Challenging Racism in the Workplace

Transcription

1 Challegig Racism i the Workplace Guidace for UNISON braches

2 CHALLENGING RACISM IN THE WORKPLACE 2

3 GUIDANCE FOR UNISON BRANCHES Cotets Itroductio 4 What the law says 5 Public authorities ad the public sector equality duty 6 Why challegig racism matters to every brach 7 Resources for developig a brach actio pla 7 Joit brach assessmet 7 The role of self-orgaised groups 8 Commuity orgaisig 8 Three importat steps 9 Gather iformatio 9 Develop a brach actio pla 9 Talk to maagemet 10 Partership workig betwee employers ad uios 11 Does your employer have a race or sigle equality scheme? 11 Does your employer udertake moitorig of workers by ethicity? 12 Does your employer coduct equality impact assessmets? 13 Equality impact assessmets checklist 13 Reviewig the race equality scheme 13 Next steps 14 Evaluatig iformatio 14 Breakdow of commuity ad workforce by ethicity 15 Issues for collective bargaiig 16 Recruitmet ad selectio 16 Traiig 17 Promotios ad actig up 18 Short-term, temporary ad agecy workers 19 Pay ad workig coditios 20 Performace assessmet 21 Discipliary actio 22 Redudacies 23 3

4 CHALLENGING RACISM IN THE WORKPLACE Itroductio Challegig racism i the workplace is vital to UNISON s work whether it ivolves bargaiig ad egotiatig for members; growig our membership; challegig pay freezes, reorgaisatios ad redudacies or orgaisig our members aroud campaigs that matter most to them. UNISON s Black members have may of the same cocers as ay other member regardig access to employmet, pay, coditios of service, promotio ad progressio ad traiig. However, racist discrimiatio deepes the impact of labour market exploitatio o Black workers. It is racism that prevets them from havig equal access to good quality jobs ad pay. This maifests itself i the workplace most obviously through bullyig ad harassmet, but structures ad processes ca also covertly disadvatage Black workers. The over-cocetratio of Black workers i the lowest rugs of orgaisatios as well as i discipliaries, grievaces ad redudacies might ot be immediately ucovered without appropriate iformatio gatherig ad moitorig. Dealig with discrimiatio is ot just about supportig a worker who wishes to pursue their grievace through formal procedures. The root cause may lie i the actios of a maager or other workers, the culture of the workplace, a particular policy or the failure to eforce a ati-racist strategy. All these issues could lead to racist behaviour ot beig adequately challeged. They also icrease the risk that Black workers will cotiue to experiece discrimiatio. Equality legislatio provides trade uios with the meas to hold employers to accout but the priciples of equality ca oly become a reality i our workplaces if we orgaise aroud them ad place them o the bargaiig table. Equality is t just for the good times it is more importat tha ever whe times are tough. Black people will suffer disproportioately from public spedig cuts, both as commuities depedet o public services ad as employees. Without a effective respose to deeply rooted patters of discrimiatio, may of our members, their families ad commuities are left vulerable to blighted life chaces ad opportuities. Challegig racism i the workplace is also crucial for all of UNISON s work because o workplace where racism is allowed to flourish ca ever be effectively orgaised. This guidace ad its associated traiig course offers a rage of resources, ideas ad checklists for UNISON activists that allows them to icorporate ati-racist work withi their campaigig, orgaisig, recruitig ad egotiatig activity. By promotig this work, UNISON aims to ed the isolatio faced by black workers ad to ivolve all members i fightig for fair workplaces. The traiig course ad brach guidace should assist everyoe withi the brach to become proactive i challegig racism. This is cetral to UNISON s work i fightig for fair workplaces for all members. This publicatio is ot meat to be exhaustive or comprehesive but is iteded to provide ideas ad support for this importat work. Further support, updates, resources ad further iformatio o the Challegig Racism i the Workplace project ad traiig course ca be foud o org.uk/challegigracism/idex.asp. 4

