Employment - Tourism North East

Discrimination: Employment

This is part of the Discrimination topic.

Also in this topic:

Employment is a huge topic. Amongst others, www.businesslink.gov.uk, www.acas.org.uk and www.equalityhumanrights.com (the website for the new Equality and Human Rights Commission, which, from October 2007, replaced the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE), the Disability Rights Commission (DRC) and the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC)), all have a huge amount of excellent information, guidance, how-to leaflets and case studies. We have only summarised the key points in these and subsequent pages.

Equality in employment and recruitment

The law states that you cannot advertise for recruitment or have recruitment, induction or working processes that discriminate against anyone on the basis of their sex, sexual orientation, status as a married person or a civil partner, race, colour, age, nationality, ethnic origin, religion, beliefs or because of a disability, pregnancy or childbirth, or subsequent maternity leave or because they are a member or non-member of a trade union. And you cannot afford them different conditions because they work part-time (their pay and entitlements must be pro-rata to an equivalent full time post, but their rights and treatment must be equal).

Develop an equality policy

Once you feel you are familiar with your obligations under the anti-discrimination laws you should develop an Equality Policy. This can just be a short, simple document that sets down your aspirations to be fair and equal and demonstrates your understanding of the issues. Don't think of it as another tedious chore. Writing down a policy helps to formulate your thinking - especially about being mindful of indirect, unintentional discrimination - and provides a set of procedures for thinking about equality in respect of recruitment, workplace conditions and health and safety. ACAS produces a guide Tackling Discrimination and Promoting Equality that covers all the issues and takes you through writing a policy.

Genuine Occupational Qualifications or Requirements (GOQs or GORs)

Some jobs and roles are exempt from some elements of anti-discrimination laws because there are genuine reasons why the job must be done by, for example, a woman or cannot be done by, for example, someone with a physical disability. In this case, the requirement for a particular type of person is a Genuine Occupational Qualification (GOQ) or a Genuine Occupational Requirement (GOR), making the post exempt - just in this respect - from the applicable anti-discriminatory law.

There must be a very strong case for the exemption. It is not sufficient that it is better for you to employ someone of a particular gender, race, religion or ability, it must be shown to be essential. As an example: A faith-based hotel may be able to show that being of a particular faith is a genuine requirement of its managerial and supervisory staff because they are required to carry out their duties in a manner that fulfils both the physical and spiritual needs of the hotel's guests. However, they may not be able to justify a similar requirement for their housekeeping or catering staff whose jobs do not require them to provide spiritual leadership or support to the customers.

It is very important that you take good advice before assuming that your position can be advertised specifically for certain kinds of candidates, as the penalties for breaking anti-discrimination laws can be severe. Go to www.acas.org.uk for more information and search for Genuine Occupational Requirements, and download their guides, which have information about GORs, eg Religion or belief in the workplace; Age and the workplace; Sexual orientation and the workplace. Also go to www.equalityhumanrights.com and click on 'for Businesses and Organisations'.

Recruitment and induction process

When you have a post to fill, you should write a job and person specification for all roles that you advertise. Whilst preparing these, and the actual advertisement, you should bear the following points in mind and keep them in mind throughout your interviews and induction processes:

Don't - You should avoid any requirements not strictly related to the job, eg marital status or race.
Do - Collect the minimum of personal details.
Do - Ensure you are offering equal pay for everyone and equal rights for all works - including part time staff.
Do - Collect information that helps you not to discriminate accidently, eg "Do you require any reasonable adjustments in order to attend interviews?" (A reasonable adjustment might be extra time for a candidate with dyslexia to undertake tests.)
Do - Check your candidate has the right to work in the UK.
Don't - You should avoid implying, in any advertisement or specification, that a candidate must be free of disability in order to apply.
Don't - You should avoid implying that a candidate must be of any particular sex or age. This means avoiding statements like "Would suit a school leaver" "Minimum 10 years experience required" "Man wanted for heavy lifting".
Don't - You should avoid asking questions, on forms or in interviews, either directly or indirectly, about things which can have no relevance to the job, eg whether a person is married, intending to have children, what their sexual orientation is etc.
Do - The law doesn't prevent you from asking what someone's age is, or their date of birth, but you cannot discriminate against someone on the basis of their answer.
Do - The law doesn't prevent you from asking questions about someone's disability, but only in order to assess whether they might, with reasonable adjustments, be able to do the job.

Making appropriate adaptations and adjustments

The law doesn't just prevent you from directly discriminating against someone, it also makes it unlawful to indirectly discriminate by neglecting to make appropriate adjustments. Appropriate adjustments are sensible adaptations of working practices and premises that can reasonably be achieved and are within your financial grasp.

Below is just one example of ways you might make sensible adaptations for each of the different types of discrimination:

Sexual discrimination: Provide a separate, private washing and changing area for jobs where employees need, for their health and safety, to wash and change before, during or after work, or schedule fair, alternate use of existing facilities. Go to www.equalityhumanrights.com and www.womenandequalityunit.gov.uk for more information. There is also a Guide for Employers on Gender Reassignment from the Government Equality Office, providing guidance on meeting the needs of individuals who have opted for surgery to change sex.
Age discrimination: Allow flexible working so all workers can manage their work/life balance and flexible pension arrangements so some older employees can reduce hours to part-time whilst drawing partially on their pension to supplement income. See www.agepositive.gov.uk for more information and ideas.
Racial discrimination: Make yourself aware of the important national holidays of staff from different ethnic origins and be flexible about time off and working practices during those holidays. Go to www.equalityhumanrights.com and www.acas.org.uk for more.
Religious discrimination: Relax or more clearly specify a 'no hat or head-gear rule so that workers who need to cover their head for religious reasons can do so without contravening your working regulations. Go to www.equalityhumanrights.com and www.acas.org.uk for more.
Pregnancy and parenting: Provide ergonomic seating and footrests for pregnant staff and allow flexible working to cope with childcare demands. Go to www.equalityhumanrights.com and check the employers section for more. They also have a toolkit for employers of pregnant or new-parent staff.
Sexual orientation: Be sensitive about encouraging social events for staff and their partners. Avoid implying that these events are mandatory or expected. Go to www.equalityhumanrights.com and check the employers section for more.
Disability discrimination: Ensure colour schemes provide a strong contrast, improve lighting in stairwells and corridors, make company handbooks available in large print, provide kitchen facilities at wheelchair height. Go to www.equalityhumanrights.com for more and also the Employers Forum on Disability at http://www.employers-forum.co.uk/www/index.htm. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) give useful advice on including the needs of staff with disabilities in your risk assessment at www.hse.gov.uk.
Part time staff: Ensure staff meetings are at a time when part-time staff can participate. If this is impossible, ensure you have effective mechanisms in place for staff to keep abreast of what is being shared and to contribute to discussions. See www.acas.org.uk and www.equalityhumanrights.com for more information.
Trade union membership: Reasonably allow employees time to prepare for, travel to and attend trade union meetings. Go to www.berr.gov.uk (formerly the DTI) and search for "union membership rights for members and non-members".