Equality Act 2010 – Page 2 – The Equality Blog

The Importance of Diversity Training in the Workplace

Diversity training has gained a lot of attention lately, and companies are starting to realize just how important it is to have an inclusive workforce. Workplace discrimination can result in missed opportunities when people fail to recognize talent or potential because of a person’s background. It also makes people feel undervalued and can impact work performance and job satisfaction. The most serious affect discrimination can have on a company results in legal costs, settlement compensation, and a negative public image.

Incorporating diversity training into employee management is a great way to get people to examine diversity and equality barriers within the company.

What exactly is diversity training?

Diversity training educates employees on all the unique aspects of their coworkers from race, religion, sexual orientation, age, gender, nationality, and more. During the training, employees learn about common cultural assumptions, prejudices, and more seen in the workplace and how these biases and discriminatory mentalities impact coworkers as well as the company. By bringing awareness to diversity issues, employees are encouraged to be more inclusive and collaborate with people who have different qualities and skill sets apart from their own.

Why is diversity training necessary?

Diversity programs should be incorporated into every company’s annual training plan. Successful diversity training has a number of benefits for an organization from increased morale and employee retention to a more inclusive and accepting workspace. It’s also been known to cut down on workplace harassment as people become more aware of how their behavior and language is offensive to others.

When a company is clearly dedicated to diversity and equality in the workplace, it also enhances recruiting efforts. Recruiters not only have an easier time attracting top talent to the business, but they’re also more conscious about being inclusive in their recruitment efforts.

Diversity has also been shown to financially benefit companies. According to a report by McKinsey & Company, a business is 35 percent more likely to have financial returns above their respective national industry medians if the company is racially and ethnically diverse. This is likely due to the fact that more diverse groups of people bring a broader perspective to problem solving and idea creation.

How to incorporate diversity training

Company leaders know diversity training is important, but it can admittedly be difficult to incorporate. Training topics can be overwhelming to some employees, and if not done properly there is a risk that workers will come out of the training defensive and more divided.

Before choosing a diversity program at random, it’s helpful to conduct a needs assessment which will help you prioritize certain topics. The needs assessment will also make it more apparent which specific issues are most pressing within your company. By focusing on a few equality and diversity issues at a time, you limit the risk of overwhelming employees and encourage understanding.

Design a diversity training program that fits your company’s needs and makes people feel heard and included. Everyone deserves to be respected and treated fairly at work, so embrace the value that diversity and inclusivity bring to your company. Show employees their worth through training programs that not only bring awareness to employee differences but also encourage understanding and respect.

Challenging Workplace Racism

It’s sad that in 2020 racism in the workplace is still a very real thing. Whether it is appointing managers or promotion panels subconsciously overlooking black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) candidates, or the occurrence of overt instances of discrimination and harassment on the office/shop floor, it’s undeniable that there is still a lot of work to be done on this front.

While nearly all companies have legally binding anti-discrimination policies set up, and governments have issued directives and legislation to try and eradicate this issue, it’s still worth taking the time to highlight the cases where things have gone – or are going – terribly wrong. With that in mind, here are four signs that racism may be an issue in your workplace:

1. STEREOTYPING

Managers must look out for examples of stereotyping in the workplace, which can provide the basis for racial discrimination to occur. Often based on misconceptions and incomplete information, stereotyping is particularly harmful as it portrays false generalisations, and attributes the same characteristics to all members of a group, ignoring the receivers of racism as individuals in their own right.

Be wary of the language used, and topics discussed, by colleagues. Are terms like “they” and “us” “your lot” used often to create a divide? Also, are workers making derogatory comments about elements of a person’s culture or customs?

2. HOSTILITY

Whether it is a black woman who is informed that she is too aggressive, a Muslim man criticised for not drinking during social events or an Indian immigrant/Eastern European mocked for their accent, managers should be able to spot unfair criticism and hostility towards BAME persons.

Victims of racism in the workplace can be subject to accusations of being out-of-place, and not fitting in the office/workplace culture. Moreover, BAME people tend to find that normal differences of opinion or failing to get along with a co-worker may be treated as more serious due to the hostility held towards them in a racially charged work environment.

3. OVERCRITICAL

With the increasing pressures of the modern time-poor, stress-rich business world, criticisms of employee performance from team leaders and peers is common.

