September 28, 2013 By Constance Hall Leave a Comment

Recruiters give unfair deal to non-white job seekers

Recruiters routinely discriminate against job candidates from ethnic minorities in favour of their white rivals, alleges the charity Race for Opportunity.

To back their claims, Race for Opportunity issued figures showing only 29% of black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates (BAME) were offered jobs, while 44% of white job seekers found a post.

Around 57% of BAME candidates were invited for an interview, against 73% of white applicants, claims the report, Race and Recruitment: exposing the barriers.

Sandra Kerr, director at Race for Opportunity, said: “Tough economic times and rising unemployment levels mean that the current job market is extremely competitive, with a high number of applications for every role.

“If BAME candidates are not being treated fairly by the recruiters at all stages of the job application process, then they are at a distinct disadvantage from the outset.”

Many BAME job candidates blamed their failure to find work on application handling by recruitment consultancies, who asked employers to consider them for roles that did not match their skill sets.

The study also looked at job applicants who applied directly to an employer – and found that an equal proportion (29%) of both BAME and white applicants found a post this way.

Many recruiters blame the high BAME rejection rate on government policy that forces employers to kick out applications from overseas nationals who cannot prove they have a right of residence in the UK.

The Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), the trade body for job agencies, responded that recruiters had no reason not to shortlist the best candidates.

“An immediate priority is to dig beneath some of these findings as there are always a number of factors at play when employers decide who to offer a job to, such as a candidate’s qualifications and work experience,” said Tom Hadley, REC’s director of policy and professional services.

“Most of the recommendations in the report complement the processes and policies we already have in place as an industry,” he continued. “We now need to move the agenda forward and recognise the positive role that the vast majority of recruiters play in getting people into interviews and into work.”

September 28, 2013 By Constance Hall Leave a Comment

Workplace diversity is just a PR stunt, claim employees

Workers are rubbishing their employers efforts to promote fairness through diversity as a stunt to grab headlines, alleges new research.

Around half of employees consider workplace diversity strategies as filling a tick box to look good for marketing and PR, says the Adecco Group’s report ‘Unlocking Britain’s Potential.’

The dispiriting results of the survey showed workers have a jaundiced opinion of diversity programmes:

27% felt the campaigns failed to change workplace culture

29% of employers confessed they aim to recruit ‘certain types’ of workers

20% of workers felt their organisation ignored marketing to specific sections of society

22% considered a diverse workforce could not supply the skills needed by the organisation

Despite the disappointing response to the survey, many employers and workers are confident that diversity has an important role in the workplace.

Seven out of 10 employers believe they are more likely to succeed by operating a fairer and more tolerant workplace.

This reflects in the 44% of workers who would rather move to an employer with a diverse workforce.

The report is part of a campaign by consultancy and recruitment group Adecco to look at workplace diversity as a tool for promoting better productivity and improving competition in world markets.

Chris Moore, director of the ‘Unlocking Britain’s Potential’ campaign, said:”The business case for investment in diversity has never been clearer. A diverse workforce will widen Britain’s talent pool, have a direct impact on employee engagement, and strengthen relationships with customers.

“Our research suggests that we are far from achieving the radical change in outlook required to genuinely promote the need for a diverse workforce in UK businesses.

“While it is encouraging that the case for greater female representation in the boardroom is attracting such prominence, this is only a small but important part of the debate around boosting diversity in the workplace.

“Diversity is a question of encouraging and increasing social mobility – finding ways to ensure that potential British talent, from any and every background, is not overlooked.”

September 28, 2013 By Constance Hall Leave a Comment

85% of mentally ill complain of discrimination

Mental health issues are still a stigma with people discriminating against sufferers, according to the latest government statistics.

Tolerance of those suffering mental health problems is improving, although significant numbers still have fear and uncertainty over the condition.

The Health and Social Care Information Centre, part of the NHS, has conducted the study each year since 1994.

Significant changes

Some significant changes in that time include:

The percentage of people agreeing that ‘Mental illness is an illness like any other’ increased

from 71% in 1994 to 77% in 2011.

The percentage saying they would be comfortable talking to a friend or family member about

their mental health rose from 66% in 2009 to 70% in 2011.

The percentage saying they would feel uncomfortable talking their employer about their

mental health was 43%, compared to 50% in 2010.

Other highlighted findings for 2011 include:

25% of respondents agreed ‘Most women who were once patients in a mental hospital

can be trusted as babysitters’.

Agreement that one of the main causes of mental illness is a lack of self-discipline and willpower stands at 16%.

The percentage of people saying that locating mental health facilities in a residential area

downgrades the neighbourhood stood at 17%.

Stigma and discrimination

Two new questions about stigma and discrimination were asked in 2010 and repeated this year:

Whether people with mental illness experience stigma and discrimination nowadays, because of their mental health problems;

Whether mental health-related stigma and discrimination has changed in the past year.