5 GUIDANCE FOR UNISON BRANCHES What the law says The Race Relatios Act (1976), as ameded by the Race Relatios Amedmet Act (RRAA) i 2000, forms the legal foudatio of protectio from racial discrimiatio i employmet. It is worth bearig i mid that the law i itself does ot stop discrimiatio ad caot be relied upo o its ow to achieve ad protect equality at work. The act itself is oly able to defie what ulawful racial discrimiatio is. A crucial chage i the law came with the RRAA which placed public authorities uder a statutory duty to have due regard to elimiatig ulawful racial discrimiatio, ad promotig equality of opportuity betwee differet racial groups i carryig out their fuctios. This arose out of the tragic murder of Stephe Lawrece ad the subsequet iquiry, which idetified istitutioal racism as a serious issue i British society. The Lawrece iquiry defied istitutioal racism as: The collective failure of a orgaisatio to provide a appropriate ad professioal service to people because of their colour, culture or ethic origi. It ca be see or detected i processes, attitudes ad behaviour which amout to discrimiatio through uwittig prejudice, igorace, thoughtlessess ad racist stereotypig which disadvatage miority ethic people. This did ot come as ay surprise to may Black workers i this coutry, for whom such a experiece is a almost daily occurrece. Placig public authorities uder a proactive duty to idetify opportuities to promote equality ad challege racism recogised that it would take a systemic ad strategic approach to achieve a fairer society. It also meas that trade uio represetatio ad collective bargaiig are the most powerful mechaisms we have to esure that equal rights exist withi the workplace, holdig employers to accout ad effectively challegig the kid of discrimiatory practices the Lawrece iquiry highlighted. The Equality Act 2010 harmoised existig discrimiatio law to create a sigle approach to achievig equality; there are parts that have yet to come ito force. The act makes it ulawful to discrimiate o the basis of a protected characteristic. These are age, disability, geder reassigmet, marriage ad civil partership, pregacy ad materity, religio or belief, sex ad sexual orietatio ad race. It is ulawful to discrimiate i recruitmet or employmet o racial grouds. This applies to both the public ad private sectors. Racial grouds are defied as: race or colour atioality (icludig citizeship) ethic or atioal origis. Discrimiatio may be direct or idirect. Direct discrimiatio meas treatig a perso less favourably o racial grouds, for example, by rejectig all job applicatios from o-british applicats, or by refusig to cosider Bagladeshi people for a job. Idirect discrimiatio occurs whe a apparetly o-discrimiatory requiremet, coditio or practice which applies equally to everyoe is actually harder for people from particular racial groups to satisfy ad which caot be justified i strictly busiess terms. For example, it could be idirect discrimiatio to ask for a high stadard of Eglish whe the job does ot require this. Harassmet o grouds of race or atioal or ethic origis is a specific offece, while harassmet o grouds of colour or atioality may amout to direct discrimiatio. Harassmet is defied as uwated coduct that has the purpose or effect of violatig a perso s digity; or creatig a itimidatig, hostile, degradig, humiliatig or offesive eviromet for that perso. 5

6 CHALLENGING RACISM IN THE WORKPLACE Accordig to the act, it is ulawful to victimise a perso because he or she has made, or supported, a complait of racial discrimiatio or harassmet. Istructig or iducig aother perso to discrimiate is also ulawful, as is publishig a advertisemet or otice that idicates a itetio to discrimiate. Public authorities ad the public sector equality duty The Equality Act sets out a geeral duty o public bodies whe exercisig public fuctios to have due regard to the eed to elimiate discrimiatio, advace equality of opportuity ad foster good relatios. Uder previous legislatio, most public authorities were also required to carry out specific duties which icluded preparig ad publishig equality schemes ad moitorig specified employmet procedures ad practices. At the time of writig, the ew geeral duty had ot yet bee eacted. The Equality Act also cotais eablig powers to itroduce specific equality duties, icludig duties relatig to public sector procuremet. Where a public authority s fuctio is carried out wholly or partly by a exteral supplier o its behalf, the authority remais resposible for carryig out the duty. Cotractors themselves must ot discrimiate ulawfully o racial grouds, but they do ot have the same legal duties. It is likely that the ew geeral ad specific duties may ot come ito law util April Util the, the three statutory public sector duties o race, disability ad geder, icludig the existig specific duties, remai i effect ad must be complied with. UNISON activists should aim to make full use of these powers. They are powerful tools for challegig budget cutbacks, redudacies ad reductios i service provisio. UNISON has produced guidace o the existig public sector equality duties ad specific duties, which ca be foud While the law is a powerful tool for trade uios i tacklig iequality, it will ot elimiate the damagig systemic labour market discrimiatio that Black workers experiece. Equality legislatio ca oly provide real chage i workplaces if trade uios brig their collective bargaiig power to bear. The geeral equality duty will be most powerful whe it is used as a lever ad egotiatig tool by braches withi discussios with employers. Whatever chages occur withi the legal framework aroud discrimiatio, UNISON activists should aim to egotiate above legal miimums. Those provisios set out i the curret specific duties (as of November 2010) should still be pursued. Activists ca egotiate with employers for the publicatio of equality schemes, moitorig of employmet practices ad the carryig out of equality impact assessmets of their policies ad practices as the most effective way for employers to prove that they are carryig out their legal duties uder the geeral public sector equality duty. UNISON will provide updates o the chagig legal situatio over the comig year, which will be available o the CRW website. The iformatio i this sectio gives geeral guidace oly ad should ot be treated as a complete ad authoritative statemet of the law. 6

