Workforce information under the specific duties of the Equality Act 2010

DARLINGTON BOROUGH COUNCIL (DBC) WORKFORCE INFORMATION UNDER THE SPECIFIC DUTIES OF THE EQUALITY ACT 2010

1.0 Equality Agenda for Darlington Borough Council Employees

1.1 Darlington Borough Council (DBC) has been committed to workforce equality issues for many years.

1.2 In addition to outlining the action that the Council takes to promote equality in everything we do, our Equality Scheme reinforces how we train and develop our employees on equality issues and monitor and review the way we work.  This helps us address any disadvantages that may impact on employees for any reason, but particularly if they are covered by one or more of the protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010.

1.3 The Council has a number of specific employment policies, procedures and initiatives in place that support the three aims of the Equality Duty.  These are referred to at relevant points within this document.

1.4 The Council has undertaken Equality Impact Assessments for all new employment policies since the requirement to do so was introduced.  These have helped us consider how they may affect different people within the workforce and take action to address any areas that may have an adverse impact.

1.5 The Council will naturally take any equality concerns raised by employees seriously and look to address these through the appropriate channels.  We would usually become aware of these through direct approaches from employees or union representatives; through Group and Corporate consultation arrangements with the unions (through the Council’s Joint Consultative Committee - JCC) or through practical implementation of the relevant policies.

1.6 The responses to the Council’s last Employee Survey were disaggregated by age, disability, gender and ethnic group but no issues were identified for action.  The Council will ensure that we are able to disaggregate the responses to any future Employee Surveys by employees sharing different protected characteristics to help identify if there are any equality issues the Council needs to be aware of.

1.7 DBC has taken and will continue to take relevant measures to adhere to the workforce implications of the Equality Act 2010.  As part of this work, the Council produced two Human Resources (HR) Advisory Circulars for employees on the HR implications of the Equality Act introduced from October 2010 and April 2011.

1.8 These cover:

  • background in terms of merging discrimination legislation into a single Act to ensure consistency across the different equality strands
  • the nine protected characteristics (age; disability; gender reassignment; marriage and civil partnership (but only in respect of eliminating unlawful discrimination); pregnancy and maternity; race (including ethnic or national origins, colour or nationality); religion or belief (including lack of belief); sex and sexual orientation)
  • definitions of direct, perceptive and associative discrimination, harassment, third party harassment and victimisation
  • the restrictions on employers asking job applicants questions about health
  • the extension of third party harassment to all the protected characteristics (apart from pregnancy and maternity and marriage and civil partnership)
  • changes to disability discrimination, including extension to indirect discrimination and changes to disability-related discrimination
  • change to the definition of gender reassignment to remove the requirement for medical supervision
  • positive action in recruitment and promotion
  • the public sector equality duty (general and specific duties)

2.0 Context of Workforce Information

2.1 As at the end of the 2011/12 financial year, DBC had a workforce of 2424 employees (excluding schools).  This is the headcount figure (i.e. actual number of employees).

2.2 The headcount figure relates to 2763 contracts.  The number of contracts is higher than the headcount figure as one employee may have more than one contract with the Council.

 2.3 Reductions in government funding and the Council’s ongoing transformation agenda have led to workforce reductions over the last two financial years.  There were 128 redundancies during the 2010/11 financial year and 136 redundancies during 2011/12.
 
 2.4 Because of this, opportunities for external recruitment and increasing the number of employees in the workforce with protected characteristics have been limited.  Once internal redeployment has been considered for employees at risk of or under notice of redundancy, the Council restricts external advertising to cases where internal advertising has been unsuccessful, or where the post is either of a senior or specialist nature.

2.5 The workforce information included in this document relates to the last complete financial year (1 April 2011 to 31 March 2012).

2.6 All figures quoted in this report exclude employees working in community schools.  This is because there are separate arrangements for schools publishing information under the specific duties of the Equality Act 2010.

3.0 Workforce Composition

3.1 The Council actively monitors the workforce by age, disability, race and gender, with the aim of ensuring that our workforce reflects the community we serve in Darlington.

