Don’t wait for an employment tribunal to discover your organisation’s risks. Our equality audit service can assist you to identify and address any weak spots within your organisation – or be reassured and celebrate where you have strength and good practice.
Our audit service reviews matters such as:
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The recruitment process:Are you getting the right applicants and is there any part of the recruitment process that works against particular groups of people?
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Promotions and internal selections:Is there a divide between the characteristics of different groups (e.g. ethnicity/race, gender, age etc.) in terms of seniority and pay?
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Maternity and pregnancy:Are redundancies being selected fairly? Is there a trend of losing well qualified women when they have children?
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Flexible working:To what extent can good practice be embedded for those with caring responsibilities, health issues or those nearing retirement?
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Are disabled workers able to access the adjustments that they need?
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Are there any pockets of practice where people feel harassed or uncomfortable about attitudes to sexuality, race, religion, age or other protected characteristics?
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Do people feel they can speak out?
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How is your equality policy reviewed and evaluated?
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Are informal and formal company complaints processes producing fair and sustainable outcomes?
Of course equality and diversity best practice cannot be reduced to a tick box procedure, but spending a little time identifying the issues and trends helps give organisations the knowledge to address these in more detail through training, organisational design or otherwise.
Remember, it can be a defence in discrimination cases if the employer has done all that it reasonably can to avoid its employees discriminating against others.
For more information about our equality audit service, please contact Madeleine Hughes (details here). This service is available to new and existing clients.