7 GUIDANCE FOR UNISON BRANCHES Why challegig racism matters to every brach While tacklig racism ad discrimiatio is o easy task, the approach we take is o differet to that of tacklig ay other workplace issue for members: speakig to members, idetifyig problems ad issues that eed to be tackled collectively, orgaisig ad campaigig aroud these cocers ad egotiatig with employers to resolve the problem. Just because a problem might oly affect some members i the brach does ot stop it from presetig a orgaisig opportuity that will egage the wider membership. Ofte, takig actio o race equality will mea icludig a race equality perspective withi a larger campaig or activity, such as UNISON s Millio Voices campaig. Black workers, just like other brach members, might be facig reorgaisatios ad redudacies, icreasig workloads ad harassmet. However, they might experiece a uequal impact ad be less likely to be promoted ad more likely to be facig grievaces, discipliaries or redudacies. This kid of covert discrimiatio ot oly erodes the well-beig of Black members, but may also prevet the growth ad future stregth of the brach. I the curret ecoomic ad political climate, UNISON eeds to be strog, active ad resposive to all its members. Itegratig a orgaisig strategy for Black members ad a bargaiig strategy for race equality withi the work of the brach requires some careful plaig. The brach might choose to set up a specific team to take forward plaed activity aroud race equality issues or it might work to itegrate issues for Black members withi its larger campaigs. Speakig to members about their experieces, ucoverig a disproportioate impact o Black workers by lookig at data from equality impact assessmets or idetifyig a particular race equality issue as a orgaisig/campaigig opportuity might ivolve the brach plaig specific activity aroud challegig racism i the workplace. Ay such work should iclude experieced brach leaders who curretly egotiate with maagemet. It should also be a opportuity to develop Black reps to take seior brach positios. Where braches are focusig o campaigs ad activity aroud the Millio Voices campaig ad defedig public services, they should seek to itegrate work o challegig racism withi this overarchig work. The Challegig Racism i the Workplace project will eable braches to idetify ad highlight the disproportioate impact of public service cuts o Black workers ad commuities. Resources for developig a brach actio pla There are a umber of resources that the brach ca draw upo i formig a effective actio pla to take this work forward. The Challegig Racism i the Workplace traiig course will be a valuable resource for braches, equippig activists with ideas, tips, best practice ad the cofidece to itegrate race equality ito the egotiatig ad bargaiig work of the brach. Activists might also fid UNISON s brach developmet ad orgaisig toolkit helpful, particularly the core module which focuses o brach developmet ad module 2, Orgaisig aroud Race Equality. Joit brach assessmet The joit brach assessmet is desiged to support the creatio of strog, democratic ad orgaisig braches. It eables braches to coduct a appraisal of their work, prioritise issues ad set targets ad allocate ecessary resources for their core work. Work o race equality is a key target withi the brach assessmet process. Uder the Local bargaiig ad campaigs sectio, braches are asked i questio 5.1 What actios has the brach take to challege racism i the workplace? 7

8 CHALLENGING RACISM IN THE WORKPLACE Takig forward Challegig Racism i the Workplace will support braches whe coductig their assessmets. It will also eable activists to idetify yearly targets, put together a actio pla ad commit resources to esure that effective work ca be udertake. The role of self-orgaised groups Black members self-orgaised groups i UNISON have bee at the forefrot of campaigig for better rights for workers. Where braches have a Black members self-orgaised group it should be ivolved i the process of lookig at the Race equality scheme ad its implicatios. The group should be used to help the brach campaig ad orgaise aroud race equality. As employers have to cosult employees, UNISON braches should make the case that group members are give paid time off to meet ad discuss the implicatios of the Race Equality Scheme. Some authorities may set up their ow Black workers group or forum to cosult. Such forums ofte exist to show a act of miimal compliace ad ca have little power i challegig issues of istitutioal racism. They are also a potetial threat to Black trade uio activism i the workplace as well as a attack o facility time arragemets for Black trade uio represetatives, which ca the lead to the udermiig of collective bargaiig agreemets o race equality. If a authority s Black workers group is the oly forum available, UNISON braches should esure that the uio s voice is heard through that group. However it is vital that where braches have Black members but do ot have a self-orgaised group, or the group has lapsed, that the brach establishes oe as a priority Commuity orgaisig Whe puttig together a campaig o issues withi the workplace, the opportuity should be take to build greater liks withi the wider commuity to support the uio s activities. May of UNISON s Black members are active withi their commuities o a rage of social justice issues. I campaigs aroud defedig public services ad fightig cuts i service provisio, the eeds of vulerable commuities should also be highlighted. Public authorities are uder a legal obligatio to esure that their actios do ot discrimiate agaist Black commuities. A campaig based withi the workplace ca also reach out ito the commuity by emphasisig that Black uemploymet has icreased sharply as a result of the recessio ad that Black people will also suffer disproportioately from public spedig cuts, both as commuities depedet o public services ad as workers. 8