3.2 We are in the process of extending our workforce monitoring to include the other protected characteristics covered by the Equality Act (i.e. gender reassignment, religion or belief and sexual orientation) during the 2012/13 financial year.  It is worth noting that although the Council can request such information from employees, provision of the information would be voluntary.

Age

3.3 The table below shows the percentage workforce profile by age for the 2011/12 financial year.  The final column shows the latest Darlington position (by percentage) for comparative purposes.

Age range Darlington Borough Council (%) Darlington (%)
16-19 1.1 7.7
20-29 14.5 18.3
30-39 20.1 19.3
40-49 29.3 23.8
50-59 26.9 20.7
60-65 7.0 10.2
65+ 1.1 N/A

3.4 This shows that the majority of the Council’s employees (49.4%) are aged between 30 and 50.  35% are over 50 and 15.6% are aged 16-29.

3.5 This broadly reflects the position in Darlington and suggests that the Council’s policies / procedures, customs / practices against discrimination on age grounds have had a positive impact on the workforce in terms of older workers.

3.6 However, it also indicates the Council needs to look at promoting employment opportunities for younger adults of working age.  The Council has recently embarked on a programme to promote apprenticeships to this effect.

Disability

3.7 At the end of the 2011/12 financial year, the Council had 94 employees with a declared disability (3.60% of the workforce).  14 employees with a declared disability (0.54%) left the Council during 2011/12 financial year for a variety of reasons including redundancy (incorporating voluntary redundancy), normal retirements and personal reasons. (Specific percentages have been excluded for data protection purposes).

3.8 Given that an estimated 16.41% of economically active people in Darlington have a disability, the Council will make every effort to improve workforce representation in this area where possible.

3.9 The Council has a number of policies and procedures and a positive action strategy in place to support the recruitment and retention of employees with a disability.  However, it is worth noting that the scope for external recruitment has been limited by current economic constraints.

Race

3.10 At the end of the 2011/12 financial year, the Council employed 52 employees from a Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Community (2% of the workforce) and there were four leavers (further information is not included for data protection reasons).

3.11 Based on current estimates that 2.02% of economically active people in Darlington are from a BAME community, this suggests that DBC’s workforce is reflective of the position in Darlington.

3.12 The Council has a number of policies and procedures and a positive action strategy in place to support the recruitment and retention of BAME employees and will endeavour to maintain this position.

Gender

3.13 At the end of the 2011/12 financial year, 868 of the Council’s employees were male (36%) and 1556 female (64%).  During the same period, 129 male (5.32%) and 262 female (10.8%) employees left the Council for a range of reasons including TUPE transfer, end of temporary contracts, redundancy and normal retirements.

3.14 Although this does not represent the gender composition of people of working age in Darlington (49% male and 51% female), it does reflect the position in local government in England and Wales (24% of employees were male and 76% female as at the end of September 2011(Source: ONS Quarterly Public Sector Employees Survey Quarter 2 2011).

3.15 As the Council offers all full time roles on a job share basis (unless otherwise stated), a large number of part time contracts and allows employees to request family-friendly working patterns, it could be that more females are attracted towards working for the Council than males.

3.16 The table below shows the percentage of Council employees working full time and part time by gender as at the end of the 2011/12 financial year. This demonstrated that a larger percentage of females than males work part time. 

Category % Male % Female % Total
Full time 22.0 24.0 46.0
Part time 14.0 40.0 54.0

3.17 The Council plans to look more into occupational areas by gender (including any evidence of occupational segregation) when we conduct our equal pay audit.

Gender Reassignment

3.18 Although the Council does not currently monitor the workforce in terms of gender reassignment, we have experience of providing support in this area.

Marriage and Civil Partnership

3.19 Although the Council does not actively monitor workforce composition in terms of marriage and civil partnership, we are able to provide information in this area.

3.20 The equality monitoring form for new employees asks whether an applicant is married or in a civil partnership.  We do not ask employees to either state that they are married or in a registered civil partnership, but rather ask a combined question on the two areas.