“Overall, 85% respondents in 2011 said that people with mental illness experience stigma

and discrimination,” said the report. “ Half (50%) said they experience a lot of discrimination, and a further 35% that they experience a little discrimination. There was no significant change in responses to this question from 2010 to 2011.

“Around a half of respondents (48%) in 2011 said that mental health-related stigma and

discrimination has not changed in the past year. Again there were no significant changes in responses to this question between 2010 and 2011.”

A copy of the report and datasets are available from [LINK: http://www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/attitudestomi11]

What is diversity? See http://www.diversityleaders.org/our-services/what-is-diversity

Do you want more than what Diversity Training can deliver? See Diversity at Work in the workplace http://www.diversityleaders.org/our-services/training-a-events

September 28, 2013 By Constance Hall Leave a Comment

Give your views on how equality is working

Equality and diversity managers have their chance to influence government policy as part of David Cameron’s red tape challenge to slimline bureaucracy.

The government is seeking views on how equality legislation is working – and what, if anything, can be changed to improve the law.

The Equality Act 2010 is umbrella legislation that replaced nine major statutes and around 100 sets of regulations aimed at making diversity management easier for business and public sector organisations.

Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone said: “The Equality Act is here to stay. Fairness and opportunity for all remain at the heart of government. But there is always more we can do to ensure that business is not being strangled by red tape.

Unnecessary rules

“This government is committed to economic prosperity and reducing unnecessary rules and regulations. We want to hear from individuals, businesses, public sector organisations and voluntary and community organisations about how the act is working in practice.

“We want to know whether the act could be simplified, better implemented, or if certain provisions should be dropped or amended, or whether it should be kept exactly as it is.”

For more about the red tape challenge and how to respond, go to http://www.redtapechallenge.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/home/index/

One major change was implemented by Home Secretary Theresa May when she scrapped gender pay reporting measures under section 78 of the act. The government is urging businesses to publish the data voluntarily instead.

Meanwhile, Director of People and Policy at BT, Caroline Waters, has taken up the post as equality champion tasked with mediating the easing of legislation between the government and industry.

Deadline for consultation

The clocking is also ticking on government consultation about reforming the Equality and Human Rights Commission, with the deadline for submissions is June 15, 2011.

The consultation and forms for response are available for download from http://www.equalities.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=1789

EHCR has already published a short response – promising a more detailed document will follow.

The EHRC view is that the government is right to examine the early progress of the commission, but some of the current proposals for change may run counter to equality policy and a broader approach to deregulation and decentralisation.

Do you want more than what Diversity Training can deliver? See Diversity at Work http://www.diversityleaders.org/our-services/training-a-events

September 28, 2013 By Constance Hall Leave a Comment

Employers focus on ‘retiring’ older workers

One in four employers is retiring older workers who they would normally let work on because of concerns about keeping staff on after the default retirement age is scrapped.

Among the latest is Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which has written to 203 staff aged over 65 to tell them their contracts would expire in October.

Letters were sent on March 31, a week before the default retirement age of 65 years old was abolished.

The trust said the decision was not taken lightly, particularly in light of the service given to the hospital by some of the employees who are being forced to retire, but added that they were following a policy where if a post was no longer required, the employee would automatically be retired.

450 older workers lose jobs

Meanwhile, a study of 157 organisations by The Age and Employment Network (TAEN) shows that 70% of employers will let retire when they wish.

But the the findings also highlighted a quarter of employers are targetting older employees in the transitional period before the default retirement age is finally abolished on October 1.

Including those losing their jobs in Sheffield, this affects around 450 employees in 42 private and public sector organisations.

Employers review retirement changes

The report also disclosed some other findings:

A third of employers have not decided post-default retirement age policy

Around one in four (38%) of employers are reviewing other policy areas for amendment as a result of retirement law changes

A quarter (23%) have reviewed or changed performance management and reviewed capability procedures, while 17% have reviewed pensions and benefits

12% have reviewed or changed succession planning

At 31% of employers, managers discuss retirement plans with workers and 33% plan to introduce similar discussions.

31% will train managers on how to discuss retirement plans with employees

TAEN is an independent, not-for-profit that monitors and campaigns for older workers’ rights.

September 28, 2013 By Constance Hall Leave a Comment

BBC slammed for diversity failings

The BBC needs to switch on to the real world instead of portraying Christians as ‘derogatory stereotypes’ and marginalising older women.

This indictment of the broadcaster’s diversity policy is even more damning as the main critics are viewers and the BBC’s staff.

Many believe the organisation goes too far in representing minority views, with positive discrimination affecting recruitment and too much time spent concentrating on ‘tokenism’ and diversity ‘box ticking’.