Managers must be mindful, however, of how fair the criticism is to all staff, particularly minority groups, reacting quickly to criticisms that go a step too far. Victims of racial discrimination at work have reported being vilified for doing their work.

4. CONSISTENTLY OVERLOOKED

The “glass ceiling” is a prolonged issue that ties together all the previous points, and results in many talented, ambitious and well-educated BAME men and women failing to gain jobs, promotions or salary boosts, compared to their white counterparts.

But when the opportunities do finally arise, victims of racism note that their authority is constantly challenged and undermined by those both above and below them on the career ladder.

Thanks to Equality and Diversity UK for these signs on how to identify if racism may be an issue in your workplace.

#BlackLivesMatter

In relation to the tragic events of May 25th in Minnesota, I support the black community at this difficult time and remain committed to using my voice to effect real change. It should not take a video of a man being killed and thousands of people in the street for us to pay attention.

I am inspired by the strength and character of the black community in the face of these senseless tragedies and am committed to standing up for what is right and not just standing by. Shallow, tokenistic commitment is worse than silence. If you are interested in racism only when it is trending, keep your solidarity to yourself.

I encourage all the community, where you see racism and racist behaviour then call it out, challenge it and if it’s in the workplace tell someone. Silence is no longer an option and we will step up for our black colleagues, now more than ever.

If you are not Black, please remember your voice is needed right now—being anti-racist means speaking up, being an ally and challenging the injustices that may not directly affect you. Stand up, make noise about the events happening right now, educate family and friends and continue to push for change. Recognising white privilege has become a major focus in building a fairer society, but we also need to recognise the privilege of living in the west.

Now is not the time to be silent, neither is it the time to jump on a bandwagon. It’s a time for real reflection and care with regards standing by the black community at this time and move forward with real steps to end racism and injustice. Racism can only be addressed together, we can not afford to stand on the sidelines making excuses.

Let’s unite to confront and stop the spread of race-related hatred, violence and systemic injustice.

As, Kehinde Andrews, writing for the Guardian, says “It is time to radically rethink society to make it value black life. History tells us that the oppressed won’t wait for ever. It is time to get on the bus or get out of the way. ”

Black lives matter.

No individual can solve the deeply embedded issue of racism but if you want to see real change then you must be that change, don’t wait another second for others to lead you. Be the change you want to see, challenge your community, challenge your workplace to be better. With racism so deeply rooted in our social order, there can be no quick fixes – but here are some steps you can take in the workplace.

Be clear and concise-we’re talking about Black issues

Make it clear we are talking about Black issues, not “people of colour.” This is not the time for digressing or diluting the issue for non-Black comfort. There is no place for this—ever. Step up in a direct and empathetic way.

Talk about this, openly

Make it clear why this is a crucial conversation to have. Do not post in Black/race-focused groups only. This is relevant for everyone. Talk about systemic racism, sharing links to Black-driven research, making it clear this is a structural issue we all must address.

Create a safe space for colleagues to vent, and be open, if they want to be

Violence on Black colleagues is not an anomaly—people are emotionally scared and physically exhausted. As we’re all mostly working remotely, this may mean having open-diary slots with managers or creating an open space on your communication platform for folks to talk if they want to.

Signpost mental health support

Talking to colleagues isn’t enough. People need to know what professional mental health support is available to them and how to access it as soon as possible.

Managers must step up

Ensure managers are giving space to Black colleagues in particular, right now. Managers play a huge role in supporting people with everything happening in society—empathy is key. What affects or doesn’t affect you does not necessarily map to everyone else.

Do not centre yourself

Do not focus on yourself in these conversations. If you are not Black, your pain and hurt is not the priority right now. This may be an anomaly for you—it is not an anomaly for Black colleagues who live this life, every day.

Senior leaders must step up, especially if they are white or non-Black

Senior leadership must actively speak about this, whether they are uncomfortable or not. Their privilege must be used to make a difference. They should also signpost resources / donation links. They have a responsibility to show up for everyone. Keep in mind, most in leadership are white or non-Black, therefore their role as allies are important. They have the privilege of being listened to. They must amplify, learn and talk to their fellow white and non-Black colleagues to invoke real change.