3.21 Of the employees who have declared their marital status, the current position is that 45.8% of the workforce or either married or in a registered civil partnership and 28.1% are single. 6.7% are divorced and 1.9% separated.  0.2% are either a widow or civil widow and 17.3% have not declared their marital status.  However, this may not provide the full picture as employees do not necessarily advise the Council if their marital status changes during their employment.

3.22 There do not appear to be any issues in terms of the Council discriminating in terms of marriage and civil partnership.  However, the Council is considering introducing more formal monitoring in this area.

Pregnancy and Maternity

3.23 There were 138 employees on maternity leave during the last financial year.  36% have returned to work, 33% were still on maternity leave as at the end of the 2011/12 financial year and 31% have left the Council following maternity leave. 7% of these chose to take voluntary redundancy, 77% were TUPE transfers, 12% left for personal reasons and the remaining 4% were compulsory redundancy and due to end of temporary contract.  (please note that the actual numbers have not been quoted as they relate to fewer than 10 employees).

4.0 Salary Information

4.1 The Council implemented its Single Status Agreement on 1st July 2006.  This covered a new pay and grading structure and harmonised a number of terms and conditions of employment.
 
4.2 A formal equality assessment was undertaken on the new pay and grading structure.  The Council also commissioned an external organisation to verify the grading structure and proposed changes to premium payments in terms of gender, race and disability. 

4.3 An assessment was also undertaken to ensure that the Council’s salary protection scheme was not adversely impacting on specific occupational groups, or predominately males or females.  

4.4 Single Status also included the removal of bonus payments which applied to approximately 8% of the workforce (predominately male employees).  Holiday retention payments and extended payments for reduced contractual working hours were also removed (although these largely applied to predominately female employees in Schools).

4.5 The Single Status Agreement was jointly approved by Trade Unions (Unite - formerly T&G, Unison and GMB) who supported and verified the equality assessment undertaken on the grading structure at both a regional and national level.

4.6 The Council is currently preparing a full equal pay audit in line with the recommendations of the Equal Pay Statutory Code of Practice.  The Council will take action to address any pay and grading issues that demonstrate inequality on the grounds of sex or any of the protected characteristics identified in the Equality Act 2010. 

4.7 The Council currently monitors salaries by disability, race and gender in terms of equal pay issues.  We are considering whether to expand this monitoring across other protected characteristics over 2012/13 (depending on the viability of this following workforce monitoring).

4.8 The table below shows percentages of salary levels by gender for the 2011/12 financial year.  (Please note that part time salaries have been rounded up to the full time equivalent salary for ease.)

£ Salary Range % Male % Female % Total
Less than 12,145 0.1 0.5 0.6
12,145 - 14,999 2.0 7.6 9.6
15,000 - 19,999 12.8 29.2 42.0
20,000 - 24,999 8.8 11.6 20.4
25,000 - 29,000 3.6 7.0 10.6
30,000 - 34,999 3.7 5.4 9.1
35,000 - 39,999 1.8 2.0 3.8
40,000 - 44,999 0.7 1.0 1.7
45,000 - 49,000 0.6 0.6 1.2
50,000+ 0.4 0.6 1.0
Total 36.0 64.0 100.00

4.9 As at the end of the 2011/12 financial year, 3.13% of the top 5% of earners in the Council had a declared disability; 3.13% came from a Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic community (BAME) and 50% were women.

5.0 Redundancies

5.1 The Council has moved to a position where we have needed to make significant redundancies over the last two financial years.  Equality impact assessments were undertaken on the redundancies made in both the 2010/11 and the 2011/12 financial years in terms of age, disability, race and gender.   Further redundancy exercises will be monitored against the protected characteristics defined in the Equality Act, however assessments can only be made on the data that we hold on the workforce.

5.2 Further information on the % of redundancies made during the 2011/12 financial year by age is shown in the table below. (The percentage of the workforce by age as in section 3.3 is shown in the final column for comparative purposes.)