9 GUIDANCE FOR UNISON BRANCHES Three importat steps UNISON brach represetatives have a importat role to play o behalf of members i prevetig ulawful discrimiatio ad i promotig equal opportuities ad good race relatios i the workplace. Some, or all, of the issues that are detailed i this guidace may be a problem for Black workers i your workplace ad will form part of maistream policies, procedures or agreemets that have bee egotiated with maagemet or about which UNISON brach represetatives may have bee cosulted. Race equality issues are ot separate issues that are egotiated by specialists. They should be a aspect of all the agreemets that are egotiated for members i the workplace by UNISON represetatives. I order to deal with problems of racial discrimiatio i the workplace ad egotiate solutios with maagemet you will eed to take the followig three steps. Gather iformatio A first step is to ucover ay problems that may have bee happeig covertly. Ucoverig discrimiatory practices will the eable the brach to orgaise members aroud these practices ad to address them at the bargaiig table. Some commo issues for Black workers are outlied i the sectio Issues for collective bargaiig o page 16. Gatherig iformatio will ot oly eable braches to ucover discrimiatio but will also eable them to re-egage with Black members i the workplace. Talkig to Black members, through surveys, as idividuals or by ecouragig ad raisig their attedace at brach meetigs, will support the brach s wider activities. Other importat sources of iformatio iclude: curret equal opportuities policy or the employer s race or sigle equality scheme ad kowledge of how it is workig workplace moitorig data o the issues that members have idetified the brach equalities officer the Challegig Racism i the Workplace website (uiso.org.uk/challegigracism/), or the Equality ad Huma Rights Commissio (EHRC). Develop a brach actio pla Whe all this iformatio is gathered it will eed to be evaluated ad the followig questios cosidered: what are the major issues to be tackled? what are the possible solutios? what eeds to be doe to get support for the solutios from the majority of brach members? is there a eed for a workplace campaig? what is the likely reactio from maagemet to this? what are possible resposes from brach members? what priority should each of the most importat issues be give? 9

10 CHALLENGING RACISM IN THE WORKPLACE Talk to maagemet Whe egotiatig aroud race equality issues with maagemet you will eed to: be clear about the problems you are raisig be clear about what you are tryig to achieve put forward positive solutios iclude Black members o the egotiatig team esure that all members are aware of the outcome of discussios. As a UNISON brach represetative you eed to be aware that it is ulawful for trade uios to discrimiate agaist particular groups of members by treatig them less favourably whe egotiatig beefits. This meas that you will eed to esure that formal or iformal agreemets that are reached with maagemet do ot disadvatage Black workers. I order to esure that this does ot happe, you eed to thik about who gais ad who loses i ay claims that are put forward or agreemets that are beig proposed. 10

11 GUIDANCE FOR UNISON BRANCHES Partership workig betwee employers ad uios The geeral ad specific duties o race equality mea that public authorities are uder a obligatio to proactively elimiate discrimiatio ad promote equality, both as employers ad as service providers this gives reps a opportuity to play a critical role. Pressig employers to take a approach to achievig race equality that focuses o outcomes (rather tha a tick-box process to achieve compliace) will eable reps to play a stroger egotiatig role ad produce geuie chage withi the workplace. Reps will also wat to esure that chief executives, board members ad seior maagers are ot oly committed to this work, but are see to be so, o a cosistet ad ogoig basis. This is also a opportuity for reps to highlight to maagers that they represet a valuable resource for the orgaisatio i meetig its statutory obligatios ad esurig the equitable delivery of services. UNISON braches should also seek active egagemet with other recogised trade uios i the workplace, as well as those people who ca ifluece the ageda, such as school/college goverors, elected members withi coucils ad members o PCT boards. Does your employer have a race or sigle equality scheme? A race equality scheme or a sigle equality scheme which covers race discrimiatio may be used as a actio pla to address problems of racial iequality i the workplace. It is importat that UNISON is ivolved i its formulatio to esure that the issues of discrimiatio affectig members are reflected i the policy; that adequate resources are allocated for implemetatio; that there are clear lies of maagemet resposibility for esurig compliace ad that there is a moitorig mechaism to assess whether the policy is achievig its objectives. Whilst the equality scheme is a startig poit it is importat to remember that paper statemets of itet aloe are ot eough. Race equality scheme checklist How is the policy put ito operatio i all aspects of employmet withi the orgaisatio? How do policy statemets traslate ito practical workplace arragemets? Are all workers aware of the policy ad uderstad how it affects them? What are the arragemets for traiig staff o the public sector equality duty? Have brach activists atteded UNISON traiig so that they ca egotiate o race? Is somebody i charge of implemetig the policy, ad have resources bee allocated to cover the cost of puttig it ito operatio? Ca you develop a relevat campaig aroud race equality issues? Have you set up a Black self-orgaised group to support the brach i egotiatig ad orgaisig? Have you got differet ivolvemet mechaisms i place, such as olie forums, Black staff groups, self-orgaised trade uio groups ad actio groups? Have you iformed Black staff about why you wat them to be ivolved? Is there a mechaism to feedback to Black staff so they ca see the impact their ivolvemet has had? Have you fed back ay agreemets to UNISON s Bargaiig Iformatio System (BIS)? 11

