How robust are your equality information and objectives?

Did you know that voluntary organisations can challenge you and hold you to account on how you are meeting your duties to publish equality objectives and equality information? For example, did you know that voluntary organisations can alert the Equality and Human Rights Commission about concerns if they believe that you are not to be meeting your legal duties, and can apply for a judicial review?

Click to read more ...

Publishing equality information due Jan 2015

Education providers need to publish their equality and diversity report on an annual basis. Your latest report should be published on your website by the end Jan 2015. But how compliant is your publication against the legal duties? Have you included your progress in meeting your equality objectives, and your approach to assess the impact of your work, for example your approach to carrying out equality impact assessments?

Click to read more ...

Is banning staff from having a ‘visible’ tattoo discrimination?

'Heavily inked stars such as Rihanna and David Beckham have led a huge rise in the popularity of tatoos’ reported the Evening Standard on 25 Sept 2014. But how do you decide on the suitability of tattoos in the workplace? Are there any equality rights for having a tattoo? Are employers entitled to ask staff to ensure tattoos are not visible? How do we balance rights between a professional image and a socially diverse workforce?

Click to read more ...

Measuring progress on equality: qualitative evidence

There is much great practice to celebrate in the education sector on advancing equality and diversity; we have various equality objectives, action plans, projects and initiatives underway. But how do we really know what impact our actions are having on staff and students with protected characteristics? How do we know we are actually fostering good relations? New guidance might help

Click to read more ...

Disabled or not disabled: that is not the only question?

What happens if an employer and an employee do not agree that the employee is a disabled person? What if an employee claims that they are a disabled person because they experience stress-related illness and depression, which involves considerable time off from work? Can an employer claim that they did not know an employee is a disabled person if the employee did not say? Would your managers know the answers to these questions? Three recent disability discrimination cases help bring clarity to these issues.

Click to read more ...