Age range % Compulsory Redundancies % Voluntary Redundancies % Total Redundancies % Darlington Borough Council workforce
Up to 29 14.5 4.1 8.5 15.6
30 - 39 14.5 14.9 14.7 20.1
40 - 49 47.4 28.4 36.4 29.3
50 - 59 14.5 33.7 25.7 26.9
60+ 9.1 18.9 14.9 8.1

5.3 The percentage of total redundancies in the up to 29 and 30-39 age ranges fall below the workforce percentages.  The figures are higher for employees aged 40-49 and 60+.  It is worth noting that employees made redundant at age 55 and over would access unreduced pension benefits under the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) (in terms of national legislation).

5.4 The table below shows the percentage of redundancies made during the 2011/12 financial year by gender and does not highlight any major issues in this area.

Redundancy % Voluntary % Compulsory Total
Male 28.0 20.0 37.0
Female 46.0 35.0 63.0

6.0 Recruitment and Selection

6.1 As with the workforce, the Council currently monitors the percentage of job applications, applicants shortlisted and appointed by age, disability, ethnicity and gender

6.2 The Council also asks applicants about their marital status on the equality monitoring form.  Completion is voluntary and any forms submitted are detached from the application form at the point of receipt.  Although we do not actively monitor recruitment in this area, we are starting to do so during 2012/13 to ensure that the Council does not discriminate on these grounds at the selection stage.

6.3 The Council has extended recruitment and selection monitoring to include the other protected characteristics covered by the Equality Act (i.e. gender reassignment, religion or belief and sexual orientation).  However, it is worth noting that the Council can request such information from job applicants but provision would be voluntary.

6.4 The Council does not have an internal promotion policy.  Any such opportunities would be managed under the Council’s normal recruitment and selection procedure.  

6.5 Information relating to age, disability, ethnicity and gender for the 2011/12 financial year is shown in the tables below.

Age

Age group % Applications Received % Shortlisted % Appointed
16 - 19 7.4 4.9 1.4
20 - 29 35.8 26.8 33.1
30 - 39 19.9 21.9 20.0
40 - 49 19.7 26.1 30.3
50 - 59 13.8 16.1 11.7
60+ 1.3 1.9 1.4
Undeclared 2.1 2.3 2.1

Disability

Disability % Applications Received % Shortlisted % Appointed
Yes 3.1 4.3 3.1
No 93.9 91.9 94.6
Undeclared 3 3.8 2.3

Ethnicity

Ethnicity % Applications Received % Shortlisted % Appointed
British and Irish 85 86.1 94.4
BAME Group 5.7 4.9 2.8
Undeclared 9.3 9.0 2.8

Gender

Gender % Applications Received % Shortlisted % Appointed
Male 36.0 40.0 39.0
Female 64.0 60.0 61.0

6.6 This information does not raise any concerns about discrimination on these grounds. However, we will continue to monitor the situation.

Specific Information

This final section provides specific information showing how Darlington Borough Council has due regard to the three aims of the Equality Duty.

