EEO International Shorts
Equality Bill Introduced in Britain
The British Minister for Women and Equality, Harriet Harman, published in April an Equality Bill that sets out groundbreaking new laws to help narrow the gap between rich and poor, requires business to report on gender pay, outlaws age discrimination and will strengthen Britain’s anti-discrimination legislation.
The Bill will simplify laws that have become complex and difficult to navigate. Despite considerable progress since 1997, inequality and discrimination still exist, which is why the law needs to be strengthened, the Minister says. Women, for example, are paid on average 23 per cent less per hour than men, disabled people are twice as likely to be out of work, and people from ethnic minority backgrounds are nearly a fifth less likely to find work. The Equality Bill will come in to force in 2010.
Australia announces paid parental leave
Within hours of the Australian Government announcing paid parental leave in its recent Budget, business groups were raising concerns about the cost. The scheme offers primary carers earning less than $150,000 a year 18 weeks of post-natal leave paid at the minimum wage, but the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry wants companies compensated for administering it. Families Minister Jenny Macklin said the government would provide employers with the money to fund the payments up-front. She also defended the 2011 start date, saying legislation would pass through parliament before the next federal election, due in late 2010.
Australia brings in right to request flexibility
New laws giving employees the right to request a flexible work arrangement became law in April in Australia, and will come into effect in 2010. They will prompt a significant change to the way flexible work practices are negotiated at work, according to the newsletter of Aequus Partners, an Australian Management consultancy specialising in diversity.
Australian study finds tall people at top of wages ladder
Tall people earn higher wages than their shorter counterparts while being obese does not mean a slimmed-down pay packet, according to a new Australian study. Researchers from the University of Sydney and Canberra's Australian National University (ANU) found a strong link between wages and height, particularly for men, with each additional 10 cms of height adding three per cent to hourly wages.
The "height premium" was two per cent per 10 cm for women. The researchers examined health and income data from almost 20,000 Australians.
Helping women into non-traditional jobs
Getting more women into male dominated areas like science, engineering and technology remains a challenge in Britain, according to a report by the National Skills Forum. It has recommended 27 key actions to reduce the barriers preventing women from entering those professions. They include specialised careers guidance for young women, linking them with employers, and making it illegal for employers to specify working hours (such as 9 - 5) unless they can justify this. The report recommends part-time apprenticeships, and suggests that the British Government think again about withdrawing funding for already qualified women to study for a new qualification. Women who have been out of the workforce for years need help to reskill, it says.
1.5 million British workers underpaid
More than 1.5 million British workers may be being paid beneath the minimum wage, according to the British Trade Union Council - despite it being a decade since minimum wage laws were introduced. Those most at risk of under-payment are hotel, bar and restaurant workers, shop assistants and hairdressers. To make them more aware of their rights, the union body has published an updated guide to the national minimum wage.
Still stigma about depression at work
Employees find it easier to tell their employer about a physical illness than mental health issues, research from Britain’s Mental Health Foundation has found. Almost half (45%) of employees who were off work with a physical complaint experienced some depression when they returned to work, but they felt unable to tell their line managers about this. The study found that most managers were unaware of how a serious physical illness affects someone’s mental health, and warns that unless people are helped to readjust to work, they may have a relapse or leave the job.
New insights into pay gap and pay penalties
New work in Britain that for the first time breaks down pay gaps and pay penalties by gender and ethnicity, religion, disability, sexual orientation and age has found that gender pay gaps and pay penalties persist in all groups, and that men and women with disabilities are affected most by this. Britain’s Equality and Human Rights Commission‘s study analysed average hourly pay gaps and pay penalties by EEO categories. Pay gaps show the difference in average hourly pay between different groups, while the pay penalty is the difference in pay between groups with similar, though not identical, work. Both younger and older workers experience pay gaps, the study showed, but not pay penalties, while the findings on religious and sexual orientation were mixed.
More women on Councils in Northern Ireland thanks to EEO programme
A project aimed at increasing the number of women in senior roles within local government in Northern Ireland has been so successful it is now being used as a model for an EEO plan to get more disabled people into government, according to the Equal Opportunities Review. The project involved appointing gender champions, a Declaration of Principles and strategic partners. When it started, there were no female CEOs in any of Northern Ireland’s 26 councils. There are now 3, and women’s issues are becoming more central to councils’ agendas, the EOR says.
Work flexibility in Britain no magic bullet to balance
The right to ask for flexible hours is not a magic bullet for reducing work- family conflicts, a British report has found. The research looked at Britain’s ‘right to request’ laws, compared to other Western countries. In all countries, women are more likely to take-up flexible working options than men because of caring responsibilities, the report’s author, Hegewisch, found. Although flexible hours contribute to work-family balance, he found that adequate childcare for parents and a cap on working time for employers overall were important incentives for flexible working. Managerial training and support is essential to the success of flexibility policies, the research says.
Flexibility helps staff work longer hours
Giving full-time employees the opportunity to work from home sometimes reduces work/life conflict and enables employees to be more productive, new research on IBM has found. The researchers found that increased work hours generally lead to work/life conflict, but working from home and flexible hours reduces this. Working from home enabled employees to work four hours per week longer, while flexible hours enabled employees to work 7 hours per week more. These outcomes (with one exception) held true for IBM employees and businesses in 75 countries. Though the researchers saw this as a win/win, the research indicates a new risk - that employers use flexible hours and place of work as a way of getting their employees to work even harder.