Analyse your data

Remember that one post doesn’t fix systemic racism. Highlight your compulsory anti-racism training (not opt-in, which is not useful). Gather our data across different protected characteristics to allow for analysis of bias in hiring, probation and promotion processes. Use this data to challenge our processes. If Black colleagues aren’t being treated in the same way as others, share this transparently and spend time creating an action plan to challenge.

Do not add emotional/educational labour to Black colleagues

Every single person is different. That means people are processing this in many ways right now. Please make sure you’re not forcing Black colleagues to engage. This is emotionally/physically exhausting. If they want to, that is fine. If not, that is also fine. There is no onus on them to educate us.

Co-production, Collaboration and Staff Engagement with the Equality Agenda

I lead Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in my organisation and I often talk about the importance of co-production and engaging staff when setting organisational strategic objectives. If you want sustainability and buy in from stakeholders to change then it is vital that you involve those stakeholder who it directly affects, no matter how challenging.

There in lies the first barrier often encountered, that it is challenging to get staff to attend and show engagement in strategic planning and the strategic direction of the organisation. This is an issue of trust between employee and organisation and requires some ground work to build up that trust – however it is staff engagement activities like this that can help build that trust, albeit over time. In reality, what you do with the information gathered at these events is vital as it is this that builds trust, a demonstration of how you have used the information, ideas and suggestions from staff previously to make a positive impact on the organisation, staff and or customer.

Recently, I did just that and co-facilitated a morning workshop with over ninety NHS patients, service users, carers and staff with the purpose of setting the organisations equality, diversity and inclusion priorities for the next 12 months.

We invited a wide range of stakeholders from across the area including; patients, carers, service users, staff and partner organisations so that we could have conversations about what our equality, diversity and inclusion priorities should look like for the next year.

The event was an enormous success where patients, service users, carers and staff held topical and emotive discussions around the subject of equality, diversity and inclusion.

The room was divided into eight tables, four for staff and four for patients, service users and carers. Each and every idea was committed to post it notes before tables discussed in more depth the themes emerging from their conversations before narrowing down their ideas into three key themes, which they then fedback to the whole room.

This produced a wealth of information from our patients, service users, carers and staff which was collected and from it the organisation can produce a range of equality, diversity and inclusion priorities confident in the knowledge that these have not been produced in isolation. In doing so, we can ensure that our equality agenda is truly co-produced in collaboration with our primary stakeholders and that our key drivers for improvement are the experiences of our valued patients, service users, carers and staff.

Senior buy in is important for these events because it demonstrates their own commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion to stakeholders. The event was well supported by our board with the event opened by the Chair of the Board and closing remarks provided by our Chief Executive.

Our next step will be to analyse the key priorities identified and put together a coherent and robust strategy to deliver on these priorities over the coming 12 months as well as ensuring we communicate our progress over the year.

So, when considering setting equality actions for the year ahead, ensure you involve the primary stakeholders who will be impacted the most by your actions – they are the best guides as to whether what you are doing will have any positive and lasting impact.

February is LGBT+ History Month

February is LGBT History Month! This annual month-long observance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender history, as well as the history of the gay rights and related civil rights movements provides role models, builds community, and represents a civil rights statement about the contributions of the LGBT community.

LGBT History Month sets out to:

· Increase the visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (“LGBT+”) people, their history, lives and their experiences in the curriculum and culture of educational and other institutions, and the wider community;

· Raise awareness and advance education on matters affecting the LGBT+ community;

· Work to make educational and other institutions safe spaces for all LGBT+ communities; and

· Promote the welfare of LGBT+ people, by ensuring that the education system recognises and enables LGBT+ people to achieve their full potential, so they contribute fully to society and lead fulfilled lives, thus benefiting society as a whole.

Why do we use the rainbow as a symbol of LGBT equality?

“Rainbow flags tend to be used as a sign of a new era, of hope, or of social change”. Rainbow flags have been used in many places over the centuries: in the German Peasants’ War in the 16th century, as a symbol of the Cooperative movement; as a symbol of peace, especially in Italy; to represent the Tawantin Suyu, or Inca territory, mainly in Peru and Bolivia; by some Druze communities in the Middle east; by the Jewish Autonomous Oblast; to represent the International Order of Rainbow for Girls since the early 1920s; and as a symbol of gay pride and LGBT social movements since the 1970s.

