Unit 1: Information, Advice or Guidance – Principles and Practice

What Does Equal Opportunities Mean?

The term “equal opportunities” upholds the idea that all workers within an organisation should be entitled to and have access to all of the organisations facilities at every stage of employment, including the pre-employment phase.

This means every individual should have:

• An equal chance to apply and be selected for posts pre-employment
• An equal chance to be trained and promoted while employed with the organisation
• An equal chance to have their employment terminated equally and fairly

Denying any employee or prospective employee their right to equal opportunity in the workplace is tantamount to discrimination, which is considered unlawful under the Equality Act 2010.

The Equality Act has specified 9 areas that are termed in the legislation as protected characteristics. These include (in no particular order):

1. Age
2. Sex
3. Race
4. Disability
5. Pregnancy
6. Marital status
7. Sexual orientation.
8. Gender reassignment
9. Religious background

Discriminating against workers because of any of the nine characteristics is against the law.

What This Means For Employees

To adhere with the terms of the Equality Act, employers must have policies in place and must comply to practices that aim to prevent accidents, discrimination and which foster equal opportunities.

All workers and job applicants must be treated equally and be given the same set of opportunities regardless of their age, sex, race, disability, sexual orientation, disability, culture or anything other personal characteristic that might be discriminated against.

All employers must follow certain procedures for recruitment to ensure that all applications are treated appropriately and fairly and that, all things being equal, no candidate is rejected because of any of the protected characteristics.

This aligns to the recruitment procedures we often see which have to follow equal opportunities criteria:

• The job description must be set so that all applicants are assessed against the same criteria.
• The vacancy is advertised in a variety of locations, such as job centres, online and in the press so that it is available to as wide an audience as possible
• An interview panel is used so that more than one person’s opinions are presented to decide on whom to offer the role to.
• Questions that are not relevant to the job for example questions about age, race, religion or any other protected characteristic are not including the the interview process.
• Female applicants must be treated the same as male applicants. Disabled applicants must be treated the same as applicants with no disabilities. Pregnant applicants must be treated the same as non-pregnant women.

Establishing Equal Opportunities In the Workplace

All employers must follow certain procedures in the workplace to ensure that all workers are treated appropriately and fairly and that, all things being equal, no staff member is treated unfairly because of their age, gender, race, sexuality or any other protected characteristic.

Establishing equal opportunities in the workplace often include:

• Ensuring that employees have equal access and opportunity to training and advancement facilities regardless of sex, gender, age or disability. No employee should be overlooked for training or promotion because of any protected characteristic.
• Making reasonable adjustments in the workplace to accommodate employees with a disability.
• Making sure that no employee is dismissed solely because of a personal characteristic.

Every employer will have their own equal opportunities policy in place, which is tailored to their organisation. This policy details the organisations commitment to be an equal opportunities employer and how they will promote equality in the workplace.

Having a formal policy is helpful as staff are aware of what is acceptable and expected of them as individuals and as part of the organisation in which they work.

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Equality and Diversity in Practice

Practicing IAG workers understand the importance of equal opportunities and more to the point they practice it.  They need the skill to understand that there can be a gap between policy statements and actual practice. Discrimination directly or indirectly exists and awareness of this is vital for an IAG worker. 

All IAG practitioners should strive to demonstrate professional integrity and high standards of best practice, which should be supported by their employer and funders.

It is good practice for an IAG worker to have training in equal opportunities and anti-oppressive practice.  Understanding the legislation on equality will give the IAG worker a good grounding on how to adjust their practice and influence others working in their industry. Difficulties can arrise when our own values and beliefs are conflicting with good practice.

IAG workers need to explore their own pre-conceptions, values and bias in order to maintain a client-centred service. The role of the IAG worker is to enable their client to reach their full potential and not make judgements based on their own prejudices. Doing this could result in the outcome delivered to be restrictive and affect their client’s subsequent progress.

There are many sources of useful information about equality and diversity available online.

A few examples of these are:
Acas (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) – Acas deal with employment, disputes and equality law www.acas.org.uk
EHRC (Equality and Human Rights Commission) – an independent statutory body that helps to eliminate discrimination and reduce inequality –
www.equalityhumanrights.com
Stonewall – a charity working for equality and justice for the LGBT community – lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people – www.stonewall.org.uk