tag:theconversation.com,2011:/ca/topics/equality-act-2010-11021/articlesEquality Act 2010 – The Conversation2023-09-06T15:47:37Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2077452023-09-06T15:47:37Z2023-09-06T15:47:37ZNo evidence to show whether autism health passports are effective – new review<p><a href="https://www.nhsemployers.org/publications/nhs-health-passport">Health passports</a> were developed to help patients better communicate their needs with medical staff by allowing people to record details about their disability or health condition. They are sometimes known as a communication passport, healthcare passport or a hospital passport and can be digital or on paper. </p>
<p>Autism health passports were specifically designed with the aim of achieving more equitable access to healthcare for <a href="https://www.skillsforhealth.org.uk/info-hub/learning-disability-and-autism-frameworks-2019/">autistic people</a>. But how effectively do they achieve this? </p>
<p><a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0279214">We reviewed</a> the evidence to see if they met their <a href="https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg142/chapter/Recommendations">aims</a>. The literature we found tended to focus on describing the passports rather than evaluating their effectiveness.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/data.html">Around 3%</a> of the population is estimated to be autistic and autistic people experience the world differently. We have sensory, social and communication differences. We also often have co-occurring conditions such as <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4426/10/4/260">hypermobility</a>, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1525505019304949">epilepsy</a> and <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11920-019-1020-5">ADHD</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/contents">The Equality Act of 2010</a> states that government services – including healthcare – have a duty to provide “reasonable adjustments” for autistic people. This means organisations must make changes to how they provide their services to remove any social or environmental barriers. </p>
<p>Despite this, health services are often less accessible for autistic people. This is because such environments can include bright lights and lots of background noise which may cause physical pain and brain fog. Also, health professionals don’t always understand enough about autism to know how to communicate effectively with autistic patients.</p>
<p>This can lead to negative experiences and even <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2021-056904">early death</a> for autistic people. Autistic people have reported concerns about being misunderstood or facing discrimination when they ask for medical <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361318811290">support</a>.</p>
<p>Autism health passports were introduced to overcome such challenges. For example, the “<a href="https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/topics/physical-health/my-health-passport">my health passport</a>” was developed in the UK <a href="https://www.nursingtimes.net/roles/learning-disability-nurses/passport-aims-to-help-autistic-patients-communicate-with-nurses-17-07-2014/">in 2014</a> by Baroness Angela Browning in collaboration with the National Autistic Society. There are other autism health passports from different organisations too.</p>
<p>Health passports have been <a href="https://www.skillsforhealth.org.uk/info-hub/learning-disability-and-autism-frameworks-2019/">endorsed</a> by the UK government, which is responsible for health in England. Using a health passport is also recommended as <a href="http://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg142">best practice</a> by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.</p>
<p>Our review identified all studies from across the globe which focused on autism health passports for people over the age of 16. We identified 13 sources in our review, of mixed quality. Four of which were not empirical and four were based in the UK.</p>
<p>We discovered that almost no information exists about whether autism health passports have achieved their aims. The studies we reviewed included information about the contents of the health passports, such as the person’s name, date of birth and communication needs. </p>
<p>But they did not say how they were supposed to be used in appointments, or include information such as who should fill out the passport, for example. What’s more, most of them did not test if the passports were effective. </p>
<p>For this reason, it is not possible to determine whether autism health passports help autistic people better access healthcare. </p>
<h2>Barriers</h2>
<p>Besides, there are already many societal, environmental and interpersonal barriers which prevent autism health passports from working effectively. </p>
<p>The general understanding of autism in society tends to be outdated, often limited to viewing it as a medical condition. Non-autistic brains are often considered as “the norm” while other types of brains can be viewed <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/josp.12456">negatively</a> by the general population. </p>
<p>Viewing autism as a medical condition can <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1358229118820742">stigmatise</a> autistic people and impacts how many non-autistic people – including health professionals – engage with autistic people. </p>
<p>Many autistic people prefer the social model of disability instead. This states that society creates disability through a range of barriers that could be, but are not, removed. Autism is also an important part of some autistic people’s <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2021.1877117">identity</a>. </p>
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<img alt="An infographic displaying information about autism health passports" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539921/original/file-20230728-21-j6pxbd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539921/original/file-20230728-21-j6pxbd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539921/original/file-20230728-21-j6pxbd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539921/original/file-20230728-21-j6pxbd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539921/original/file-20230728-21-j6pxbd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539921/original/file-20230728-21-j6pxbd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539921/original/file-20230728-21-j6pxbd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The barriers which need to be dismantled to ensure health passports can work.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Rebecca Ellis</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Staff who have not received autism training may be unaware of the adaptations needed to make healthcare more accessible. They may also not be aware of the co-occurring conditions that are often present alongside autism. </p>
<p>And due to staff and resource shortages, even with good knowledge of autism, health professionals may not have time to read additional materials such as an autism health passport.</p>
<h2>How to make positive changes</h2>
<p>Environmental changes are needed to provide better care for autistic people, because hospitals can be fast-paced and overwhelming places. Patients may have to move between areas of a large, often confusing, building and work with a number of different professionals, with varying levels of neurodiversity-affirming training. </p>
<p>This situation could be improved by using quiet spaces and assigning appropriately trained key workers to autistic patients. We do not think that “bolt on” tools like autism health passports are enough to create meaningful change in otherwise inaccessible health services. </p>
<p>A service redesign is necessary to meet autistic needs. Whether or not a tool such as a health passport can positively influence an autistic person’s experiences of healthcare is dependent on making wider changes to services.</p>