12 CHALLENGING RACISM IN THE WORKPLACE Does your employer udertake moitorig of workers by ethicity? Moitorig is a process of collectig, aalysig ad evaluatig iformatio. Iformatio ca be collected i several ways, icludig questioaires, surveys, cosultatio ad feedback. Public authorities are obliged to moitor employmet practice ad procedure by ethic group, icludig staff i post ad applicatios for employmet, traiig ad promotio. A employer caot claim to be committed to equality of opportuity if it does ot carry out moitorig, if there is o mechaism to measure the effectiveess of equal opportuities policies ad iitiatives, however extesive. The purpose of moitorig people s ethic backgrouds is to: idetify possible patters of iequality ivestigate their uderlyig causes remove ay ufairess or disadvatage. If moitorig is carried out i the strictest cofidece ad the reasos for udertakig it are made trasparet to all staff, it ca also sed a clear message to workers ad jobseekers that the orgaisatio is serious about equal opportuities. It is imperative that UNISON braches hold maagemet to accout i terms of how they ited to use the iformatio to make improvemets for staff. If moitorig is ot beig carried out it is importat to establish this process with maagemet. Of course moitorig must be see as a meas to a ed. There is o poit i a employer moitorig race equality issues if it does ot the act to address ay discrimiatio where it is idetified. Failure to do so would reduce moitorig to a tick-box exercise which is of little value ad ispires o cofidece. Moitorig checklist Has the brach bee cosulted o ay proposed moitorig arragemets? How will the iformatio be shared with the brach? How will the iformatio be stored ad who will have access to this? How will the iformatio be published? If moitorig is beig coducted, what does the data reveal? Does the ethicity of the workforce reflect the local populatio? Is this reflected at all levels withi the orgaisatio? Does moitorig exted to all employmet processes, for example applicatios for promotio, trasfer ad traiig as well as success rates for each; grievace ad discipliary actio icludig results; termiatio of cotract? If moitorig has revealed ay disproportioate results for Black workers, has ay further work bee udertake to establish the reasos for this? Have ay targets bee set as a result of the moitorig? Are these targets realistic ad measurable? How will the targets be moitored? 12

13 GUIDANCE FOR UNISON BRANCHES Does your employer coduct equality impact assessmets? Equality impact assessmets have proved to be a icreasigly importat tool for UNISON activists ad braches. This is a legal requiremet which aims to esure that o group is disadvataged o grouds of a authority s decisios ad activities, ad to idetify where authorities ca promote equality of opportuity. I the curret ecoomic ad political climate, where public services are beig threateed with uprecedeted cuts, they are more vital tha ever before. It is highly likely that cuts will fall most heavily o those who are most vulerable. Ay proposed actio by a public authority, icludig restructurig, redudacies ad cuts should be subject to a equality impact assessmet. A equality impact assessmet should look at how effective ay actio will be i promotig equality ad whether it could affect differet equality groups i differet ways. Where a egative impact or missed opportuity to promote equality is idetified, the race equality duty states that a public authority must give due regard to modifyig that policy or practice. The equality impact assessmet process provides UNISON braches with a opportuity to esure that the public authority is payig due regard to equality i its policies ad procedures. For example, if a coucil makes a policy decisio to privatise a service, it must carry out a impact assessmet from a race equality perspective to determie what cosequeces, if ay, the move will have o differet racial groups. Braches should ask public sector employers for copies of the equality impact assessmets o ay proposed actios, especially cuts. Equality impact assessmets checklist Is there a equality impact assessmet actio or steerig group i the public authority ad is there trade uio represetatio o it? Have Black staff bee ivolved i prioritisig what policies to assess? Does the assessmet have sufficiet evidece? What methods has the authority used to gather evidece? Reviewig the race equality scheme The race equality scheme must be reviewed every three years. The first scheme was required to be i place by May 2002, the secod by May 2005, ad the third by May

