2003 Employment Equality Regulations: One Year On

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2003 Employment Equality Regulations One Year On

• Results of a survey with employers to establish
  the understanding and awareness of the legislation

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Leeds Metropolitan University

• Policy Research Institute founded 1987
• Well established in the fields of research
  concerning employment and local governance
• Developing new specialism in area of Equality and
  Diversity including Ethnicity, Older People and
  Sexual Orientation
• Surya Monro LGBT Equalities work

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National Context

• Employment Equalities Act (2003)
• Forthcoming Commission for Equal and Human Rights
  in 2007
• The Equalities Standard and CPA
• Civil Partnership Act (2004)
• Gender Recognition Act (2004)
• Set in the context of significant levels of
  employment discrimination

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Background and Structure

• Research commissioned by the Fair Play
  Partnership supported with funding for capacity
  building from the DTI
• Acknowledgements to Emma Jones and Rebecca
  Williams
• This presentation will provide an overview, then
  address firstly the Religion or Belief Employment
  Equality Regulations and secondly the Sexual
  Orientation ones, then it will provide a
  conclusion

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Methodology

• Telephone survey with over 400 employers in
  Yorkshire and Humber
• Initial quotas were set to ensure an adequate
  response from the different employer size bands
• Responses were weighted to be representative of
  all employers and the size bands

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Key findings overall

• Slightly over half of all employers said they had
  written equal opportunities (56) and
  discrimination (51) policies
• 65 had written procedures covering disciplinary
  and dismissal issues
• The larger the employer, the more likely the
  written employment policy of those with over 50
  employees, over 90 had these
• 42 of employers in Primary, Construction and
  Transport as opposed to 85 of Public Sector
  employers had written equality policies
• 90 of those with policies covered race, gender
  and disability

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Employers with written employment policies, by
no. of employees
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Awareness and understanding of the Religion or
Belief Regulations

• 67 of employers said they were aware of the new
  Employment Equality Religion or Belief
  Regulations
• 92 of employers with 50 employees said they
  were aware as opposed to 62 of those with less
  than 10 employees
• 49 said they would be making their staff aware
  of the regulations
• Around ¼ said they became aware of the
  regulations through the media or business network

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Employers' awareness of Religion or Belief
Regulations by sector
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Impact of the Regulations - Faith or Religion

• Only 19 of employers said they would be making
  changes to employment practices as a result of
  the Regulations (44 would not be making changes)
• There is a link between existence of a written
  policy and employers stating they will make
  changes
• Less than 50 allowed religious dress to be to
  work in the workplace, less than 40 allowed
  flexible working patterns to accommodate prayer
  time and less than 5 have a prayer room

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Impact of the Regulations - Faith or Religion -
continued

• 44 prioritise leave arrangements to allow staff
  to take leave for religious reasons
• Larger employers are more likely than small ones
  to make adjustments
• Only 24 keep a record of staffs religion or
  belief but this rose to 44 of employers with
  more than 50 staff

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Employers making example adjustments related to
Religion or Belief
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Employers views of the Regulations (Religion or
belief) and support needs

• The majority did not see the Regulations as
  having a significant impact 15 anticipated a
  positive impact and 3 anticipated a negative
  impact
• The types of support regarding the Regulations
  that were most frequently identified were simple
  written guidance, internet guidance and
  training/seminars

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Awareness of the Sexual Orientation Regulations

• 61 of employers said they were aware of the
  Sexual Orientation Regulations
• Levels of awareness were much higher in the
  larger organisations
• Of those who knew about the Regulations,87
  reported full or some understanding
• A large majority overall felt they did not need
  any support with the Regulations even though
  almost 40 were not aware of them
• Accessible literature was preferred

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Employers' awareness of the Regulations
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Indicators regarding Sexual Orientation Equalities

• 4 of large organisations reported cases of
  harassment
• 84 allowed compassionate leave regardless of the
  gender of employees partners
• 26 provided occupational pensions or benevolent
  funds equally many more larger organisations,
  and many said question was inapplicable
• The vast majority of employers did not monitor
  sexual orientation

17
Organisations that extend selected benefits to
all employees regardless of gender / sexual
orientation of partner, by employer size
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Impact of the Regulations Sexual Orientation

• The majority envisaged no implications (73).
  Some envisaged benefits such as improved
  employee-employer relations
• 12 of employers said that they would be making
  changes and 50 said they would not. None
  envisaged significant structural change such as
  equal pension schemes
• Most were not concerned about implementation but
  some small businesses were critical of the amount
  of legislation and many see the legislation as
  being irrelevant

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Impact of the Regulations Sexual Orientation -
continued

• Organisations varied widely in views a few
  overtly homophobic (its lunacy) and some
  directly supportive (its a good idea)
• A few noted tensions between sexual orientation
  and faith or belief equalities
• 61 were willing to participate in further
  research most were larger organisations

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Overall conclusions

• There is evidence that many employers are unaware
  of the regulations and are not complying this
  is more the case with sexual orientation than
  religion or belief
• Only small numbers anticipated making changes
• There is a need to raise awareness about the
  Regulations and their implications
• There is a need to address indirect as well as
  direct discrimination

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Overall conclusions continued

• There is a need to develop appropriate support
  for employers in making the necessary changes
• These including developing equal opportunities
  policies
• They include putting structural changes (such as
  leave arrangements that support faith practice,
  and equality regarding pensions for same-sex
  couples) in place
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