<p>Such initiatives should also be co-designed with autistic people to give them the greatest chance of being effective. By improving services in this way, they could meet the needs of other marginalised groups too.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207745/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rebecca Ellis received Health and Care Research Wales funding for their PhD. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Aimee Grant receives funding from the Wellcome Trust, the Medical Research Council and the Research Wales Innovation Fund (part of HEFCW). </span></em></p>Autism health passports are a tool designed to help autistic people access healthcare more easily.Rebecca Ellis, Assistant researcher in Public Health, Swansea UniversityAimee Grant, Senior Lecturer in Public Health and Wellcome Trust Career Development Fellow, Swansea UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1812892022-05-03T14:43:34Z2022-05-03T14:43:34ZSix misunderstood concepts about diversity in the workplace and why they matter<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460974/original/file-20220503-17-f0pr6v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Understanding diversity concepts in the workplace is crucial.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/portrait-diverse-creative-team-looking-camera-2149071131">SeventyFour | Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Diversity and inclusion in the workplace is a sensitive topic. People are afraid to get things wrong or to use the wrong word. It doesn’t help that the words involved are confusing. </p>
<p>You have probably encountered these concepts at a mandatory training session, a workplace event, or on Twitter. They often involve decades of complex scholarship being reduced down to a single word, and, as such, they can easily be misrepresented. </p>
<p>But for any progress to be made, and for real diversity and inclusion to be achieved, getting to grips with what they actually mean is crucial. Here then are six of the most embattled concepts.</p>
<hr>
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<img alt="Quarter life, a series by The Conversation" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em><strong><a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/quarter-life-117947?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=UK+YP2022&utm_content=InArticleTop">This article is part of Quarter Life</a></strong>, a series about issues affecting those of us in our twenties and thirties. From the challenges of beginning a career and taking care of our mental health, to the excitement of starting a family, adopting a pet or just making friends as an adult. The articles in this series explore the questions and bring answers as we navigate this turbulent period of life.</em></p>
<p><em>You may be interested in:</em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/were-her-real-mum-lesbian-parents-face-healthcare-challenges-175382">‘We’re her real mum’: lesbian parents face healthcare challenges</a></em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/how-racism-and-a-lack-of-diversity-can-harm-our-workplaces-73119">How racism and a lack of diversity can harm our workplaces</a></em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/ceos-are-hindering-lgbtq-equality-in-the-workplace-181679">CEOs are hindering LGBTQ+ equality in the workplace</a></em></p>
<hr>
<h2>1. Allyship</h2>
<p>Once limited to LGBTQ discussions (as in “straight ally”), this term became popular in 2020 following the murder of George Floyd. As its 2021 Word of the Year, dictionary.com <a href="https://www.dictionary.com/e/word-of-the-day/allyship-2021-12-07/">defines allyship as</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The status or role of a person who advocates and actively works for the inclusion of a marginalised or politicised group in all areas of society, not as a member of that group but in solidarity with its struggle and point of view and under its leadership. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Allyship, then, isn’t about waving the correct flag during the correct month, or getting drunk at Pride with colleagues (well, not <em>just</em> that). It’s an action word that requires action; like education (of self and others), effective activism, consistent advocacy and using your platform or privilege (see below) to amplify the voices of marginalised others.</p>
<p>If, for example, your workplace did the <a href="https://theconversation.com/blackout-tuesday-the-black-square-is-a-symbol-of-online-activism-for-non-activists-139982">white-text-on-a-black-square</a> thing on social media in June 2020, and nothing else, they were probably engaging in performative allyship. This kind of superficial show of solidarity chiefly benefits those performing it, as opposed to the group <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09585192.2021.2023895">suffering the discrimination</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A person wearing LGBTQ rainbow wristbands types at a computer keyboard." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460985/original/file-20220503-19311-mf0kxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460985/original/file-20220503-19311-mf0kxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=248&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460985/original/file-20220503-19311-mf0kxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=248&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460985/original/file-20220503-19311-mf0kxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=248&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460985/original/file-20220503-19311-mf0kxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=312&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460985/original/file-20220503-19311-mf0kxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=312&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460985/original/file-20220503-19311-mf0kxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=312&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Allyship in the workplace is about actively signalling your solidarity.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/inclusion-staff-diversity-work-workplace-equality-2074286245">Andrey_Popov | Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>2. Class discrimination</h2>
<p>Within UK society, working-class people face inequalities related to, for example, access to sought-after <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01425692.2021.1886051">unpaid internships</a>, entering higher managerial and professional jobs and their average salary <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0003122416653602">once in those jobs</a>. </p>
<p>Yet the concept is easily understood – we have all seen snobbery in action (see John Cleese’s classic 1966 sketch with the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b009lt9r/clips">Two Ronnies</a>). However, the misunderstanding here concerns not the definition of the concept, but the legality of the discrimination. </p>
<p>Social class is not protected in the Equality Act 2010, the piece of UK legislation that outlaws discrimination in the workplace. This often surprises people, presumably because it feels like something that should be covered by legislation – and indeed it is, <a href="https://www.equalitylaw.eu/downloads/5568-a-comparative-analysis-of-non-discrimination-law-in-europe-2021-1-75-mb">in over half</a> of all European countries. Just not in the UK. </p>
<h2>3. Intersectionality</h2>
<p>This term is often vilified, but its meaning is actually straightforward. Every person has multiple intersecting identities (age, class, gender, sexuality, race and so on) which can lead to specific outcomes, particularly in relation to <a href="https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1052&context=uclf">discrimination or privilege</a>.</p>
<p>White women, Black men and Black women may face some common issues in the workplace – a <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/articles/ethnicitypaygapsingreatbritain/2019#">pay gap</a>, for example. But research shows that the latter group often face challenges specific to how their identities as both women and Black people intersect. </p>