14 CHALLENGING RACISM IN THE WORKPLACE Next steps Oce data ad iformatio gathered from moitorig, equality impact assessmets ad talkig to Black members has bee collected, it will eed to be evaluated. It will take some careful plaig ad evaluatio to prioritise a issue suitable for a campaig withi the workplace or as the basis for egotiatig with the employer. The issues raised might eed to be itegrated ito the existig work of the brach such as the Millio Voices campaig. If the brach has set up a Challegig Racism i the Workplace team, it should cotai a mix of experiece ad iclude brach leaders who curretly egotiate with maagemet, who ca take a lead o this work. This is also a opportuity to develop Black reps to take o seior brach positios. If the brach does ot have a challegig racism team, it will eed to icorporate this work withi the existig brach structures i order to esure that issues for Black members form part of the cetral work of the uio. Evaluatig iformatio Breakig dow data ca reveal istitutioal treds ad patters ad expose the culture of the orgaisatio ad certai departmets. Patters of discrimiatio that are revealed ca be used to cofirm aecdotal evidece ad support the brach s argumets whe egotiatig with employers. Whe evaluatig data, activists should take ito cosideratio the quality ad format of data as well as treds ad patters over a umber of years. Brach activists ad members do ot eed to be experts i iterpretig statistics. A compariso betwee the demographic breakdow of the workforce ad that of the commuity it serves would eable the brach to highlight disparities i recruitmet (see illustratio, opposite). A look at where Black members are located withi the hierarchy of the orgaisatio could demostrate logstadig issues with promotio ad progressio. A compariso betwee uio membership ad the race profile of the larger workforce could idetify orgaisig ad recruitmet opportuities. A detailed look at some of the issues that might come up are outlied i the followig sectio, which also lists the kid of questios activists should be askig whe lookig at this data. This will eable braches to idetify which issues might be relevat to their workplace ad help them i formulatig a strategic respose. 14

15 GUIDANCE FOR UNISON BRANCHES Breakdow of commuity ad workforce by ethicity A good way to break dow ad compare the data you have collected. 15

16 CHALLENGING RACISM IN THE WORKPLACE Issues for collective bargaiig This sectio provides you with a selectio of issues that UNISON Black members have idetified as beig of relevace to Black workers. It is ot a exhaustive list, but its purpose is to familiarise you with some of the most frequetly occurrig issues for UNISON members, may of which have bee dealt with through legal proceedigs. The accompayig checklists provide you with a startig poit to eable you to develop a ageda which best represets your bargaiig goals. Some, or all, of the issues that are detailed i the guidace may be a problem for Black workers i your workplace. They will ofte form part of maistream policies, procedures or agreemets that have bee egotiated with maagemet or about which UNISON brach represetatives may have bee cosulted. Race equality issues are ot separate issues that are egotiated by specialists. They should be a aspect of all the agreemets that are egotiated for members i the workplace by UNISON represetatives. Recruitmet ad selectio Black workers are still beig discrimiated agaist i the recruitmet process. You may fid that the racial profile of your workplace is urepresetative of your local area or that particular Black groups are over-represeted i certai lower grade roles. A example of discrimiatio occurrig at the recruitmet stage ca be see i research carried out by the Departmet for Work ad Pesios i 2009, where 3,000 job applicatios were set out uder false idetities to discover whether employers were discrimiatig agaist job seekers with recogisably Asia ad Africa ames. The research foud that, o average, a applicat who appeared to be white would sed ie applicatios before receivig a positive respose, whereas cadidates with a Asia or Africa ame with the same qualificatios ad experiece had to sed 16 applicatios. Recruitmet ad selectio checklist Does the compositio of the workforce reflect the local populatio? If ot, is ay moitorig beig carried out to determie whether Black people are applyig for job vacacies? Where are job vacacies beig advertised? Are ay steps beig take to esure job advertisemets are reachig uder-represeted groups? Is a stadard job applicatio form used for all recruitmet? Are job descriptios ad selectio criteria made clear to all potetial applicats? What traiig is provided to staff ivolved i the recruitmet ad selectio process? Does this iclude traiig o the equal opportuities policy ad its applicatio to recruitmet? Are recruitmet ad selectio procedures cosistet with the EHRC code of practice i employmet? 16