The results of a diversity study carried out by the BBC were leaked by the Daily Mail. The report was compiled form a survey of 4,500 people.

The research repeatedly slammed the BBC over depictions of Christians on TV.

Derogatory stereotypes

Many respondents claimed the BBC was anti-Christian and poorly represented Christianity.

“Christians are specifically mentioned as being badly treated, with a suggestion that more minority religions are better represented despite Christianity being the most widely observed religion within Britain,” said a quote from the report.

Others said:

“As a Christian I find that the BBC’s representation of Christianity is mainly inaccurate, portraying incorrect, often derogatory stereotypes.”

“Seldom do we find a Christian portrayed in drama, and when we do, it is usually a “weak” person or a “bigot”

A recurring criticism was soap storylines lacked pro-Christian themes but often showed the faith in a poor light.

Doomed to fail

In many ways, the BBC is doomed to fail whatever minority group or religion is portrayed in programmes, as the content often generates complaints from other minorities or faiths.

The study also highlighted that many viewers were concerned at the treatment of older women, who were often shown as feeble and unable to lead a normal life.

Others moaned that the organisation is tainted politically as left-wing or too liberal..

A BBC spokesman said: “We have strict editorial guidelines on impartiality, including religious perspectives, and Christian programming forms the majority and the cornerstone of our religion and ethical output.”

September 28, 2013 By Constance Hall Leave a Comment

Spending cuts spark equality act challenges

Council spending cuts that impact on minority or disadvantaged groups may face diversity law challenges from special-interest groups.

Lawyers from the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) have already demanded equality assessment papers from councillors in Stoke-on-Trent in a row over scrapping a £13,600 a year subsidy.

The money helps the RNIB run a door-to-door Talking Books scheme for 173 blind and partially-sighted people in the Staffordshire city.

The council decided to stop the subsidy last year and the cash runs out on March 31, 2011.

RNIB legal policy officer Paul Hackney has written to the council urging a rethink and pointing out the charity believes the council has breached the Equality Act by failing to consult people using the 18,000-title audio book service.

From April 1,2011 the blind and partially sighted will have to pay £82 a year for the service or make do with deliveries of a reduced selection of audio books from the city’s Homelink library service.

The RNIB’s letter says: “For many Talking Books subscribers, Homelink will be inadequate.

“The Homelink service does not allow people to choose their own books, it will not offer enough titles, the format and quality of the recording will cause difficulties and the service will be unable to cope with demand.

“The council has failed to consult service users before withdrawing the service. The individual contact made with affected individuals was not consultation but merely informed them of the decision.

“We believe that blind and partially sighted people forced to access the council’s library services through the Homelink service are being placed at a substantial disadvantage.
If blind and partially sighted people wish to access a library service which more closely approximates the service offered to sighted readers they will have to pay for it.”

A Stoke City Council spokesman said: “Financial pressures have affected our support for the RNIB’s Talking Books service, but this decision wasn’t taken lightly and the equality impact of the decision was considered.”

September 28, 2013 By Constance Hall Leave a Comment

May signposts public sector diversity audit u-turn

May signpost public sector diversity audit u-turn

Equalities Minister Theresa May has backtracked on proposals to audit public sector workers on personal issues like sexuality, disability and religion.

She has published a written statement in Parliament suggesting the plan to ask around 27,000 public sector organisations, including schools, police and councils is under revision.

Although she has not stated so outright, the £28.6 million cost of the audit in times of government austerity and cuts may have something to with her decision.

In the statement, May said: “We have considered the draft regulations further in the light of our policy objective of ensuring that public bodies consider equality when carrying out their functions without imposing unnecessary burdens and bureaucracy.

“As a result, we think there is room to do more to strip out unnecessary process requirements.”

A separate policy review explains public organisations will not have to publish details of any “engagement” or “equality analysis”’ reviews involved in drafting policy or equality objectives.

The revised proposals were due to become law on April 6, 2011 but are now subject to delay.
The Government Equalities Office (GEO) also announced that the commencement date for the new general equality duty for England, Scotland and Wales will be April 5, 2011.
“This revision of the specific duties may create a degree of uncertainty for public authorities,” said the Equality and Human rights Commission. “The commission previously set out its views on the previous draft regulations and we will review the new proposals before submitting our views to the GEO.

“We support the aim to reduce bureaucracy and we will need to examine the new proposals closely to make sure that they offer organisations certainty; without that certainty public bodies will simply replace bureaucratic procedures with legalistic overprotection to guard against every possible source of challenge.

“Our focus remains on providing public authorities with the information and guidance that they need to prepare for the new equality duty.”

Additional information:

Spending cuts spark equality act challenges

May signpost public sector diversity audit u-turn

Search DiversityRevolution.com

Tags