<p>The term <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14680777.2018.1447395?needAccess=true">misogynoir</a> was coined to designate the specific type of discrimination that Black women face. This can manifest as <a href="https://obgyn.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1471-0528.15692">medical misdiagnoses</a>; racial differences in <a href="https://www.ajog.org/article/S0002-9378(18)31334-6/fulltext#relatedArticles">pain management</a> after giving birth; <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19371918.2011.619449?casa_token=t-iOk4nsBs0AAAAA%3Azt5Cu9kpf0GYEBm4DKqrcIQhx0iXnv0MTdKqsNM7cjV2u8MRLfPSn0Zpgw4NQX_1Mj3yNx1oMal-kw">pervasive, harmful stereotypes</a> such as that of the “angry Black woman”; and <a href="https://medium.com/@AmnestyInsights/unsocial-media-tracking-twitter-abuse-against-women-mps-fc28aeca498a">gendered racist abuse</a> of the kind directed at former Labour Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott during the 2017 election. </p>
<h2>4. Gender pay gap</h2>
<p>Not to be confused with equal pay. “Equal pay” means paying a man and woman equally if they are doing the same work: this is a legal requirement. The gender pay gap, meanwhile, is the difference in average hourly earnings between all men and women in a specific company, sector or country. </p>
<p>Research shows that it can be caused by both <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1062976999000216?casa_token=FViUt_xNLQcAAAAA:4K64sb801QCwtiL42V3_4UMBDFl1OJV-lIu-_P1Zd_rEnD-YdNNdUSB2wc4yVgj7av_890ChMSw">old-fashioned discrimination</a> and also <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0095399716636928">differences</a> in what economists call <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/h/humancapital.asp">human capital</a>: the economic value of an employee’s education, training, experience, skills, health and other traits. Women’s experience and career choices are often affected by gendered expectations regarding child-rearing and the wider division of labour in the family. There are other pay gaps too, relating, among other characteristics, to <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0003122416662958">race</a>, to <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2524353?seq=1">sexual orientation</a> and to <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bjir.12257">disability</a>. </p>
<h2>5. Privilege</h2>
<p>Often (and mistakenly) used interchangeably with “privileged”. To wit, the Conservative MP Jonathan Gullis, made headlines in October 2021, when he defied any “left woke warrior to visit Stoke-on-Trent North, Kidsgrove and Talke and try tell the people there that they are somehow ‘privileged’”. </p>
<p>As activist Janaya Khan <a href="https://nowthisnews.com/videos/politics/activist-janaya-future-khan-on-redefining-privilege">has put it</a>, privilege doesn’t refer to what you have gone through, but what you haven’t had to go through. It designates the advantages, and/or lack of disadvantages, that any one person might have <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1469-5812.2004.00057.x">because of who they are</a>.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ipPaYZNCIqw?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">US activist Janaya Khan on what activism – and privilege – really means.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>“White privilege”, therefore, does not mean that white people are always privileged. It does mean, however, that a white person living in Kidsgrove will not have to consider whether they will face discrimination – whether <a href="https://theconversation.com/black-people-are-often-associated-with-deviance-but-i-never-understood-the-true-impact-until-i-was-racially-profiled-179259">out shopping</a>, going to <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-the-governments-report-on-race-gets-wrong-about-the-education-system-159494">school</a> or <a href="https://theconversation.com/racism-in-football-new-research-shows-media-treats-black-men-differently-to-white-men-160841">playing football</a> – simply because of their skin colour. That is a specific disadvantage they don’t have to even think about. And it is the not having to think about that is the privilege. </p>
<h2>6. Pronouns</h2>
<p>Gender identity and gender presentation are not always aligned. Sometimes one’s gender identity evolves over time. The move to be explicit about which pronouns we want people to use when referring to us in the third person – as the American singer Demi Lovato did <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-57169541">in 2021</a>, when they came out as non-binary – can be a way to signal one’s gender identity. </p>
<p>A recent viral video showed a man, when asked what pronouns they use, rejecting the whole idea by replying, “<a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@lewisbuchanclips/video/7071340007830670597?_d=secCgYIASAHKAESPgo8S%2B0HFptg8BOr119CPKvty7lKYtfRaUmCqVEINkEE%2BeNfcl4VBh8DPTXT5xnrrVoQx9wdIYVp8ZrfFFHYGgA%3D&_r=1&checksum=1ab29ae040da95f731b9b82d69f4c6192ef26c87f4f78d353e2344517277362b&language=en&preview_pb=0&sec_user_id=MS4wLjABAAAATLpAjyU8PW1jLh3GEyxxJ05piRivNwMCUMZ5kS2l9BY2Pdu-W2ImIL4zbwhQ2-gM&share_app_id=1233&share_item_id=7071340007830670597&share_link_id=DA2A3D39-D367-4DB4-9C4F-E9D8045CB014&social_sharing=v1&source=h5_m&timestamp=1646612193&tt_from=copy&u_code=dh5436e595kag6&user_id=6929956997144052741&utm_campaign=client_share&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=copy">I don’t do pronouns</a>”. Sharing your pronouns if you are cisgender (that is, not trans) <a href="https://www.stonewall.org.uk/about-us/news/international-pronouns-day">is easy</a>, however, and signals solidarity with trans and non-binary people. </p>
<p>It is also helpful because we can’t always assume we know what someone’s gender identity is. Misgendering (calling someone by the incorrect pronoun) can contribute towards the stress a trans person experiences as a minority. Recent <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/60c1cce1d3bf7f4bd9814e39/Maya_Forstater_v_CGD_Europe_and_others_UKEAT0105_20_JOJ.pdf">tribunal decisions</a> have mentioned that regular, deliberate misgendering could be considered <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5d9b0c8aed915d35cff2225d/Dr_David_Mackereth_v_The_Department_for_Work_and_Pensions___Advanced_Personnel_Management_Group__UK__Ltd_1304602_-_2018_-_Judgment_and_reasons.pdf">discrimination</a>. If you make a genuine mistake, though, apologising and correcting yourself “<a href="https://www.vogue.co.uk/arts-and-lifestyle/article/getting-pronouns-wrong">need be</a> no more complicated than correcting yourself after getting someone’s name wrong”.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/181289/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ciarán McFadden has previously received research funding from The Irish Research Council, The Fulbright Ireland Commission, and the Carnegie Trust.</span></em></p>Diversity terms often involve decades of scholarship being reduced to a single word. Understanding them – and knowing how to explain them – is crucial.Ciarán McFadden, Lecturer in Human Resource Management and Organizational Behavior, Edinburgh Napier UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1544032021-02-05T14:35:01Z2021-02-05T14:35:01ZNo jab, no job: why your employer can’t sack you for not taking the COVID vaccine in UK<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381728/original/file-20210201-17-k8wchl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=9%2C31%2C2874%2C1842&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">How the law can protect you.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.alamy.com/factory-industry-worker-working-with-face-mask-to-prevent-covid-19-coronavirus-spreading-during-job-reopening-period-image371833326.html?pv=1&stamp=2&imageid=C06017C7-1DE8-46DB-B069-AE2B7DE5BAF7&p=1150547&n=0&orientation=0&pn=1&searchtype=0&IsFromSearch=1&srch=foo%3dbar%26st%3d0%26pn%3d1%26ps%3d100%26sortby%3d2%26resultview%3dsortbyPopular%26npgs%3d0%26qt%3dcovid%2520worker%26qt_raw%3dcovid%2520worker%26lic%3d3%26mr%3d0%26pr%3d0%26ot%3d0%26creative%3d%26ag%3d0%26hc%3d0%26pc%3d%26blackwhite%3d%26cutout%3d%26tbar%3d1%26et%3d0x000000000000000000000%26vp%3d0%26loc%3d0%26imgt%3d0%26dtfr%3d%26dtto%3d%26size%3d0xFF%26archive%3d1%26groupid%3d%26pseudoid%3d%26a%3d%26cdid%3d%26cdsrt%3d%26name%3d%26qn%3d%26apalib%3d%26apalic%3d%26lightbox%3d%26gname%3d%26gtype%3d%26xstx%3d0%26simid%3d%26saveQry%3d%26editorial%3d%26nu%3d%26t%3d%26edoptin%3d%26customgeoip%3dGB%26cap%3d1%26cbstore%3d1%26vd%3d0%26lb%3d%26fi%3d2%26edrf%3d0%26ispremium%3d1%26flip%3d0%26pl%3d">Pitinan Piyavatin / Alamy Stock Photo</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Charlie Mullins, the controversial chief executive of leading London plumbing firm Pimlico Plumbers, <a href="https://www.cityam.com/exclusive-pimlico-plumbers-plots-no-jab-no-job-policy/">recently announced</a> plans to impose a “no-jab, no-job” policy for existing and future members of the company’s workforce. Workers would be contractually required to prove they had received the COVID 19 vaccine, without which they would not be offered any work by Pimlico. </p>