17 GUIDANCE FOR UNISON BRANCHES Traiig A TUC report ito traiig for employees has foud that white workers are more likely to be offered traiig tha their Black colleagues. Simultaeously, data from the Labour Force Survey reveals the importace of trade uios i egotiatig a greater provisio of traiig for workers whe compared to workers who are simply cosulted o i this matter. I workplaces where traiig is egotiated, almost 40% of employers orgaise a average of five or more traiig days a year, but i those workplaces where it is oly subject to cosultatio, less tha 25% match this figure. As a UNISON brach represetative you might fid that Black staff are more likely to work i particular occupatios frequetly at grades below their potetial i which case are there traiig provisios for these posts? You may also fid that Black staff are more likely to have to work usociable hours i which case are there provisios to make rotas accessible? Traiig checklist Is there a traiig ad developmet delivery pla? How are traiig opportuities advertised to staff? Are traiig opportuities available to staff at all levels? Are there ay disparities i the take-up of traiig opportuities betwee ethic groups? Do you fid that Black workers do ot sig up for traiig courses? If so, have you foud out what the reasos for this are? What steps have bee take to ecourage greater take-up of traiig opportuities? 17

18 CHALLENGING RACISM IN THE WORKPLACE Promotios ad actig up As metioed above, Black workers ted to be over-represeted at lower job grades. I may cases, this is despite havig the ecessary qualificatios ad skills to work at a higher level. For example, a trade uio project lookig ito racism at work revealed how a Africa-heritage coucil worker had applied for promotio, but despite possessig all the ecessary qualificatios he was usuccessful. He later foud out that a white ma, without the qualificatios, was offered the job istead. Opportuities to act up are ofte created iformally ad are therefore ot accessible to all suitably qualified workers. A Machester tribual ruled that a employer who promoted a employee to a ewly created post without advertisig the vacacy, with the result that o-oe was give the opportuity to apply, had ulawfully discrimiated agaist a Black employee who would have applied for the post if they had kow about it. Promotios ad actig-up checklist Is there a specific policy or scheme for career progressio? How are promotio or actig-up opportuities advertised? Are all workers eligible to apply for ay promotio or actig-up opportuities? If ot, what reasos are give for limitig access to these? Is there evidece to show that the employer has followed stadard recruitmet procedures for promotios? Are job descriptios ad perso specificatios available for the job ad are applicatios assessed agaist this? Do applicats who wish to apply for promotio or actig up complete a stadard applicatio form? Are iterviews held before makig a appoitmet? Are you aware of Black workers applyig for promotios but cosistetly beig tured dow? 18

19 GUIDANCE FOR UNISON BRANCHES Short-term, temporary ad agecy workers Research by the govermet i 2008 foud that agecy workers were disproportioately likely to be Black. Black workers are also more likely to be employed o a temporary cotract basis tha their white colleagues. Agecy staff ad temporary workers are amog those with the least rights, lowest pay ad are most susceptible to redudacy. These workers are ulikely to get access to traiig or staff developmet ad as a cosequece are ot likely to progress i the workforce. Further iformatio about UNISON s work with the hidde workforce ca be accessed o uiso.org.uk/hiddeworkforce/ Short-term, temporary ad agecy workers checklist Is there trade uio agreemet o the employmet of temporary cotract ad agecy staff? Is there a policy or criteria for the use of temporary ad agecy staff? What proportio of the workforce is employed o a temporary cotract or through a agecy? Does moitorig exted to staff o temporary cotracts or agecy work? Why are such workers ot give permaet cotracts? Are there istaces where jobs of a similar role or grade are udertake by staff o permaet cotracts? Are there istaces where temporary cotracts of workers are automatically reewed? Are exit iterviews coducted with temporary or short-term staff? If so, what happes to this iformatio? 19

20 CHALLENGING RACISM IN THE WORKPLACE Pay ad workig coditios Research by the govermet i 2010 foud that Black people were less likely to be i employmet tha white people. The same research also cofirmed that most groups of Black workers experieced sigificat ethic miority pay gaps icludig 21% for Bagladeshi me ad over 30% for Pakistai ad Chiese wome. This gap may partly be attributed to Black workers beig disproportioately represeted i low-paid jobs. However, iformal policies ad practices i the workplace ca also exclude Black workers from overtime opportuities, bouses ad other forms of performace-related pay. Pay ad workig coditios checklist Has a pay audit bee coducted? Does this reveal ay sigificat pay gaps betwee differet ethic groups? What does moitorig data reveal? Are Black workers maily employed i low-paid ad frotlie jobs? Is there a strategy to achieve Black represetatio at all levels of the workforce? How are opportuities for overtime made available to staff? Are there procedures or agreemets to esure the fair distributio of overtime workig ad o allocatio of work for bouses? Are such procedures followed? Are exit iterviews held with departig staff? How is this iformatio aalysed ad used? 20