Aim 1: Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Act

  • Both the Council’s Equality Scheme and Anti-Harassment and Bullying Policy make clear the Council’s commitment to eliminating unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation on any grounds.
  • The Council’s Equality Scheme makes clear that employees should understand both corporate policies and those specific to their own areas of work and carry them out in a non-discriminatory manner.  It also makes clear that if an employee sees something that is discriminatory when they are at work, they have a duty of care to other employees and members of the public to tell their manager about it
  • The Council has policies in place to address any potential unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation through the relevant suite of equality policies (Anti Harassment and Bullying Policy, Disciplinary Policy and Equality Policy Statement)
  • If an incident happens because of someone’s race or ethnicity, the employee should report this by using the Council’s ‘Guidelines for Reporting and Dealing with Suspected Racial Incidents’
  • If employees feel that they are being harassed and / or bullied by someone else who works for the Council for any reason (which would by default cover any of the protected characteristics under the Equality Act), the Council will use the Anti Harassment and Bullying Policy in the first place to try and address the issue as appropriate.  The policy is accompanied by comprehensive guidance for managers and employees
  • Serious acts of discrimination, harassment, bullying or victimisation against employees or service users are disciplinary offences, which may result in action up to and including dismissal under the Council’s Disciplinary Policy.  If unlawful discrimination was involved, cases would be referred to the Police
  • The Council has monitored cases under the Anti Harassment and Bullying Policy by disability, race and gender since policy was introduced to ensure that any such issues can be raised and addressed promptly and appropriately.  We are in the process of extending monitoring to cover other protected characteristics over 2012/13 financial year.
  • There were 3 cases of bullying / harassment during the 2011/12 financial year; one case involved an employee with a disability.  The other two cases involved people of different gender and were not related to discrimination in terms of protected characteristics. There was one Employment Tribunal case during the reporting period.  This did not involve an employee from a Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Community.   We are in the process of extending monitoring to cover other protected characteristics over 2012/13 financial year.
  • There do not appear to be any issues in terms of the Council discriminating in terms of marriage and civil partnership when selecting employees or in terms of workforce composition.  However, the Council will continue to monitor the situation.  If any issues arise, the Council has the policies in place to address any issues under the Anti Harassment and Bullying Policy, Disciplinary Policy and Equality Scheme.
  • The Council ensures that all employee policies (i.e. Disciplinary, Grievance, Capability and Sickness Absence Management) are operated in a non-discriminatory way and take account of any relevant individual circumstances that may impact on the situation.  Impact assessments are undertaken on all new employment policies to identify any potential issues before they are agreed
  • The Council currently monitors disciplinary, grievance and capability cases in the workforce by disability, race and gender and is extending monitoring during 2012/13 to include protected characteristics.  During the 2011/12 financial year, there was one new grievance case involving an employee with a disability however the case was not relating to the employee’s disability.  There were a further 11 grievance cases which involved different gender (25% male, 75% female).  There were 11 capability cases during this period involving employees with different gender (55% male, 45% female), none of which involved an employee with a disability or from a BAME community. There were 32 new disciplinary cases during this period - 78% of which involved male and 22% female employees.  These do not appear to indicate anything major that the Council needs to address.
  • DBC monitors applications for flexible working arrangements from the workforce by gender. 12 of the 13 applications made by women during the financial year 2011/12 were agreed.  There was only one application from a male employee and this was also agreed.
  • We also monitor applications for parental leave by gender.  There was one application made during the financial year 2011/12 and this was agreed.
  • The Council monitors applications for training by gender and race.  245 male (of which 99.59% applications were approved) and 585 female (99.32% of applications were approved) employees requested training during 2011/2012 financial year.  During the 2011/12 financial year, 3.85% of applications for training came from BAME employees - all of which were granted. 