Today, the flag is flown as a sign of inclusion and welcome. When flown outside businesses, or placed in shop windows, it tells LGBT people they can relax, and feel safe to do what others’ take for granted: to hold hands or kiss their partners, to rent a hotel room together, to book a table for Valentines day, to demonstrate their love without hate. As an image, it reminds us of not only the diversity of sexual orientation but also of the diversity of human characteristics as a whole.

The Colour of Characteristics

Characteristics help shape identity. The flag’s 6 colours represent different aspects of LGBT communities, but the rainbow is also a symbolic representation of the variety of human expression, in all its hues and shades. Characteristics might be thought of as primary colours of our psyche which when mixed together form the different shades of our identities. Our experiences throughout life, especially during childhood, affect the saturation and brightness of those identities.

Include ‘ethical veganism’ in diversity policies, experts warn

Below is a recent article by Maggie Baska for People Management regarding a high profile case where experts are subsequently advising organisations to include ‘ethical veganism’ in diversity policies. I am interested in what policy writers think about this?

‘Lawyers advise businesses to give the lifestyle choice the same protection as other beliefs after tribunal rules it falls under discrimination laws. Employers should look to review their diversity policies to include ‘ethical veganism’, employment laywers have said, after an employment tribunal (ET) ruled it is a philosophical belief that is protected by discrimination law.

The ruling came from the Norwich ET as part of a wider unfair dismissal case brought by Jordi Casamitjana (pictured), a former employee of animal rights charity the League Against Cruel Sports (LACS), who claimed he was unfairly sacked after he raised concerns that its pension fund was invested in companies involved in animal testing.

Casamitjana argued that his ethical veganism – which covers his broader lifestyle rather than just diet – was an integral part of his life, and this therefore made his dismissal discriminatory.

The judgment does not settle Casamitjana’s unfair dismissal claim, but it does lay the ground for a substantive hearing into his case.

Experts said the ruling widened the scope of the Equality Act, and employers needed to take a close look at their existing policies to ensure ethical vegans were afforded the same protections as employees with other religious or philosophical beliefs.
While both dietary and ethical vegans eat a plant-based diet, excluding all animal-based foods or byproducts, ethical vegans exclude all forms of animal exploitation including avoiding clothing made from wool or leather, or toiletries from companies involved in animal testing.

Victoria Albon, associate at Dentons, said it was not surprising the tribunal found ethical veganism was protected, and said the definition of a philosophical belief was “open to a fairly wide interpretation”, highlighting a tribunal ruling in 2009 that found belief in man-made climate change should be classed as a belief and protected under the Equality Act.

The Act says a philosophical belief must be genuinely held – not just an opinion or viewpoint. It must also be cogent, serious and apply to an important aspect of human life or behaviour. This belief must be worthy of respect in a democratic society and not affect other people’s fundamental rights.

Although it could still be appealed, the ruling provides useful commentary on the level of legal protection that ethical vegans should receive in the workplace. But Carl Atkinson, partner at law firm Gunnercooke, told People Management tribunal judges in similar cases have been careful to state in their judgment that a case will be fact specific to the individual involved.

“It has become apparent that the way tribunals will judge if the belief system of a particular claimant is covered by equality law will depend on the specifics of that case, meaning one vegan could have a set of views that fall within the definition a philosophical belief while another did not,” Atkinson explained.

He said, in the present case, Casamitjana’s lawyers had published his witness statement online so it was apparent his veganism had become determinative of the way he lived his life.

While all vegans might not be protected by the recent ruling, Kate Palmer, associate director of advisory at Peninsula, advised businesses to review how they supported ethical vegans in their company and if any changes were required.

“It should be remembered that no employee should feel mistreated at work,” Palmer said. “Aside from the potential legal implications as seen here, catering for a diverse workforce can be critical in both attracting and retaining key talent.”

Casamitjana’s unfair dismissal case is still being heard by the tribunal. Slater and Gordon, the law firm representing Casamitjana, said further hearings into the case are planned for February.

Rhys Wyborn, employment partner at Shakespeare Martineau and who acted for the LACS, said the company did not contest the issue of whether ethical veganism itself should be a protected belief, but said it was “irrelevant” to the core reason behind Casamitjana’s dismissal.