21 GUIDANCE FOR UNISON BRANCHES Performace assessmet Oe dager of performace assessmets i ay job is that they ca easily tur ito assessmets of the perso, based o ucoscious assumptios about their ability as a member of a particular racial group or geder, or as a disabled perso, which ca be discrimiatory. For example, a Black worker successfully demostrated discrimiatio whe she received the followig commet i her aual appraisal: Kamla does ot speak good Eglish so she ca t the uderstad istructios she is give by her supervisor. I fact Kamla s work rate was better tha average ad her level of spoke Eglish did ot affect her uderstadig of istructios or ability to do the job. Performace assessmet checklist Is there a performace assessmet scheme? Has this bee race equality impact-proofed? Do maagers ad workers receive traiig o race equality i performace assessmets? How ofte do assessmets take place? Are they measured agaist a agreed job pla based o the worker s job descriptio? What criteria are used for measurig performace? Are they objective ad measurable? Do they refer to specific tasks ad achievemets? Do workers have the opportuity to commet o ad discuss the aual assessmet report? Do assessmets iclude discussio of traiig opportuities ad career developmet? Do egative assessmets affect pay? Is there moitorig of outcomes by ethicity? 21

22 CHALLENGING RACISM IN THE WORKPLACE Discipliary actio I 2001, Nottigham City Coucil idetified that Black workers were disproportioately subject to discipliary actio. It commissioed a research study from the Istitute for Employmet Studies to uderstad why this was. The report cocluded that maagers were usig some procedures iappropriately to deal with situatios ad that this racially-biased actio led to Black staff beig discrimiated agaist. Uecessary, or ufair, discipliary actio udermies the cofidece of Black workers i the workplace ad affects their chaces of career progressio. It is ofte a idicator of poor maagemet ad supervisio i the workplace. Discipliary actio checklist Is discipliary actio beig moitored by ethicity, ad if so, what does the moitorig reveal? Are Black workers beig disproportioately subjected to discipliary actio? Is discipliary actio beig used as a way of resolvig issues of competece? Do Black workers feel that they have little commuicatio with maagemet ad are give little or o supervisio ad guidace? Are stadards of coduct ad performace clear ad precise ad kow by staff? Is your employer precise about what is required of maagers i maagig poor performace ad what resposibilities they have to provide ogoig supervisio? Are maagers traied i dealig with discipliary procedures? 22

23 GUIDANCE FOR UNISON BRANCHES Redudacies Withi the curret political climate, large-scale redudacies have tured ito a critical issue for UNISON activists as they prepare to orgaise, campaig ad egotiate to save members jobs ad defed public services across the coutry. The discrimiatio faced by Black workers withi the workplace also leaves them particularly at risk whe redudacies are made. It is vital that equality is at the heart of UNISON s strategy to defed public services. Equality also gives the uio a importat tool i campaigs agaist redudacies. Ay proposals to make staff redudat or to cut services must have a equality impart assessmet carried out o them by public bodies ad those private cotractors who provide public services. UNISON has produced a rage of resources to support braches as they protect members ad build local campaigs agaist cuts i local govermet. This ca be foud o uiso.org.uk/localgov/redudacies/resources.asp. Redudacies checklist Has the employer explored alteratives to redudacies? Has the orgaisatio s redudacy procedure bee followed? Has the employer give appropriate otice ad udertake meaigful idividual ad collective cosultatio? Are the selectio criteria trasparet ad fair? Has a equality impact assessmet bee carried out? Which service users will be affected by the cuts? Will the Black commuity or ay other protected group be particularly affected? Are Black workers beig disproportioately affected by reorgaisatios ad proposed redudacies? Have alterative optios bee compared ad cosidered to miimise ay discrimiatio? Do all affected workers have geuiely equal opportuities for retraiig or redeploymet? 23

24 UNISON has more tha a millio members deliverig essetial services to the public. Services that protect, erich ad chage lives. We wat to see chages that put people before profit ad public iterest before private greed. Add your voice to our campaig to create a fairer society. To fid out more or add your voice to our millio voices for public services go to uiso.org.uk/millio Joi UNISON olie: uiso.org.uk/joi or call uiso.org.uk/blackmembers uiso.org.uk/equality Desiged by UNISON Commuicatios Uit. Published ad prited by UNISON, 1 Mabledo Place, Lodo WC1H 9AJ. CU/Jauary2011/19614/Stock o UNP