Getting in, Getting by, Getting on

1. Getting in, Getting by, Getting on Equality in the workplace Alun Thomas

2. 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

3. 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

4. The gender agenda

5. 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.

6. The LGB agenda

7. 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.

8. The age agenda

9. 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.

10. The Race agenda

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. The religion and Belief agenda

14. 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.

15. The Disability agenda

16. 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.

17. 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?

18. Getting In (2) • What opportunities and pitfalls apply to tools such as work shadowing, work experience, secondments and placements to broaden employee profile?

19. 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?

20. 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?

21. 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?

22. 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?

23. Contact details

24. EHRC Helpline Wales • Bilingual Service • Phone:0845 604 8810 • Wales Textphone:0845 604 8820 • E-mail: waleshelpline@equalityhumanrights.com