Ditching discrimination

The 1975 Sex Discrimination Act back paved the way for laws to protect people from being treated unfairly on a variety of grounds. But the number of discrimination cases brought to employment tribunal continues to rise. Is it enough for managers to comply with legislation or do they need to look more closely at attitudes and behaviour?

Statistics show that increasing numbers of people feel discriminated against at work and are seeking legal redress through employment tribunals. The rise could be down to better awareness of employees’ rights, especially as some legislation is relatively new and high profile, but the figures also indicate an underlying concern – are we just playing lip service to equal opportunities and diversity?

Diversity is what’s really important here. Equal opportunities relates to the legislation, diversity is about accepting any difference, from the colour of someone’s hair to their religion, and treating everyone with the same respect.

Different isn’t worse

Everyone has prejudices. Recognise these exist and question them before you act. Try to look beyond the first thing you notice about a person – there’s a particular risk in recruitment or promotion to opt for ‘someone like me’.

Ideally people at all levels should feel able to be themselves at work as well as outside it, and be recruited or promoted on the basis of their abilities.

Developing this sort of work environment may require a fresh perspective. For instance, do you automatically take length of experience into account in making recruitment or promotion decisions? This favours older candidates. Focus instead on competences and what people are capable of, not how long they’ve been doing it. Some employers don’t include date of birth on application forms, and encourage candidates to list previous jobs in order of relevance rather than date.

It is important people don’t feel singled out. It should be clear that everyone is entitled to the same employee benefits and is expected to comply with the same rules. For instance, if partners are invited to a work-related social event, this should automatically, and clearly, encompass the partners of lesbian, gay and bisexual employees as well as those of heterosexual staff.

Ask the audience

If you want to know if policies and procedures are operating fairly, ask your staff. Offer opportunities for anonymous feedback – campaigning body Stonewall reminds employers that lesbian, gay and bisexual people who are not ‘out’ at work may not feel comfortable raising issues openly.

Don’t assume you know how people feel they are being treated. Take time to listen to employees, union representatives and other colleagues and stakeholders. Individuals are more likely to raise issues if they feel confident their concerns will be taken seriously. So make your policy on diversity very clear – posting it on your organisation’s website and on noticeboards, and explaining it during induction training, for instance – and build compliance into performance management. Remember that internal communication should be accessible to all employees.

Steer clear of stereotypes

Unwitting discrimination is often the result of preconceived notions, particularly around cultural and religious practices.

An Equal Opportunities Commission campaign Promote people not stereotypes found that women from minority ethnic groups faced particular barriers because of employers’ false, and often patronising, assumptions.

Don’t make assumptions about someone’s sexuality. Trying to ‘out’ a person perceived to be lesbian, gay or bisexual, by asking intrusive questions about their private life, for instance, is harassment.

It may not be possible to change people’s attitudes to each other – and arguably it’s not your job to try to remove individual prejudices among colleagues or staff – but you can change their behaviour. Let people know what’s expected of them, particularly in relation to jokes and teasing and other behaviour that could be dismissed as ‘harmless fun’ but is actually offensive and potentially discriminatory.

Try to tackle issues as they arise, or are reported, and deal with unacceptable behaviour consistently.

Further information

There are various organisations that offer advice on avoiding discriminatory practices or behaviour.

The Commission for Equality and Human Rights is a non-departmental public body. Its website holds material from former commissions for equal opportunities, disability rights and racial equality.
www.cehr.org.uk

The National Centre for Diversity is an independent campaign group encouraging diversity across business sectors.
www.nationalcentrefordiversity.com

Stonewall provides information on sexual orientation.
www.stonewall.org.uk

Age Positive promotes the benefits of a mixed-age workforce.
www.agepositive.gov.uk

Employment tribunal discrimination claims

	2006/07	2005/06
Gender	28,153	14,250
Racial	3,780	4,103
Religion/belief	648	486
Sexual orientation	470	395
Age	972	n/a
Disability	5,533	4,585

Facts and figures

• There are 3.5m disabled people in employment
• 7.9% of the UK population are from minority ethnic groups
• 55% of people have some religious belief
• 6% of the population are lesbian, gay or bisexual
• one in 12 UK residents is born overseas

Types of discrimination

To discriminate means to classify people into groups and to treat them differently There are several types of legally defined discrimination.

• direct discrimination
• indirect discrimination
• victimisation
• harassment
• not making reasonable adjustments
• instructions and pressure to discriminate
• segregation