<p>Such a suggestion raises the spectre of other employers and the government adopting a similar policy to all workers to be vaccinated or face the prospect of no job. It is easy to understand why the government and employers would find the prospect of ensuring all workers undergo vaccination appealing. </p>
<p>Now that the vaccination programme has started, there is immense pressure from the general public, other employees and customers to try to ensure as wide coverage as possible in an effort to control the spread of the disease. So will the government or other employers adopt such a policy for all those who engage in the labour market; and, if so, would it be lawful?</p>
<h2>What the law says</h2>
<p>There are compelling reasons why employers should not introduce a “no-jab, no-job” policy. There is the immediate practical obstacle of the availability of the vaccine. The government controls distribution and the priority recipients, with the exception of frontline health and social care workers, are all of an age that they are mostly out of the active labour market. </p>
<p>Although some employers have said they would pay for vaccines to be supplied to employees, the government has said that stocks are likely to be fully absorbed by NHS use, even if and when supplies increase. </p>
<p>Some workers may also be unable to accept the vaccine because of religious or other sincerely held beliefs. And others may have contra-indications to vaccination which would mean their health would be seriously affected if they had to take it. In short, substantial numbers of workers would be unable to comply with a requirement to be vaccinated through no fault of their own. </p>
<p>Besides all these issues, there are legal impediments to a “no jab, no job policy”. The <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1984/22">Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984</a>, under which the COVID-19 health regulations have been promulgated, provides that any individual cannot be required to undergo medical treatment, including vaccination. </p>
<p>This does not prevent an employer from asking an employee to consent to a contractual requirement to undergo vaccination before offering the employee work. But there would always be a question mark over whether “consent” in such circumstances was freely and voluntarily given. If it was felt that it was not freely given, the 1984 act would apply. </p>
<p>Although there does not appear to be any ruling by the courts directly on this point, there <a href="https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2018/796.html">are precedents</a> supporting the view that lack of positive objection by an employee cannot be equated with consent. </p>
<p>An analogy can also be drawn with the legal principle of “economic duress”, which <a href="https://www.lawteacher.net/cases/north-ocean-shipping-v-hyundai.php">says that</a> economic pressure that gives the weaker bargaining party no practical option but to agree to a contract or accept particular terms makes the contract voidable. <a href="https://www.supremecourt.uk/cases/uksc-2019-0142.html">A case</a> currently pending before the supreme court will decide the scope of this principle where the stronger party genuinely believed it was entitled to act in the way that it did. </p>
<p>Finally, any attempt by an employer to change the terms and conditions of an existing employment contract unilaterally would almost certainly be a fundamental breach of contract. This would allow the employees to bring a claim for constructive unfair dismissal, in which they would be arguing that they effectively had no choice but to leave their job. </p>
<h2>The Equality Act</h2>
<p>One option for employers might be to provide incentives for employees to agree to a variation in the terms of the contract. But this could still fall foul of the statutory prohibition, under <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/contents">Equality Act 2010</a>, section 39, against discrimination in the terms upon which employment is offered, or work is refused, because of a “protected characteristic”. In the case of “no-jab, no-job”, the relevant characteristics are likly to be age, gender, disability and religious or other beliefs. </p>
<p>It is unlikely that an employer’s “no-jab, no-job” policy, were it applied to all employees or applicants equally, would amount to direct discrimination against any particular individuals within the terms of the act. However, such a policy would almost certainly amount to a “provision, criterion or practice” that disadvantages groups with the protected characteristics mentioned above, thereby amounting to indirect discrimination. </p>
<p>There is a defence under the law known as “justification”, where discrimination by an employer can be permitted if it is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. Protection of the health of co-workers and customers is undoubtedly a legitimate aim. </p>
<p>However, it is difficult to see how forcing employees to undergo a medical procedure, the efficacy of which has yet to be established, would be regarded as “proportionate” when there are other less draconian means that are arguably more effective, such as working from home, social distancing, wearing of face coverings and hand washing. </p>
<p>Besides all these issues, changes to the contractual terms of employment would raise difficult legal questions about the tensions between the freedom of parties to enter agreements on whatever terms they see fit, the duties owed by businesses to casual workers, and respect for individual rights to freedom of choice and privacy in matters of health. </p>
<p>For example, an employer’s duty to take “reasonably practicable” health and safety measures under the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1974/37/contents">Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974</a>, section 3 extends not only to employees, but also to those who “may be affected” by the employer’s business activities, including contracted “workers”. On the other hand, it has <a href="https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:61992CJ0404_SUM&from=FR">long been established</a> that refusing work to an applicant because they declined to undergo medical tests for the presence of specific conditions is a violation of that person’s right to respect for their private life.</p>
<p>In short, this is fairly straightforward from a legal point of view at present. Under current legislation, it is almost certainly going to be unlawful for any employer to introduce a “no jab, no job” policy. And since there does not appear to be any parliamentary appetite for such far-reaching legislative change, this legal position looks likely to continue.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/154403/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Noble is affiliated with the University & College Union. He is a member of his local branch executive committee and acts as the casework co-ordinator for that branch. </span></em></p>Employers like Pimlico Plumbers may want to get authoritarian about vaccinating those who work for them, but they’ll have a hard time justifying it in court.Andrew Noble, Senior Lecturer in Employment Law, Anglia Ruskin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/988922018-07-05T10:46:10Z2018-07-05T10:46:10ZBanning zero hours contracts would help reduce the gender pay gap<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225988/original/file-20180703-116117-1i62g4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Mind the gap.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42918951">gender pay gap</a> has been around for as long as woman have been in the workforce. No matter the <a href="https://timewise.co.uk/article/article-real-reasons-behind-gender-pay-gap/">reasons</a> that get put forward as to why men get paid more than women, it generally comes back to the fact that women take on more child rearing and caring responsibilities than men.</p>
