Sex Discrimination or Equal Opportunities - Essay Example

ID: 10916 Order 59 31 January 2008 Equal Opportunities Most governments are increasingly getting committed to eradicating all forms discrimination in their county. Gender equality schemes are framed that set out ways to challenge sex discrimination and promote equality of opportunity between men and women, based on their age, ethnicity, religion/belief, sexuality, marital status or disability. Gender discrimination in employment is still prevalent: - Considerable pay gap exists between the earnings of full-time women and full-time men - Part-time women earn nearly one-third less than full time men - Discrimination against pregnant women is still widespread - Pensions are designed from a traditionally male worker point of view For example, there has been a dramatic gender shift of people who are working in the UK. While in 1911 nearly 90% of men and 30% women over 15 were gainfully active, it is anticipated that by 2011, women will make up 49% of the labour force. In 1975, the Sex Discrimination Act was introduced in UK and for the first time, discrimination on the grounds of gender became unlawful. Equal Opportunities Commission during the last 30 years has been instrumental in promoting equality for women and men. Major legislations mentioned below have done much to improve equality in the UK. Some of them are: * 1975 The Equal Pay Act. Obligations on employers to pay equal wages to women and men * 1986 The Sex Discrimination Act (Amendment). Equal retirement ages for men and women and lifted legal restrictions preventing women working night shift in factories * 1994 Trade Union Reform and Employment Rights Act Guaranteed every working woman the right to maternity leave * 1995 European Court directed the UK government to allow men free prescriptions at 60 - the same age as women * 1999 Employment Rights Act Passed to allow both men and women parental leave of up to 13 weeks for children under five years old * 2000 Part Time Workers Regulations Act Gave equal rights for part-time workers both male and female * 2004 Gender Recognition Act Provides legal recognition for Transsexual people's gender reassignment, including the right to a new birth certificate * 2007 Gender Equality Duty Act Places the responsibility on service providers to promote good gender equality policies and processes as opposed to leaving the responsibility to individuals to challenge discriminatory practice - practices that, wittingly or unwittingly, have continued 30 years after the introduction of the sex equality legalisation. Let us have a look at how different legislative bodies have enacted / enacting regulatory frameworks to improve the gender equality in work places: Greater London Authority Welsh Development Agency Scottish Executive City of Birmingham Council North West Region West Midlands Police Authority Greater London Authority (GLA) Gender equality in GLA has been clearly set out from the start, with important issues of the process already in motion. It is exceptional in that the organization doesn't suffer the history of disadvantage found in the many of public sector bodies, and can therefore work on gender equality can go ahead without the traditional constraints. The public duty on gender equality in GLA makes required arrangements with regard to the principle that there should be equality for all. Its strategy for equality for women attempts that the organisation reflects the entire local community at all strata. The mainstreaming of gender equality has been found to be considerably easier in a newly created public body with equalities as a dimension of officer responsibilities. The GLA advocates: * A common approach for performance indicators on equalities * Clear equalities targets to measure performance * Equalities indicators integrated into the best value process These recommendations have streamlined the policies and practices that have helped the GLA become an exemplary employer that reflects the equalities programme for the population of London. This is visible in all functional bodies that include the Metropolitan Police, London Transport, the Fire Service and the London Development Agency. However, the still existing problem sectors, such as, employment of fewer women at particular grades in the Metropolitan Police and the lack of women transport planners are being addressed with the agility it deserves. The GLA is aiming to analyse the results of its current policies on: * Outcomes of the best value review of equalities * Improving the performance of managerial performance, particularly around serving of functional bodies * Learning from the experience of the first two years The overall impact of the recent directives of the GLA on equality have been appreciated in the work of the London Development Agency, though there are critics too, still two years of operation is early enough to conduct a detailed assessment of the success or otherwise of particular strategies. Critics have stated that the new policies and programmes have failed to satisfy the equality issues. The special appointment of the Director (Equality and Diversity) in London Development Agency shows the importance, equality issues have acquired under the direction of the GLA. Welsh Development Agency (WDA) Welsh Assembly has sponsored the Welsh Development Agency to implement its development policies As an Assembly created body, the performance of the WDA is reviewed regularly to determine whether it is contributing to its wider objectives and conducting its business in accordance with Assembly principles and values, including equal opportunities. Among many of the programmes the WDA is entrusted with, support for sustainable local economies and to reduce disadvantage, is a major one. Since European Union (EU) is one of the funding arms of the WDA, many of the policy decisions get influenced by EU directives. The WDA adopted an equal opportunities policy in 2000, and an Equal Opportunities Group was established to oversee project implementation. Instead of the going in for the so-called mainstreaming approach followed in the Welsh civil services, the WDA has adopted a functional approach. For example, it has not organised equality training for all staff, nor does it have an integrated approach, but it has undertaken a number of initiatives on recruitment, flexible working, and training. A review by the Welsh Assembly has determined that on