  • The Council currently monitors the annual appraisal procedure (Performance Development review - PDR) by disability and ethnicity. 
  • PDRs are based on a grading system from 1-6 (1 being the highest grade) to acknowledge the extent to which employees have achieved both the competencies and objectives agreed at the start of the reporting year (April to March each year).  The process should be completed by the end of May each year
  • In terms of disability, it is worth noting that percentages relate to a small number of employees.  For 2011/12 although no employees with a disability received the top grade (outstanding - which is fairly rare and something to strive towards), they were awarded either a 2, 3 or 4 grade (very good/significantly above requirements/performance fully meets requirements / fully meets requirements most of the time).  It is not possible to comment on the minority who received a lower grade due to data protection legislation - other to say that there was no link to disability
  • In terms of race, it is again worth noting that percentages relate to a small number of employees.  For 2011/12 although no BAME employees received the top grade, they were all awarded 4 grade (fully meets requirements most of the time).
  • The Council has looked at dismissals for the 2011/12 financial year.  There were 5 dismissals during this period (excluding redundancies - pl. see section 5.)  None of these were BAME employees and no further issues of concern were identified in terms of gender / disability.
  • Under the Council’s Policy Statement on Recruitment and Selection, the Council states a clear commitment to undertaking all recruitment and selection activity in line with equality legislation.  As such, the Council would not discriminate against a job applicant in terms of any of the protected characteristics
  • All DBC employees involved in recruitment and selection decisions must attend the Council’s mandatory Recruitment and Selection training prior to involvement in any campaign to ensure they are fully aware that they must not discriminate against applicants for any reason other than merit alone (although managers involved in the selection process are made aware of the positive action in recruitment and promotion provisions under the Equality Act)
  • The Council’s procedures ensure that any job advertisements, job descriptions and person specifications are free from discrimination in terms of any of the protected characteristics.
  • The Council’s application form does not ask any questions about whether a job applicant has a specific protected characteristic (either directly or indirectly) - including questions an applicants’ absence record (which could indirectly discriminate in terms of disability).  The exception to this is the current question asking about disability to allow the Council to make reasonable adjustments throughout the appointment process and whilst in employment (as relevant)
  • A recruitment equality monitoring form is attached to the application form.  This is detached from the main form and retained by the Recruitment Team for monitoring purposes only, enabling the Council to monitor recruitment and selection on these grounds to ensure that discrimination does not take place.
  • The Council has a robust pay and grading system in place to ensure that all grades are assessed and evaluated fairly.  This is undertaken using the National Joint Council (NJC) Job Evaluation Scheme for NJC Officers and Hay Evaluation Scheme for Chief Officers
  • Whilst the NJC scheme has not been fully challenged in an employment tribunal it is deemed by local authorities and trade unions to be the favoured evaluation scheme for local government employees
  • The Hay evaluation scheme is a nationally recognised scheme for senior / chief officers.  The scheme has been challenged in an employment tribunal and has been deemed to be free from gender bias
  • The Council has trained and experienced Job Analysts to undertake the assessment of roles and the Head of Human Resources and relevant Assistant Directors moderate and verify all grading to ensure consistency and challenge to eliminate any discrimination in grading.
  • HR closely monitor salaries and terms and conditions within the Tees Valley neighbouring authorities to ensure Darlington salaries and terms are competitive and aim to eliminate discrimination
  • Trade unions play an important part of the equality checking of Council policies and procedures relating to pay and terms and conditions and as such alongside grade reviews and restructures continuous reviews are undertaken with trade unions to ensure that payments made to specific occupational groups are not only competitive rates, but also relevant to service delivery and free from gender bias
  • In terms of providing emotional support to employees who may be experiencing discrimination, harassment or bullying, the Council also has a comprehensive employee assistance programme, which is available to all employees and includes an Occupational Health and Counselling Service

