so-called sick note culture.”

The rate of absence for last year was slightly higher than 2009, when employees averaged 6.4 sick days, the lowest rate since the survey began in 1987.

The CBI suggests the target should be reducing public sector absence from the workplace to private sector levels by 2015, which would save the country around £5 billion a year in lost productivity.

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