“The league is now looking ahead to the substantive hearing in this case and to addressing the reason for Casamitjana’s dismissal, which it maintains was down to his misconduct and not the belief he holds,” Wyborn said.

Casamitjana said he was “extremely happy” with the current ruling and added that he hoped fellow vegans “would benefit” from the tribunal’s decision.’

The full article from People Management can be found here.

Being Conscious About Our Unconscious Biases

What is Unconscious Bias

The term ‘cognitive bias’ was coined by Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman in 1972 which quite simply means “our tendency to filter information, process facts and arrive at judgements based on our past experiences, likes/dislikes and automatic influences.”

How do these biases show up in Leadership?

A lot of leadership is about taking decisions involving group of people. Instinctive leaders often tend to decide quickly based on limited information or experience they have at hand. The result is that they end up taking wrong decisions (which may have worked for them in past but may not work in a different context), or discriminating with people of a certain colour, race, sex or nationality based on their past experiences with similar people. At work, biases (or the perception of bias) is the biggest contributor to people disengagement and cost of disengagement is huge. Lack of critical thinking also leads to short-termism where decisions are taken for immediate gains and solutions of today become thorny problems of tomorrow.

Some Ways to Deal with Unconscious Bias

Get Conscious. Be more aware about unconscious cognitive biases. Knowing that they exist is the first important step to tackling them. And they exist in plenty. Here is a list of all unconscious biases and what they really mean.
Ask questions, often. When considering a decision, ask questions that elicit understanding and clarify details. When you ask questions, you extend an opportunity to others to really express them. You are extending an opportunity to yourself to understand their thinking more closely. Encourage a culture where asking questions is valued.

Look for Patterns. Data over a period of time reveals patterns. Looking for patterns from the results of past decision can lead to important insights and learning. Sometimes data can blind us unless we learn to look at the pattern and story behind the data.

Look for the contrary. It helps playing a devil’s advocate and taking a contrarian view of things. It not only challenges others to think harder but also helps you in really understanding if they are just defending their own biases.

Embrace Diversity. This starts with hiring decisions. Don’t hire people whose beliefs are compliant with yours. You will tap into diverse ideas and viewpoints only when you have people with diverse thinking patterns on your team.

Attend to data and evidences. When you ask your people to bring data, evidences and trends, it does not mean lack of trust. It only means that you are intentional about serving them better by taking the right decisions.

Communicate clearly. Clear and accurate communication is a leader’s tool #1. Avoid using generic terms to describe people, situations and things. Biases are most commonly visible in how a leader communicates. Being mindful about our words is critical to thinking and communicating objectively.

Thanks go to Tanmay Vora for this excellent and concise explanation of what ‘unconscious bias’ is and how we can combat it in the workplace.

Building Inclusive Workplaces

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) explain that true inclusion is created by embedding inclusive practices and values into the organisation’s way of doing things. Whilst inclusion can’t be the sole responsibility of the people profession, people professionals nonetheless have a key role to play. They can support employees, line managers and senior leaders to build inclusive behaviours and values, ensure policies and practices are inclusive, and challenge organisational values and behaviours that don’t actively promote inclusion. Importantly, any action should be guided by organisational data and carefully evaluated – further research needs to test the most effective ways to build inclusion.

Explore the areas where you can take action to build inclusion.

Involve all employees in inclusion

All employees need to understand their role in building inclusive workplaces. This involves employers setting clear standards of behaviour for inclusion, treating all colleagues with dignity and respect, and empowering employees to challenge exclusionary behaviour.

What you can do:

Make inclusion relevant to people at all levels of the business; what does inclusion mean in their job role and what they can do to be more inclusive?
Work with employee resource groups to highlight employees’ roles in inclusion, promoting alliance.

Develop line manager capability

Managers are key in inclusion. The relationship they have with employees, and how they carry out people management practices and policies, will impact employees’ opportunities and experiences of work.

Treating all employees with respect, supporting their development and ensuring they’ve a say in the workplace is core for any manager. Managers need to ensure there’s a level playing field for their team, and support employee’s individual needs. However, bias can play a role in the opportunities that individuals are given at work – given our preferences for people ‘like us’.

What you can do:

Examine progression and hiring data to ensure that there’s a level playing field and address any bias.
Embed inclusion in line manager training and development – for example, raise awareness of issues relating to inclusion and empower managers to carry out people management practices effectively.