<p>The gender pay gap in the UK stands at 18.4% in favour of men for full-time and part-time workers, according to the <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/articles/understandingthegenderpaygapintheuk/2018-01-17#conclusions-and-next-steps">Office for National Statistics</a>. But what the ONS fails to account for is the number of women on zero hours contracts. If it did, the gender pay gap would be even worse for women. </p>
<p>Gender pay gap regulation, introduced in <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2017/9780111152010">2017</a> requires companies that employ 250 employees or more to publish annual gender pay levels in their organisations. But zero hours contract workers are not considered as <a href="https://www.xperthr.co.uk/faq/what-is-the-difference-between-a-worker-who-is-an-employee-and-one-who-is-not/24398/">employees</a> under the law. This means that those on zero hours contracts – a group of which <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/articles/contractsthatdonotguaranteeaminimumnumberofhours/april2018">women make up a bigger share</a> – are left out of the official gender pay gap report. </p>
<p>The ONS <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/bulletins/annualsurveyofhoursandearnings/2017provisionaland2016revisedresults#low-and-high-pay">report</a> and <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/articles/understandingthegenderpaygapintheuk/2018-01-17">analysis</a> on the gender pay gap were only able to account for 36.1% of the difference in men and women’s pay – leaving a significant percentage unexplained. It is possible that the number of women on zero hours contracts could go some way to accounting for this.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225994/original/file-20180703-116123-khrfa4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225994/original/file-20180703-116123-khrfa4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225994/original/file-20180703-116123-khrfa4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225994/original/file-20180703-116123-khrfa4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225994/original/file-20180703-116123-khrfa4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225994/original/file-20180703-116123-khrfa4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225994/original/file-20180703-116123-khrfa4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Median gross hourly earnings (excluding overtime) for full-time employees by sex, UK.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/articles/understandingthegenderpaygapintheuk/2018-01-17#conclusions-and-next-steps">ONS</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/section/64">Equality Act 2010</a> makes provision for men and women doing equal work to be paid the same and also includes an <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/section/66">equality clause</a> for every contract of employment. But again – because this doesn’t include zero hours contracts, which are <a href="http://www.striking-women.org/module/workplace-issues-past-and-present/gender-pay-gap-and-struggle-equal-pay">increasingly being used</a> and which disproportionately affect women – the Act has limited power to improve the gender pay gap.</p>
<p>Zero hours contracts are common in sectors described as “<a href="http://www.labourexploitation.org/news/women-workers-and-exploitation-gender-pay-gap-just-beginning">feminine</a>” – including the accommodation and food industry, health and social work, retail and hospitality. In sectors that are considered to be male dominated, such as <a href="https://hamilton-barnes.co.uk/causes-gender-pay-gap/">technology</a>, there is little to no evidence of the use of zero hours contracts.</p>
<h2>Lack of alternatives</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/zero-hours-workers-flexible-contracts-managers-beg-gig-economy-study-university-oxford-cambridge-a7894841.html">Research</a> by sociologists at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge demonstrates that a number of people are on flexible contracts for lack of alternatives – not out of choice, as is often alleged by employers who use them. Women in particular look for flexible work to fit around childcare, school and other caring commitments – and this is <a href="http://www.labourexploitation.org/news/women-workers-and-exploitation-gender-pay-gap-just-beginning">often insecure and unpredictable</a> because of the nature of zero hours contracts.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.anthonycollins.com/newsroom/ebriefings/what-s-on-the-horizon-for-hr-and-employment-law-in-2018/">Taylor Review</a> of modern working practices has confirmed that too many employers still rely on these contracts. Though widely applauded for their <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/302989/flexible-contracts-final.pdf">flexibility</a>, they rarely bring out what people like about flexibility. </p>
<p>In an ideal world, flexibility of employment would give workers greater control over the hours they work, enabling them to fit it around child care, studies and other commitments. But the flexibility that comes with zero hours contracts tends to favour employers, who exercise their control over an insecure but willing workforce. </p>
<p>Thus, zero hours contracts are generally known for <a href="https://worksmart.org.uk/news/zero-hours-and-changing-face-employment">poor pay</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/sep/05/sports-direct-fails-2016-pledge-zero-hours-shirebrook-mike-ashley">working conditions</a>, which diminish <a href="https://productivitypuzzle.com/article/how-zero-hour-contracts-impact-productivity/kclxmzFNSk">workers’ morale and productivity</a>. They <a href="https://www.thersa.org/discover/publications-and-articles/matthew-taylor-blog/2018/paying-for-flexibility-should-workers-on-zero-hours-contracts-receive-a-higher-minimum-wage">transfer business risks</a> away from employers and onto workers.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/zero-hours-contracts-wages-lower-pay-1000-year-resolution-foundation-1-pound-an-hour-a7491061.html">fear of being fired or not offered any work</a> forces those on zero hours contracts to take the low pay they are offered and endure the poor working conditions in exchange for any flexibility the contracts offer. One study by <a href="http://survation.com/women-on-low-paid-zero-hours-contracts-survation-for-fawcett-society/">The Fawcett Society</a>, a women’s lobby, found that 14% of women on the lowest pay were on zero hours contracts. Plus, 40% of the women were on zero hours contracts because that was the only job they could find, and 61% of the women felt they could not turn down work for the fear of not being given work subsequently. </p>
<p>To remedy this issue, the Taylor Review <a href="https://www.thersa.org/discover/publications-and-articles/matthew-taylor-blog/2018/paying-for-flexibility-should-workers-on-zero-hours-contracts-receive-a-higher-minimum-wage">recommended</a> that businesses that want to employ people on zero hours contracts must pay for the privilege by applying a higher minimum wage to non-guaranteed hours. This is disappointing. It fails to consider the gender consequences of zero hours contracts, even though it acknowledged that the practice was common in female dominated sectors. </p>