Aim 2: Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it

  • The Council’s Equality Scheme makes clear that we aim to promote equality in everything we do, including the way we treat job applicants and our employees
  • A copy of the Council’s Job Scene, which includes all current DBC vacancies, is sent directly to Action for the Blind, RNIB, Jobcentre Plus, Darlington Disability and Remploy to encourage job applications from people with disabilities.
  • The Council’s application forms and guidance notes are available in alternative formats i.e. tape, Braille and large print.  Applicants are asked to contact the Recruitment Team if they require the forms in an alternative format
  • The Council makes clear on application forms that we are an equal opportunities employer and are committed to equality for all in terms of our culture, service delivery and employment.  The Council aims to ensure that no job applicant receives less favourable treatment on any grounds - including those covered by the protected characteristics or any other grounds covered in the Council’s Equality Scheme 
  • All of the Council’s full time vacancies are open to applications for job share (unless otherwise agreed at the start of each campaign and indicated on advertising literature)
  • As the recruitment equality monitoring form is separated from the rest of the form before progressing to the selection panel, selection decisions are made on merit alone (although managers involved in the selection process have been made aware of the positive action in recruitment and promotion provisions under the Equality Act)
  • The Council has publicised the use of the positive action in recruitment and promotion provision under the Equality Act 2010 to employees through an HR Advisory Circular and supports its use on a case-by-case basis, as relevant
  • The Council’s application form asks about disability to allow the Council to make reasonable adjustments throughout the appointment process and whilst in employment (as relevant) 
  • The Council interviews all applicants with a disability who meet the minimum criteria for a job vacancy and consider them on their abilities
  • The Council has been awarded the disability symbol employer status through Jobcentre Plus and is also recognised as a ‘Mindful Employer’, demonstrating a positive and enabling attitude to job applicants and employees with mental health issues
  • The Council also has Positive Action Strategies which aim to attract and retain employees with a disability or from a BAME Community
  • If an employee becomes disabled, every effort is made to ensure that they are either able to remain in the same post and reasonable adjustments are made accordingly to assist them to undertake the duties of their post, or alternatively there is a Redeployment Policy which aims to redeploy employees into alternative suitable employment with the Council
  • As part of the redeployment process, decisions are made following consultation with the employee, line manager, health and safety unit, the employee’s GP/consultant, the Council’s Occupational Health Doctor and other appropriate agencies /organisations
  • The Council has removed the default retirement age (although employees may apply for flexible early retirement from age 55 if they wish to ease into retirement)
  • Workforce monitoring on age grounds shows that the majority of the Council’s employees are aged 40 or over.  It also indicates the Council needs to look at promoting employment opportunities for younger adults of working age
  • The Council’s Pay Policy sets out the remuneration of its employees in accordance with section 38 of the Localism Act 2011.  The policy is subject to annual review and will be formally approved each financial year.  
  • The pay and grading evaluation schemes used by the Council are embedded into our procedures for assessing all posts determined at a local level.  This helps the Council to be responsive to equal pay issues and challenges against grade comparisons
  • The Council has also adopted a robust market supplement procedure which is responsive to external market forces and retention issues.  Market supplements and retention payments are monitored closely to ensure that they are competitive and meet service delivery requirements
  • All Council buildings have been reviewed for accessibility and action is taken to make improvements to upgrade buildings to ensure that access is available for all
  • The Council has maternity provisions and employee guidance in place which comply with (and in some areas, exceed) employment legislation in this area.  The Council’s Redeployment Policy prioritises employees on maternity (and paternity or adoption) leave who are under notice of redundancy for offers of suitable alternative employment where it exists (in line with legislation)
  • The Council has implemented the legal right for employees with children up to and including the age of 16 (or under 18 if the child has a disability) and certain carers of adults to apply to work flexibly and will consider any requests seriously under agreed procedures
  • The Council’s Performance Development Review (PDR) Handbook (which outlines the Council’s appraisal procedure) makes clear that the process must be conducted fairly and in the way that does not contravene the Council’s equality agenda
  • The Council’s Time Off for Dependants and Urgent Domestic Reasons Scheme allows employees to take a reasonable period of time off work to deal with an emergency involving a dependant
  • The Council’s Workforce Strategy makes clear that the Council is committed to ensuring equality of opportunity in the development of its people and recognises the diversity of different groups.  The Council ensures that training and development is accessible in respect of timing of events and venues used.  All potential suppliers bidding to deliver training on behalf of the council are required to submit their own equality statements as part of the procurement process and must comply with the council’s equality policies and all such arrangements if successful in securing a contract to deliver training.  The council reserves the right to reject suppliers who are unable to meet our requirements in this area
  • The Council provides a programme of training for all employees to raise awareness of the equality agenda and the related legislation and their responsibilities to others in this area

Aim 3: Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it

  • Our Equality Scheme outlines the action that the Council takes to promote equality in everything we do.  We train and develop our employees on equality issues and monitor and review the way we work
  • In terms of equal pay, there are recognised appeal routes for grading issues that are open to all employees regardless of any protected characteristic.  Trade Unions also represent all employees across the Council as part of ongoing negotiations on terms and conditions
  • The Council provides a programme of generic equalities training for all employees to raise awareness of the equality agenda and the related legislation and their responsibilities to others in this area. There are also separate courses available for employees on Disability Equality Training (run bi-annually);Introduction to Deafness (Annual) and Visual Impairment Training (Annual)
  • We also provide mandatory recruitment and selection training for all employees involved in the recruitment and selection process, which covers equality considerations with specific reference to the recruitment and selection process
  • Disability Awareness Training also part of the Council’s corporate training programme, which is open to all employees across the Council

Page updated 31 January 2013