I attended a seminar today (very kindly hosted by RWP Solicitors in Pangbourne) about the new Equality Act which comes into force on Friday, 1st October 2010.

The Act seeks to encompass all of the previous, disjointed acts on discrimination - disability, age, sex, etc - and to iron out some of the discrepancies between them. 

It's complex!  Employers certainly need to take note of the implications of the Act and to introduce appropriate policies and procedures if they are to avoid falling foul of it. 

For example, if a customer (or indeed 2 separate customers) has abused or harrassed a member of an employer's staff on 2 separate occasions and the employer is aware of this abuse, then the employer must take action to prevent this from happening.  Otherwise the employee can bring a claim against the employer - even though the employer was not the aggriever.  Yes, true.

So, in this example, the employer should make it clear to customers that this behaviour is not permitted, display notices regarding appropriate behaviour and, if necessary, bar the customer from the premises.    For some time now, we have seen such notices in hospital A&E departments and in pubs, but it's now time for all employers to pay close attention to what's going on in their workplace.  Poor recruitment processes, bullying, harrassment, disability, race or sex discrimination - even in the form of "harmless" jokes or banter - can all bring the employer in front of an Employment Tribunal, with the risk of very hefty penalties.

It would be very easy to get paranoid about this, but it will also be extremely easy to fall foul of the Act. 
So review your processes and take sensible precautions:

1. put clear policies and procedures in place,
2. make sure every manager and member of staff is aware of how to implement the policies and procedures, and is aware of the standards that are expected of them, and
3. keep your ear to the ground and take swift action where necessary.

The Back Office can help create such policies, so give us a call if you'd like any help with this.

It was reported in People Management today (21st September 2010) that the World of Work Report 2010 (a report compiled by Ranstad and based on 2500 responses from employers and employees), concluded that half of employees felt that their skills were being underutilised by employers.

The report also concluded that there was a mismatch in perceptions between employers and employees about what factors motivated staff: Employers felt that motivation was driven by benefits, brand and culture, whereas employees felt that remuneration, training, development, career planning and flexible working conditions were the drivers.

Although many staff had up-skilled in order to cover additional responsibilities during the downturn, they still felt that employers were not tapping into those skills, and about 10% of them were minded to move jobs if something more attractive came up.

Head of Randstad UK said it was important for organisations to correct the differences in perception or risk losing talented people.

This backs up what I am about to say regarding the reasons for coaching and the benefits to be gained from it and will also tie in with my earlier article on Staff Retention: Ten Top Tips on Staff Retention.docx