Equality... Diversity... was that all about then?

I guess for me it would be easy wouldn’t it; after all I have been supporting and working with the equality agenda for over 15 years now... what I find more difficult to understand is why others find it complicated and worry about all the extra work.

Claire’s top ten equality tips:

1.   Thou shall be aware that equality in the workplace is not about treating everyone the same – you’ve probably noticed by now that we’re not all the time... that’s a clue if ever there was one!

2.    Thou shall treat people (staff and customers) differently in order that the outcomes can be the same

3.   Thou shall not commit acts of unfair discrimination on the following “Protected Groups”: 

• Age
• Disability
• Gender reassignment
• Marriage and civil partnership
• Pregnancy and maternity
• Race
• Religion and belief
• Sex
• Sexual orientation 

4.   Thou shall get very familiar with the concept of indirect discrimination – much discrimination ‘limbos’ underneath the radar

5.   Thou shall not tell jokes in the office which relate to the above list (what you do in your own time is up to you;unless of course it reflects badly upon your organisation and then it’s not ok). Jokes and banter can be a low form of bullying – and how do know  that everyone finds your jokes funny even if everyone is laughing?  The old defence “I was only joking” - is way past it's use date as an excuse for winding everyone up!

6.  Thou shall look at all policies and procedures to make sure they do what they say on the tin and that they are accessible to those who use them

7.  Thou shall consider the effect on different groups protected from discrimination by the Equality Act (see list in 3 above) such as people of different ethnicities. This is to check if there are any unintended consequences for some groups, and also if the policy or service will be fully effective for all target groups

8.  Thou shall NEVER assume you know what’s best for an individual or a group of people … seek out,involve, consult – yes and sometimes that takes time and no really it doesnt matter how "enlightened" a life you have had - don't assume. Think I've made my point there!

9.  Thou shall gather data for example: recruitment, promotion, who uses complaints procedures, and maybe more importantly who doesn’t etc. This will inform you just how accessible you and your services

10. Thou shall stop reading the Daily Mail – unless it’s for research purposes!

Feel free to contact me for clarity in any of these areas