<p>If the government’s <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/low-pay-commission">Low Pay Commission</a> implements this higher pay recommendation, the difficulty will be how it will work in reality. After all, <a href="https://www.elas.uk.com/sports-direct-in-trouble-over-zero-hours-contracts-and-failing-to-pay-minimum-wage/">employers</a> have demonstrated that they are capable of paying zero hours workers below the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/national-minimum-wage-rates">national minimum wage</a>. </p>
<p>The right recommendation should be to heavily restrict zero hours contracts and allow them only in special circumstances where employees opt into them if they really need to. This will enable the 54.7% of women on zero hours contracts to be accounted for in the gender pay gap. If zero hours contracts remain, the end of gender pay inequality will remain a dream in the UK.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/98892/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ernestine Gheyoh Ndzi does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>More women are on zero hours contracts but these do not feature in gender pay gap reporting.Ernestine Gheyoh Ndzi, Senior Lecturer & Cohort Tutor, Hertfordshire Law School, University of HertfordshireLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/719212017-01-30T13:45:20Z2017-01-30T13:45:20ZHow discriminatory dress codes at work are digging their heels in<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/154701/original/image-20170130-7659-1a4m9l7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Discriminatory dress codes are still widespread in British workplaces according to <a href="http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201617/cmselect/cmpetitions/291/291.pdf">a recent report</a> by MPs. Women, they found, are held to a far more exacting standard than men and a change in the law that governs dress codes has been called for as a result. Unfortunately, the law alone will not be enough to change things.</p>
<p>The debate <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/01/25/piers-morgan-others-weigh-dress-code-argument-should-women-have/">that ensued</a> over whether or not high heels should legitimately form part of a dress code for women is a case in point. Women’s shoes remain an important part of popular culture, whether in the form of the red stiletto used by companies like Virgin Atlantic in their award-winning <a href="http://www.thecreativeindustries.co.uk/industries/advertising/advertising-case-studies/advertising-case-virgin-atlantic">Still Red Hot campaign</a> or in fairy tales such as the delicate glass slipper that was Cinderella’s route out of sweeping cold fireplaces. </p>
<p>This is not only a Western issue. For centuries, Chinese women endured a more extreme version of foot crippling fashion. Described as “lotus feet”, it was the cultural custom for women to have their feet tightly bound into a disabling shape – because it was deemed beautiful. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/154702/original/image-20170130-7685-y635pw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/154702/original/image-20170130-7685-y635pw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/154702/original/image-20170130-7685-y635pw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/154702/original/image-20170130-7685-y635pw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/154702/original/image-20170130-7685-y635pw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=536&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/154702/original/image-20170130-7685-y635pw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=536&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/154702/original/image-20170130-7685-y635pw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=536&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A lotus shoe for bound feet. The ideal length for a bound foot was about 10cm.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foot_binding#/media/File:Chaussure_chinoise_Saverne_02_05_2012_1.jpg">Vassil/wikimedia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As anthropologist Jo Farrell documented in an <a href="http://www.livinghistory.photography">extraordinary photographic project</a> on some of the last Chinese women living with bound feet, culture dictated that bound feet were a prerequisite for marriage. One woman, Su Xi, told Farrell that if she tried to unbind her feet as a young woman, her grandmother would cut a slice of skin off her toes to punish her. And this was in the 1940s, decades after foot binding became illegal in China.</p>
<h2>Pain and long-term damage</h2>
<p>Fast-forward to December 2015 and Nicola Thorp, a woman working as a temporary receptionist at financial services company PwC in London, is sent home without pay <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/may/11/receptionist-sent-home-pwc-not-wearing-high-heels-pwc-nicola-thorp">for refusing to wear high heels</a>. Thorp was told that the smart, flat shoes she was wearing did not comply with her employer’s specific requirement for women to wear shoes with a two to four inch high heel. </p>
<p>As a result of her experience, Thorp <a href="https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/129823">started a petition</a> calling for it to be made “illegal for a company to require women to wear high heels at work”. It was signed by more than 150,000 people, prompting the <a href="https://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/petitions-committee/inquiries/parliament-2015/high-heels-workplace-dress-codes-inquiry-16-17/">recent parliamentary inquiry</a>. </p>
<p>The inquiry involved hundreds of women and expert witnesses from trade unions, political groups and professional bodies, including podiatrists, who provided evidence of the <a href="http://www.thespinehealthinstitute.com/news-room/health-blog/how-high-heels-affect-your-body">pain and long-term damage</a> caused by wearing high-heeled shoes for long periods of time. But it became clear during the inquiry that the problem was by no means confined to shoes. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/154705/original/image-20170130-7656-40ozwf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/154705/original/image-20170130-7656-40ozwf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=330&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/154705/original/image-20170130-7656-40ozwf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=330&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/154705/original/image-20170130-7656-40ozwf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=330&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/154705/original/image-20170130-7656-40ozwf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/154705/original/image-20170130-7656-40ozwf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/154705/original/image-20170130-7656-40ozwf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Equal?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Women also reported being told to dye their hair a particular colour, to wear revealing clothing, and to regularly reapply a minimum amount of makeup. No men came forward to say that the same rules, or even informal pressures, applied to them – they too have office dress codes but they are generally less punishing.</p>
<p>Nor, as also became evident in the report, is legislation the only answer. </p>
<p>As the report acknowledges, legislation is already in place (in the form of the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/equality-act-2010-guidance">Equality Act 2010</a> which prohibits discrimination on the basis of characteristics like gender (as well as disability and race). So either the existing law is unclear, or it is not widely understood – or it is simply being ignored. Certainly, the continuation of such discrimination has many potential advantages for employers. </p>
<p>The Fawcett Society, a women’s rights charity, emphasised this in their contribution to the inquiry. It <a href="http://www.itv.com/news/2017-01-25/women-face-sexist-dress-codes-at-work-report-finds/">highlighted</a> the extent to which sexualised dress codes, which tell a woman that how she looks is more important that what she says or does, are a good way to justify paying her less and demeaning her career achievements.</p>
<h2>Reinforcing stereotypes</h2>
