Implementing the public sector equality duty - UCU

More documents

Recommendations

Info

IMPLEMENTING THE PUBLIC SECTOR EQUALITY DUTYSensitive informationIf you work somewhere where employees arereluctant to disclose their sexual orientation,gender identity, disability or religion or belief,your employer will not be able to properlyanalyse equality issues in your workplace.UCU is currently producing guidance ondisclosing a disability at work. To have confidencein disclosing, people need to know:l why the information is being collectedl what it will be used forl how privacy will be protected.The Gender Recognition Act 2004 provides,that where a person holds a gender recognitioncertificate, they must be treated accordingto their acquired gender and it is a criminaloffence to disclose their status. A transsexualperson may consent to disclosing the informationbut the consent must be explicit and notassumed.Interpreting monitoring on religion and beliefcan be an issue as there will be varying levelsof commitment that people who identify themselvesas belonging to a particular religionhave. For instance there may be significantdifferences between someone who may identifythemselves as Christian and a person towhom Christianity influences every aspect oftheir lives.EQUALITY OBJECTIVESYour employer must prepare and publish oneor more specific and measurable objective/sthat it thinks it should achieve to meet any ofthe three aims of the equality duty. Theobjective/s must be published no later than6 April 2012 and subsequently at intervalsno greater than four years.The revised regulations introduce much greaterflexibility to the previous duties. The revisedregulations simply require public bodies topublish their equality objectives andinformation to demonstrate their compliancewith the duty (this is a lesser requirementthan the previous equality schemes). Althoughthere is now no requirement to produce anequality scheme, it is a useful way to presentequality information and for communicatingthe objectives.Employers need to demonstrate that they havecollected appropriate information in settingtheir objectives. This should not be a ‘tick box’exercise but one where the employer reviewswhat information it holds and whether additionalinformation is needed by undertakingequal pay audits or improving members confidencein monitoring. Monitoring the objectiveswill be key in holding the employer to account.The college/university has to commit to theobjectives which can be selected according totheir own discretion, but which focus on theissues that have the greatest importance andimpact on equality. The objectives should alsobe based on evidence and to make them effective,state what steps are to be taken toachieve them, listing who is responsible inparticular areas. Branches should encouragetheir employer to include equality objectiveson workforce issues.The inclusion of additional protected characteristicssuch as sexual orientation and genderreassignment gives the branch an opportunityto progress issues that their employer mayhave disregarded as too challenging. Thistoolkit includes a model sexual orientationchecklist. Branches can use this as a basisfor developing checklists for any of the newlyincluded characteristics.The objectives need to be reviewed no laterthan four years after publication but publicbodies do need to set out how progressagainst the objectives will be measured.Branches should monitor progress andchallenge their employer when it is clearinsufficient progress is being made.8
A TOOLKIT FOR BRANCH OFFICERSActionl Ensure your employer understands theequality issues facing your institution andthe wider sector through consultion; getinvolved in the information gathering.l Influence the equalities objectives to be set.l Make sure the objectives are specific andmeasurable.l Make sure the objectives meet therequirements of the general duty.l Ensure the objectives are published andavailable to members.l Ensure that mechanisms are in place tomeasure progress.l Provide challenge when necessary andtake part in any reviews.WHERE TO PUBLISHYour employer must publish the informationand objectives in a place which is accessibleto staff and the public.Branches should be aware that, under theData Protection Act, some of the informationabout the protected characteristics of staffand others will constitute ‘sensitive data’. Forexample, it may be possible to identify individualsfrom monitoring analysis, or your informationmay point to a small group of people. Thiscould affect their rights under the Data ProtectionAct.CHALLENGING DECISIONS ANDNON-COMPLIANCEAs a union member you might find that yourcollege/university is not meeting the requirementsunder the general or specific duty topromote equality. If you think that your institutionis not meeting its duty and you wantclarification on this, you should write to themor raise the issue at any joint meetings. Youmay want to raise any of the following:l You can’t find your institution’s objectivesor the information that evidenced theobjectives.l Your institution has agreed objectives butit is unclear how trade unions have beeninvolved or what influence this has had onthe objectives.l You have been involved in the developmentof your institution’s objective setting butyou can’t see what impact your involvementhas had.l You think your institution’s action plan doesnot include the right actions to removediscrimination and promote equality.l You think your institution has failed to givedue regard to its general duty to promoteequality.l Your institution is introducing a new policyor practice eg a redundancy process, andthey do not appear to have paid due regardto the general duty before beginning theprocess.If you are not satisfied with the response youget to any of the above, take your enquiry tothe next stage by initiating the institution’sformal complaints procedure.If you completely exhaust the formal complaintsprocedure of the institution and are still notsatisfied with the progress in meeting theequality duty, you may wish to considerforwarding details of your initial complaint andall subsequent communications to the Equalityand Human Rights Commission (EHRC) – theenforcement body for the equality duty. TheEHRC will require copies of all correspondence.Information should only be forwardedto the EHRC if the above process has beenfollowed, and exhausted.The EHRC has statutory powers to enforcethe duties:9
Page 1 and 2: Implementingthe public sectorequali
Page 3 and 4: A TOOLKIT FOR BRANCH OFFICERSIntrod
Page 5 and 6: A TOOLKIT FOR BRANCH OFFICERSoften
Page 7: A TOOLKIT FOR BRANCH OFFICERSl The
Page 11 and 12: A TOOLKIT FOR BRANCH OFFICERSAppend
Page 13 and 14: A TOOLKIT FOR BRANCH OFFICERSStages
Page 15 and 16: A TOOLKIT FOR BRANCH OFFICERSPOLICY
Page 17 and 18: A TOOLKIT FOR BRANCH OFFICERSHow ha
Page 19 and 20: A TOOLKIT FOR BRANCH OFFICERS4 Enga
Page 21 and 22: A TOOLKIT FOR BRANCH OFFICERSEquali
Page 24: UCU equality unit, UCU, Carlow Stre

Implementing the public sector equality duty - UCU

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?