Build senior commitment to inclusion

Many senior leaders are line managers themselves; they set the tone for the behaviour that’s expected in the business. And, with a drive towards increasing diversity on boards, attention must also be paid to how inclusive the boardroom is. People professionals should work with senior leaders to embed inclusion into the organisation’s way of doing things, highlighting the importance of their advocacy and buy in.

Senior leaders need to:

actively champion and sponsor inclusion activities
develop self-awareness and understand their own biases
role-model inclusive behaviour in their own people management, and in their own leadership team.

Evaluate policies and practices

A two-step approach is needed to put in place people management practices and policies to support inclusion:

Consider the formal and informal mechanisms that can be improved to enhance inclusion for all employees. For example, ensure that there are clear mechanisms for feedback that allow employees to feel like they have a ‘say’ in the organisation.

Create specific policies and practices that support particular groups or individual needs. For example, make sure there are clear policies in place to support individual needs; these need to be implemented by managers and backed up by a supportive workplace environment.

Consider how you can:

embed inclusion into wider people management practices
communicate the policies in place that support inclusion
use organisational data to review policies and practices.

Examine organisational culture, climate and values

Creating an inclusive climate and culture requires fair policies and practices, recognising and valuing difference, and including all employees in decision-making processes. Senior commitment in the form of real advocacy and buy-in is important in creating a truly inclusive organisation. In some cases, organisations might need to evaluate their own norms and values.

What you can do:

Work with employees throughout the business to understand current norms and values; is ‘difference’ seen as positive or negative, and do employees understand their role in inclusion?
Evaluate people practices through an inclusion ‘lens’ – do practices and policies align with inclusion?
Ensure that senior leaders support inclusion, and, importantly, role-model inclusive behaviour and value difference, rather than distrust it.

For further guidance on building inclusive workplaces check out this CIPD report on Building Inclusive Workplaces (Sept 2019)

Transgender Day of Remembrance

On November 20th it was Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) an annual observance that honours the memory of the transgender people whose lives were lost in acts of anti-transgender violence.

Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) was started in 1999 by transgender advocate Gwendolyn Ann Smith as a vigil to honour the memory of Rita Hester, a transgender woman who was killed in 1998. The vigil commemorated all the transgender people lost to violence since Rita Hester’s death, and began an important tradition that has become the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance.

This year, there have been 331 known killings of trans people worldwide that Stonewall and other LGBTQ+ communities and organisations around the world will remember. Sadly, these numbers include the murder of Amy Griffiths, a 51 year old trans woman, in Droitwitch, Worcestershire, in January of this year
Every life taken has its own devastating circumstances but it is possible to observe that the vast majority of those killed are trans women and transfeminine people of colour. The Trans Murder Monitoring Project noted that, of those whose professions were known, 61% of murdered trans people this year worked as sex workers.

In Europe, the majority of murdered trans women were migrant trans women. Many murders of trans people occur in circumstances including poverty, racism, anti-immigrant and anti-sex worker sentiment and misogyny, which deprive some trans communities of resources and protection and make certain kinds of trans person especially vulnerable to male violence.

Sadly, some trans people – particularly women – are most at risk of fatal violence from cis male intimate partners, such as boyfriends. The stigma, family rejection, limited employment opportunities and social isolation experienced by many trans people can leave them particularly vulnerable to abuse in relationships.

In many cases, violence against trans people is also driven by toxic ideals of masculinity founded on homophobia and biphobia. On Trans Day of Remembrance, many of us, whether cis or trans, can reflect on how we can work together to end gender-based violence, harassment and discrimination in all their forms.

Creating Dyslexia Friendly Workplaces

It is estimated that 15% of the population have dyslexia and/or other specific learning differences (SpLD), therefore it’s highly probable that there will be neurodiversity within any workplace. Organisations must commit to being a dyslexia-friendly organisation by supporting staff with dyslexia and/or other specific learning differences (SpLD) by applying reasonable adjustments to their workplace.

Dyslexia is a hidden disability and is therefore a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010 which the Trust is under the Public Sector Equality Duty to uphold. As such, where a diagnosis of dyslexia is made then the Trust must make reasonable adjustments to staffs working environment or working conditions to reduce h the impact of the SpLD. For example, if a member of staff has difficulties working with a computer for long periods then a reasonable adjustment might be to ensure that they avoid continuous all day computer work.

