Getting in, Getting by, Getting on

Equality in the workplace

Alun Thomas

EHRC Perceptions Study• Research carried out by GfK NOP on

behalf of EHRC

• Random sample of 1,087 adults aged 16+ interviewed

• Interviews conducted across Great Britain

• Findings weighted to represent the general population in GB

Key Findings

• Two out of five (41%) of those who had faced discrimination of some kind said it occurred at work

• Three quarters (74%) think that most discrimination occurs in the workplace

• Half consider that schools, colleges and universities are also common sites for unfairness

THE GENDER AGENDA

Equality at Work

• 12% pay gap between women and men’s full-time earnings, rising to 31% for part-time women.

• 75% of the workforce in the lowest paid jobs-catering, cleaning, caring, clerical and cashier work are women.

• 33% of Pakistani women of working age are economically active.

THE LGB AGENDA

Equality at work

• ½ of gay employees still feel unable to reveal their sexual orientation at work.

• 55% of gay employees facing workplace discrimination report a direct negative work impact.

• 1 in 4 lesbian, gay or bisexual people have been dismissed or forced to leave a job because of their sexuality.

THE AGE AGENDA

Equality at work

• 30% of workers are aware of an older person getting paid more than a younger person for doing the same job.

• People over 50 make up 30% of the working age population.

• Nine out of ten older employees believe that employers discriminate against them.

• The gender pay gap increases with age.

THE RACE AGENDA

Economic Activity

• There is a wide variation in economic activity rates across minority ethnic groups.

• The White group has a lower unemployment rate than any other ethnic background.

• All ethnic groups have a lower activity rates for women than men-the largest difference being in the Asian groups.

Equality at Work

• 28% pay gap between Pakistani women and white British men.

• 24% of Bangladeshi women of working age in Wales are economically active.

• 63% of migrant domestic workers’ passports are withheld by their employers.

• 12% of immigrant Somalis are in employment, compared with 62 % of all other immigrants.

THE RELIGION AND BELIEF AGENDA

Equality at Work

• 2 out of 3 Hindu and Muslim women are economically inactive double that for women of other religions.

• Muslim and Sikh men are most likely to be working in low skilled jobs.

• Only 1 in 3 employers has an explicit policy on managing religious beliefs in the workplace.

• A third of Muslims of working age in GB have no qualifications.

THE DISABILITY AGENDA

Equality at Work

• People with a disability or long-term illness are twice as likely to be economically inactive

• The income of women who are classed as disabled under the Disability Discrimination Act is half that of disabled men.

• Working people with mental health problems are less likely to have a permanent job than people with other health problems.

• People with a disability or long-term illness are increasingly likely to be working from home and are more likely to be carers than other people.

Getting In

• How to make work a more attractive option for women and disabled people who have been out of the labour market for five years plus?

• Is the public sector inadvertently discrimination at point of entry? – the spurious use of ‘fitness for work’

• How effective are outreach policies in securing a more balanced workforce?

Getting In (2)

• What opportunities and pitfalls apply to tools such as work shadowing, work experience, secondments and placements to broaden employee profile?

Getting By

• How would you encourage take-up of flexible working without enhancing disadvantage in the workplace?

• How would you sensitively approach issues of workforce monitoring and declaration?

• How can we challenge unreasonable and often unspoken expectations of work colleagues?

Getting By (2)

• How should we deliver sustainable employment opportunities to groups more likely to drop out of the labour market without intervention?

• Is it time to rethink our approach to equal pay – negotiated settlements and group actions?

• What opportunities are there to tie sustainability of employment into preferred contractor status?

Getting On

• How effective are we in anticipating the impact of demography on our workforce?

• Are you encountering a retention problem and is this more prevalent in some groups?

• Is retention more of an issue in routinised or semi-routinised roles?

Getting On (2)

• How best to address enhancing skill levels amongst occupations and roles that are primarily low skill or routinised?

• How best to address the glass ceilings in our workplaces?

CONTACT DETAILS

EHRC Helpline Wales

• Bilingual Service

• Phone:0845 604 8810

• Wales Textphone:0845 604 8820

• E-mail:

waleshelpline@equalityhumanrights.com