<p>By perpetuating a very narrow ideal of what it means to look like a woman, such codes reinforce persistent stereotypes. These might serve to further marginalise LGBT people, older and disabled workers, as well as people from ethnic minority groups in the labour market.</p>
<p>Yet while this is about so much more than shoes, we should not trivialise the significance of shoes in this discussion and the issues they raise.</p>
<p>As management professor Emma Bell <a href="https://theconversation.com/wearing-heels-to-work-is-a-game-women-have-been-losing-for-decades-59337">has written</a> high heels are powerful, fetishised symbols in our society, signifying the seductive power attributed to women, particularly in the media. They are “a marker of high status, despite their impracticality and physical strain that they put on a woman’s body”. It is precisely this double-bind that makes high heels arguably today’s lotus shoes. </p>
<p>By wearing heels, women evoke a seductive power, respect and admiration through a form that ironically, and painfully, undermines their capacity to meaningfully experience any of these. </p>
<p>If the goal of getting and keeping a husband was what foot binding was about, today’s women are told that wearing heels (or the right hair colour, clothing or makeup) is their route to securing a job. Both are a form of economic security. The target may have changed but the means have not, as women’s bodies continue to be manipulated and reduced to aesthetic objects in the labour market. </p>
<p>So while the enforcement of relevant legislation and proposed fines for noncompliant employers is an important step forwards, on its own it will never be enough to tackle the wider aesthetic ideals and processes of objectification that underpin discriminatory dress codes in the workplace.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/71921/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Forcing women to wear high heels at work is discriminatory, but it will take more than the law to change dress codes.Melissa Tyler, Professor in Work and Organisation Studies, University of EssexPhilip Hancock, Professor of Work and Organisation, University of EssexLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/345712014-11-28T07:07:22Z2014-11-28T07:07:22ZTo get more women leading universities we need a code of conduct for search firms<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/65704/original/image-20141127-16934-he1sp8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A rarity for university vice-chancellors. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-184328156/stock-photo-close-up-of-two-businesspeople-shaking-hands-in-office.html?src=q6cknydYg6wuZWBCcHxW0Q-1-53">Hand shake via Andrey_Popov/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Only 20.1% of university vice-chancellor and principals are women, according to a <a href="http://www.ecu.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/2014-08-ECU_HE-stats-report_staff_v19.pdf">new report</a> from the Equality Challenge Unit. This wide gender gap at the top of universities makes it all the more vital to address equality in the way higher education leaders are recruited. </p>
<p>Recent <a href="http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/en/research-resources/publications/engage-36--autumn-2014/in-practice/index.cfm">research published</a> by the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education showed how universities are increasingly making use of executive search firms to hire top managers. </p>
<p>Between 2006 and 2013, executive search firms were used in 98% of vice-chancellor appointments and in 61% of externally advertised pro vice-chancellors jobs. Universities tend to rely on a small number of firms which specialise in higher education, but the report argues that this raises a number of questions as to “the freshness of each search”, potential conflicts of interests and the recycling of candidates. </p>
<h2>Reinforcing the status quo</h2>
<p>This evidence adds to the findings from a study that colleagues and I did on <a href="http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/en/research-resources/publications/index.cfm/S4-02.1">gender and leadership</a>, commissioned by the Equality Challenge Unit and the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education. Men and women in leadership roles who participated in that study raised questions as to whether search firms actually help to increase gender diversity or rather contribute to reinforcing the status quo. </p>
<p>In spite of search firms being involved in almost all the appointment of vice-chancellors and principals for several years, women’s representation in these roles is still very low – especially when they make up 53.9% of the sector’s workforce. We’ve recommended that the sector should develop a code of conduct for the use of executive search firms in the making of senior appointments.</p>
<h2>Bound by legal duty</h2>
<p>An important factor seems to have been overlooked – that universities are subject to the <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/part/11/chapter/1">Public Sector Equality Duty</a> (PSED), introduced by the Equality Act 2010. This requires them to pay due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, to advance equality of opportunity and to encourage persons who share a relevant legally protected characteristic (such as gender) to participate in public life.</p>
<p>These provisions are meant to make the promotion of equality central to the work of higher education, including to its employment practices. But by using executive search firms in the selection and recruitment for leadership roles, universities are outsourcing part of this function to an external provider. Yet they are still responsible for ensuring that the Public Sector Equality Duty is complied with throughout the recruitment process – including those stages that are managed by search firms. </p>
<p>The adoption of a code of conduct for search firms could help to ensure that equality standards are met at every stage of the selection and recruitment process. Many universities require staff who sit on recruitment panels to have undertaken equality and diversity training. Staff at executive search firms working for universities should also have to have appropriate equality training. </p>
<h2>Davies-style review</h2>
<p>A <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/208464/voluntary-code-of-conduct-for-executive-search-firms.pdf">voluntary code of conduct for executive search firms</a> already exists in the private sector where it was adopted following a 2011 review by <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/women-on-boards">Lord Davies</a> on women’s participation on company boards. </p>
<p>In September 2014, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, launched an <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/355900/bis-14-1075-the-enhanced-voluntary-code-of-conduct-for-executive-search-firms-accreditation.pdf">enhanced version of this code</a>, recommending that search firms publish anonymised hiring data relating to long-lists, short-lists and appointments. </p>
<p>It also offers an accreditation process for those firms which have a demonstrable track-record in helping their clients to achieve greater gender diversity. There is much that the higher education sector could learn from the work of Lord Davies and his steering group in order to develop a code to advance equality of opportunities in senior recruitment at universities.</p>
