Highlighting the Equality act and what it means for counselling and managing diversity

1. Lecture 5: EQUALITY &
DIVERSITY
Equality is not about treating all people in the same way. It’s about
recognising and respecting diversity enough to adapt practice and
procedure to suit all.
Module: Law for Counsellors
Kevin Standish

2. Learning Objectives
• Define and describe
Equality and Diversity
• identify ways that people
are different
• show an awareness of
personal assumptions
and attitudes
• understand differing
types of discrimination
• Define and describe the
Equality Act 2010

3. Equality & Diversity
• What do you think the definition of
Equality & Diversity might be?

4. Definitions
• Equality – ‘equal rights and treatment
to all individuals’
• Diversity – ‘difference from what is
normal or expected’

5. Activity
Draw/describe one of the following:
• A Model
• Footballer
• Athlete
• Doctor’s receptionist
• Construction Worker
• Engineer
• Beauty Therapist

6. A Model
Dawn French has her
own clothing range
which she models.
Jean-Paul Gaultier shook the
modelling world in 2006
using outsized models.

7. Footballers
Women’s England
Football Team
The F.A. supports six
international disability squads
for players with differing kinds
of disabilities. These are: Blind,
Partially Sighted, Deaf and
Hearing Impaired, Cerebral
Palsy, Learning Disabilities,
Amputee.
The teams all receive official
England kit, a physio, a fully-
trained technical advisor, and
money towards travel costs for
attending European and World
Championships.

8. Athlete
Tanni Grey Thomson
9 Gold Medals in the
Paralympics, 30
world records 6
London Marathons
Oscar Pistorius
World record holder in
amputee races
Sumo Wrestling
A competitive contact sport
which originated in Japan
the only country where it is
practiced professionally.

9. Doctor’s Receptionist
Frank

10. Construction Worker
Samantha

11. Engineer
Gemma is an Engineer
working for BT
Wang Shuming is a disabled
engineer working for the Jinlin
branch of China Netcom

12. Beauty Therapist
Kurt

13. Diversity
• What is diversity?
• Diversity means valuing the
differences between people
and the ways in which
those differences can
contribute to a richer, more
creative and more
productive working
environment

14. Diversity is about respecting
individual…………..
• Race
• Culture
• National Origin
• Region
• Gender
• Sexual Orientation
• Age
• Marital Status
• Religion
• Ethnicity
• Disability
• Ability
• Family Structure
• Health
• Values
• Politics
………..and much more

15. “Discrimination
is prejudices put
into action.”

16. Firms free to favour
female and black job
applicants... Mail online, 4
December 2008
Will the
Equality Act
make
everyone
equal before
the law?
The Times, 15 April 2010
Equality plans
‘class war’
claim... BBC
News, 12 January 2009
EQUALITY ACT 2010

17. The Equality Act - Introduction
• Single largest piece of
anti-discrimination
legislation the UK has
known.
• Harmonises multiple
pieces of primary and
secondary legislation.

18. 11/16/2014 18
Purpose of the Act
Strengthening, harmonising and streamlining 40 years of
equalities
legislation:
Strengthening: improving the effectiveness of equality
legislation
Harmonising: providing the same levels of protection from
discrimination across all the protected characteristics and all
sectors, where appropriate
Streamlining: simplifying and consolidating approximately 116
pieces of separate equality legislation

20. The purpose of the legislation
“The purpose of the Bill and its accompanying
package of measures is to strengthen protection,
advance equality and de-clutter the law.”
We will...
1. Introduce a new Equality Duty on the public
sector
2. End age discrimination
3. Require transparency
4. Extend the scope of ‘positive action’
5. Strengthen reinforcement

21. Protected Characteristics under
the Equality Act 2010
• Age
• Disability
• Gender reassignment
• Marriage and civil
partnership
• Pregnancy &
maternity
• Race
• Religion and/or belief
• Sex
• Sexual orientation

22. Discrimination
There are different types of discrimination:
• Direct Discrimination
• Indirect Discrimination
• Associative Discrimination
• Perceptive Discrimination
• Harassment (Third Party)
• Victimisation
• Disability Discrimination

23. Direct Discrimination
What it is...
“Person A directly discriminates against
Person B when A treats B less
favourably than A would treats or would
treat others in the same circumstances”

24. Example of Direct Discrimination
“A 70 year old lady was refused a
broadband contract by Carphone
Warehouse in the UK and was told that she
could only register if she came to the store
with a younger member of her family. The
Carphone Warehouse had provided
guidance to staff not to sell broadband
contracts to customers aged 70+ as they
believe they will not understand the terms
of the contract.”
Source: www.equineteurope.org

25. Indirect Discrimination
What it is...
“This happens when a requirement is
applied equally to everyone but has the
effect of excluding one group of people
more than another”

26. Example of Indirect
Discrimination
Your employer brings in a new shift pattern
which means that everyone has to work fewer
but longer days. You have a disability that means
you’re exhausted after two long days of working.
So the new shift pattern puts you and other
people who have the same disability as you at a
disadvantage. Your employer will have indirectly
discriminated against you if it can’t justify the
new shift pattern.
Source: www.equalities.gov.uk

27. Associative Discrimination
What it is...
“Less favourable treatment because of
someone else’s protected characteristic.”