account of equality parameters following changes had been observed: * The Assembly is satisfied with the performance in promoting equality in its role as regulator of public services * It is also satisfied in its observance as a provider of quality equality services * Satisfaction as a provider of awareness on equality matters * Adequative initiatives to improve equality of opportunity figures * An enlarging role in promoting Welsh equality issues to other tiers of government Scottish Executive The Scottish Executive launched the Equality Strategy in November 2000, committing to mainstreaming equality in public life. It had also created, at the same time the Diversity Strategy to ensure that those responsible for implementing policies are representative in terms of gender, race, disability and other equality groups. Since the mainstreaming of equality issues is of recent origin, the focus remains on developing a workable mechanism and using the Race Relations Amendment Act as an entry point for mainstreaming gender and other equality issues. No equality impact assessments had been undertaken, however data compilation has been undertaken. The mainstreaming of equalities focuses on: * The elimination of child poverty, * Full employment by providing equal opportunities to all, * Secured old-age, and * Building cohesive communities. City of Birmingham Council The Birmingham City Council 's work on gender equality is relatively at an early stage; and is designed to ensure that different departments assess their employment practices in terms of gender equality criteria. One of the departments leading the council's work on gender equality is Environment and Consumer Services that has has benefited from the growing recruitment of women environmental health officers since the mid 1980s. Introduction of training and development programmes have also positively encouraged women into senior posts. The result is that more women are in decision-making positions (two out of the four directors are women) and gender is actively mainstreamed through the department's employment policies. However, black and ethnic minority staff tend to remain in lower graded posts in the department. North West Region The North West Regional Assembly started on the equal opportunities work with a focus on disability since the planners perceived that disability had received less attention than gender and race. However the overall aim being to implement an equal opportunities policy covering all aspects of their work and be committed to and promote equality of opportunity besides ensuring a fair treatment to all with regard to duties, regardless of race, ethnic or national origin, age, religion, gender, marital status, disability or sexual orientation. There have been criticism about the lack of focus on equalities and much needs to be done to deliver on gender mainstreaming and equal opportunities in general. West Midlands Police Authority The West Midlands Police Authority's Gender Agenda (2001) drawn up by a group representing the British Association of Women Police, the Police Federation, the ACPO Women's Group and the Metropolitan Association of Senior Women Officers focuses on the specific needs of women officers in the police service, who comprise 16 per cent of the workforce. The group has succeeded in changing the culture of the police force by effecting changes in, for example, in training, the selection and competency framework and employment conditions. The Authority has been working in conjunction with the Home Office Equalities Unit that has its own gender mainstreaming team and is developing strategies for the recruitment, retention and progression of women in - police, fire, prisons, probation and immigration. The long-term goals of the Gender Agenda are for the police service: * To demonstrate consistently that it values women officers * To achieve a gender, ethnicity and sexual orientation balance across the rank structure and specialisms consistent with the proportion of women in the economically active population * To have a women's voice in influential policy fora focusing on both internal and external service delivery * To develop an understanding of the competing demands in achieving a work/life balance and a successful police career, and generate action to make this a reality * To have a working environment and equipment of the right quality and standards to enable women officers to do their jobs professionally These aims have been broken down into practical activities: Examples of positive practice in the police service One of the barriers to the second aim listed above is the long hours culture and work life balance. It is recognised that action is required to break down the barriers. This includes: * Acknowledging and tackling the macho culture * Providing imaginative and positive support for part-time working and job sharing * Reviewing role/rank responsibilities and relevant job descriptions * Providing adequate support structures Positive initiatives identified by the national framework document include: * The formation of professional networking associations which are focussed on positively promoting the interests of female officers * The banking of hours of part-time workers, enabling long-term planning * Allowing term-time working where appropriate * Introducing time management and flexible resource management as competencies in selection processes Examples of bad practice in the police service include: * Specifying a willingness to work long hours as a selection criterion * Overloading some roles/ranks with disproportionate responsibilities * Specifying, without clearly evidenced reasons, that some roles/posts are not suitable for part-time working * Holding planned meetings at inappropriate times Substantial work has been done to ensure employment practices promote the position of women in the force through, flexible working, and part-time working etc The gender equalities work hopes to bring in equal opportunities practices. REFERENCES http://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/docs/GES2007to2010.pdf http://www.ilo.org/public/english/dialogue/ifpdial/areas/legislation/index.htm http://www.ilo.org/public/english/dialogue/ifpdial/areas/legislation/index.htmhttp://www.ilo.org/public/english/dialogue/ifpdial/areas/legislation/index.htm http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/Documents/EOC/PDF/Research/promoting_gender_equality.pdf Read More