Being dyslexia-friendly makes good business sense and embedding this ethos within the Trust benefits everyone; it enables our staff to fulfil their potential and also supports our dyslexic service users and other stakeholders.

Dyslexia is a neurological difference and can have a significant impact during education, in the workplace and in everyday life. As each person is unique, so is everyone’s experience of dyslexia. It can range from mild to severe, and it can co-occur with other learning differences. It usually runs in families and is a life-long condition.

It is important to remember that there are positives to thinking differently. Many dyslexic people show strengths in areas such as reasoning and in visual and creative fields.

Neurodiversity can be a significant asset to an organisation, bringing a diﬀerent dimension to problem-solving or creativity in the way that an organisation operates and delivers its products and/or services.

Alongside meeting legal requirements there are many benefits to raising the awareness of dyslexia in the workplace and creating a dyslexia friendly work environment. It helps to establish an inclusive culture for all employees and ensures that individuals can use their strengths, such as atypical problem-solving and creativity. It means that organisations are striving to support staff, to get the best from them and the best for the organisation.

Creating a dyslexia friendly workplace doesn’t have to involve expensive changes. It often just takes some thought, and small changes can make a dramatic difference.

Things to consider:

Staff awareness of dyslexia, and the challenges and strengths it presents.
A flexible and supportive approach.
Introduction of assistive technology.
Changing communication methods i.e. printing company-wide information on different coloured paper, or in a larger font, or making it available as an audio file.

A dyslexia friendly workplace can reduce stress, increase morale and motivation. This is turn can have an impact on reducing staff turnover and sickness leave.

How can I support my dyslexic employees?

As well as meeting your obligations under the Equality Act 2010, supporting your employees makes good business sense. Effective changes don’t have to be expensive or time-consuming, often small organisational changes can help to get the very best from your employee.

It’s worth keeping in mind that any changes you make to your way of working can benefit all employees, not just those with dyslexia, and may also benefit your dyslexic customers and clients.

Examples of Reasonable Adjustments

The British Dyslexia Association provides the following examples of reasonable adjustments for commonly reported difficulties:

Reading

Give verbal as well as written instructions
Highlight important points in documents
Use voicemail rather than written memos
Supply screen-reading software or a Reading Pen
Print resources on coloured paper, and change background colour of computer screens and presentations

Reading and writing

Allow plenty of time to read and complete a task
Discuss the material with the employee, giving summaries and/or key points
Present information in other formats e.g. audio or video, drawings, diagrams and flowcharts
Offer/use mind-mapping software
Offer/use digital recorders
Offer/use speech to text software
Ask someone else to take the Minutes of meetings

Spelling and grammar

Spell checker on all computers
Offer assistive text software on all applications, where possible

Computer work

Change background colour of screen to suit individual preference
Supply anti-glare screen filter
Allow frequent breaks, at least every hour
Alternate computer work with other tasks where possible
Avoid continuous all day computer work

Verbal communication

Give instructions one at a time, slowly and clearly without distractions
Write down important information or encourage the employee to take notes
Write a memo outlining a plan of action
Provide a digital recorder to record presentations/training
Check understanding

Concentration

Make sure there is a quiet space available away from distractions such as doors, busy phones, loud machinery
Allocate a private workspace if possible
Allow an employee to work from home occasionally, if possible
Use a “do not disturb” sign when tasks require intense concentration
If interrupting, allow the person to pause and write down what they are doing to refer to when resuming work

Appointments and deadlines

Remind the person of important deadlines and review priorities regularly
Encourage the employee to use the daily calendar and alarm features on his/her computer or work phone.

Tips for organisation of property

Ensure that work areas are organised, neat and tidy
Keep items where they can be clearly seen for example shelves and bulletin boards
Ensure the team returns important items to the same place each time
Colour code items, if appropriate
Ensure work areas are well lit

Organising workflow

Prioritise important tasks
Create a daily, dated “To Do” list
Use and share diaries
Write a layout for regular tasks with appropriate prompts for example for meetings or taking notes
Build planning time into each day

Supporting directional difficulties

Always try to use the same route
Show the route and visible landmarks
Give time to practise going from one place to another
Supply detailed maps
Supply GPS car navigation system