28. Example of Associative
Discrimination
Coleman v Attridge Law 2008
Sharon Coleman claimed managers at Attridge Law
called her ‘lazy’ when she requested time off to care for
her disabled son. She accepted voluntary redundancy,
but later brought a claim for constructive dismissal and
disability discrimination. A UK employment tribunal
referred the case to the European Court of Justice to
clarify European law. The ECJ ruled that able-bodied
people can be covered by the Disability Discrimination
Act because of their association with people covered
by equality law.
Source: www.personneltoday.com/articles/2008

29. Perceptive Discrimination
What it is...
“Discrimination against an individual
because of a perception that he or she
has a protected characteristic when he or
she does not, in fact, have that protected
characteristic.”
(other than marriage and civil partnership, and
pregnancy and maternity)

30. Example of Perceptive
Discrimination
Example 1
“An employer rejects a job application submitted by a white man
whom the employer wrongly assumes to be black because he has
an African name.”
Example 2
“An employee is subjected to religious
abuse on the basis that he supports a
particular football team, even though
he does not actually belong to the
religion associated with that football
team.”
Source: www.mcgrigors.com

31. Harassment and
Third Party Harassment
What it is...
“Unwanted conduct related to a
relevant protected characteristic.”
In addition, employers can be legally
liable for the harassing conduct of
third parties. A third party would
include a client, customer, supplier,
visitor, contractor, service user etc.
Three strikes and you’re out!

32. Example of Third Party
Harassment
“The employee or job applicant is harassed
by a third party on more than two occasions
(not necessarily by the same person). The
employer knows that it has happened but
fails to take steps that are reasonable in the
circumstances to prevent such harassment
happening to that person again.”
Source: www.equalities.gov.uk

33. Victimisation
What it is...
This happens when an individual is
singled out because they have used the
system to make a complaint or challenge
treatment received.

34. Example of Victimisation
“If you are lesbian and your fellow colleagues
started passing unwelcome comments about
your sexuality and you complained to your
manager, but rather than doing something about
the problem you are sacked for no reason or for
no good reason and you believe that it is
because of the complaint you raised, you may
claim compensation for being victimised for
making a complaint about sexual orientation
discrimination.”
Source: www.balindaandcoemploymentsolicitors.co.uk

35. Disability Discrimination
What it is...
Person A discriminates a disabled Person B if A
treats B unfavourably because of something arising
in consequence of B’s disability.
Types of claims:
• “Because of”
• Detriment arising from the disability
• Reasonable adjustments by employer
• Indirect discrimination

36. Example of Disability
Discrimination
“Amir is a 12-year-old student with autism and
sensory difficulties. One day he becomes very
anxious when the fire alarm goes off in school.
He stands with his hands covering his ears and
is unable to move. The teacher tells Amir to leave
the building but the pupil is frozen to the spot.
The teacher shouts at Amir and the situation
escalates to a point where the pupil lashes out at
the teacher. Amir is excluded from school for two
days for assaulting the teacher.”
Source: www.westsussex.gov.uk

37. 11/16/2014 37
Where does the Act apply?
• Services and Public Functions
• Premises
• Work
• Education
• Associations, including Political Parties

38. Assumptions
• WHAT assumptions do we make about
people?
• WHY do we come to the conclusions we do?
• WHEN do we tend to make these
assumptions?
• WHERE can this cause us difficulties?
• HOW can we stop ourselves doing
this?
• WHO does it and who does it affect?

39. • 18. Practitioners should not allow their
professional relationships with clients to be
prejudiced by any personal views they may hold
about lifestyle, gender, age, disability, race, sexual
orientation, beliefs or culture.
• 53. They should not allow their professional
relationships with colleagues to be prejudiced by
their own personal views about a colleague’s
lifestyle, age, gender, disability, gender
reassignment, race, sexual orientation, pregnancy
and maternity, religion or belief, marriage and civil
partnership or sex. It is unacceptable and
unethical to discriminate against colleagues on
any of these grounds.

40. Further information
The Government Equalities Office (GEO)
http://www.equalities.gov.uk/
CIPD - Equal opportunities in
employment
http://www.cipd.co.uk/about/jobs/eqop.ht
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41. http://www.pinktherapy.com/en-
gb/home.aspx