Equality Policies – Are you Just Ticking a Box?

In light of ever-changing legislation, many employers have introduced employment equality polices which are aimed at dealing with (or preventing) discrimination, bullying and harassment in the workplace.

All well and good, but having a policy, regardless of the subject matter, really doesn’t go far enough in our view.

Introducing any policy as important as this should involve a carefully thought out plan which at least ensures that the following is carried out:

1.  All staff are aware of the policy, what it means, and why it has been introduced. (We still don’t think all-staff emails are sufficient for such vital developments)

2.  Managers in all parts of an organisation are fully briefed on the detail of the policy, and are aware of their own responsibilities in ensuring the policy is adhered to, by them and their staff.

3.  All staff engage in some forum which enables them to understand the implications of the policy, what constitutes a breach of the policy, and the implications that any breach can bring.

With an equality policy, a public commitment from the most senior levels of the organisation to the importance of the subject matter, and the implementation of the policy is vital to secure buy-in from the rest of the staff.  Without this and a proper plan for embedding the policy, there is a real danger that the policy will just sit on some hard-to-find list of policies hardly seen by your staff.

It’s fine to tick the box to say your organisation has a policy in place, but you need to go much further to make sure the messages it contains, and the value it brings, are communicated across your entire workforce.

If you are unsure whether your policies are appropriate then why not contact one of our HR Experts to discuss your situation.