<p>But search firms are just one key player in the recruitment process for senior appointments. The role of governing bodies and the interviewing process itself also need to be kept under better scrutiny. This part of the process ought to comply with the Public Sector Equality Duty too. Closing the gender gap must be a priority for higher education. Perhaps the sector should set up its own Davies-style review to achieve this goal in the near future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/34571/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simonetta Manfredi has received funding from the former Department of Trade and Industry, European Commission, European Social Fund, Equality Challenge Unit, Higher Education Funding Council for England and the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education. </span></em></p>Only 20.1% of university vice-chancellor and principals are women, according to a new report from the Equality Challenge Unit. This wide gender gap at the top of universities makes it all the more vital…Simonetta Manfredi, Professor in Equality and Diversity Management and Director of the Centre for Diversity Policy Research and Practice, Oxford Brookes UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/281252014-06-18T13:16:56Z2014-06-18T13:16:56ZEmployers must become aware of dementia in the workplace<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/51535/original/92pdkvzm-1403096124.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">With a bit of help sufferers can remain effective at work.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/orangebrompton/3756473758/">Helen ST</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/site/scripts/documents_info.php?documentID=412">Recent figures suggest</a> there are around 800,000 people in the UK with dementia. People usually associate the condition with later life, but around 17,000 of people with the condition are under the age of 65. Coupled with recent changes to the state pension age and the abolition of the default retirement age, it looks likely that there will be larger numbers of people with dementia in employment in the coming years. </p>
<p>The UK government’s <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/employing-disabled-people-and-people-with-health-conditions/employing-disabled-people-and-people-with-health-conditions">recent focus</a> on encouraging employers to support people with disabilities to find and stay in work in line with the provisions of the <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/contents">Equality Act 2010</a> has been accompanied by a shift in attitudes towards disability and employment. This relates directly to dementia, which is listed as a disability within the terms of the Act. Nevertheless the focus is very much on ability rather than disability and supporting people to retain employment.</p>
<h2>Our research</h2>
<p>At the University of the West of Scotland, we have been carrying out research into the work-related experiences of people who have been diagnosed with dementia. Our study has focused on the perspectives of individuals, family, work colleagues, managers and employers to better understand the challenges and what can and should be done to help. It will be next August before we wrap up, but we have been struck in our first few months’ research by the range of experiences that employees with dementia have had. </p>
<p>The gradual onset of the illness means that there may be subtle changes in a person’s behaviour and performance in the workplace which in the first instance may not be recognised as dementia. These may include memory problems, personality changes; and difficulty learning new materials and communicating. The experience of dementia is unique, and not all people will experience the typical memory problems as an initial symptom. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/51379/original/h8kpj38z-1403014326.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/51379/original/h8kpj38z-1403014326.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/51379/original/h8kpj38z-1403014326.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51379/original/h8kpj38z-1403014326.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51379/original/h8kpj38z-1403014326.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51379/original/h8kpj38z-1403014326.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51379/original/h8kpj38z-1403014326.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51379/original/h8kpj38z-1403014326.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Everyone experiences dementia differently.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-181913870/stock-photo-close-up-of-a-senior-adult-with-tablets.html?src=_C9HvhyLN7n9IsnimELMOg-3-90">Miriam Doerr</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>From an employers’ perspective it is important that these initial symptoms are identified and appropriate support offered to the employee. This is not suggesting that employers have to diagnose dementia; but it is helpful if they are aware of the possibility and able to appropriately address any changes in behaviour and offer support and signposting for medical advice. </p>
<p>Among the many advantages in getting an early diagnosis is the prospect of being able to continue in employment. Having said that, diagnosis can still take a long time. People can struggle at work for months or years, often leaving their jobs before they are diagnosed. If the employer is aware, it can help to improve this process and allow them to implement informed adjustments for the person during the interim period.</p>
<h2>Reasonable adjustments</h2>
<p>Once someone has been diagnosed with the condition, the Equality Act 2010 stipulates that the employer should carry out an assessment and put reasonable adjustments in place to help the employee to keep working there wherever possible. They should carry out an assessment based on the employee’s job description and take a view on how much the employee can still carry out and which parts will need extra support. </p>
<p>The types of adjustments will vary greatly depending on the person’s role and how far their dementia has progressed. It can be simple things like using a diary or a digital recorder for meetings, changing shift patterns or reducing hours. It might mean an informal arrangement such as having a “work buddy”. In other instances, it will mean coming up with an alternative role for the person within the workplace. Whatever the case, it is important that colleagues are aware that the person has been diagnosed. </p>
<p>It is not always possible to continue working once early-stage dementia sets in. Some roles demand more precision, perhaps for health and safety reasons, than the diagnosed person retains. All the same, people often can, and do, continue where it is viable. Among our case studies, we have a caretaker and a telephone engineer who have both worked for a number of years after being diagnosed. We also have a joiner who didn’t work for six years but has recently started working again as a handyman. </p>
<p>There are a number of outside agencies where employers can access support. These include <a href="https://www.gov.uk/contact-jobcentre-plus">Jobcentre Plus</a>, which will provide information relating to relevant schemes including Access to Work, and a range of vocational rehabilitation providers. The <a href="http://alzheimers.org.uk/?gclid=CIebp4n0gL8CFfMgtAodBAYABQ">Alzheimer’s Society</a> and <a href="http://www.alzscot.org/">Alzheimer Scotland</a> can also provide dementia-specific information and training.</p>
<h2>Awareness is key</h2>
<p>Awareness training sessions have been found to be vital in helping people to continue employment after diagnosis, since they make colleagues and line managers aware of the symptoms and the difficulties that people with dementia may face. Dementia awareness sessions in workplaces where there are no employees with dementia are also becoming common.
Even though our research is far from complete, we have so far found seen a wide variety of responses from employers. This has ranged from employers going out of their way to help the person continue, to those who have immediately made the employee redundant. In all cases, the indications are that workplaces who are well aware of the issues are the most adept at handling them. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/51383/original/cshdfpm5-1403014919.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/51383/original/cshdfpm5-1403014919.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/51383/original/cshdfpm5-1403014919.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51383/original/cshdfpm5-1403014919.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51383/original/cshdfpm5-1403014919.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51383/original/cshdfpm5-1403014919.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=672&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51383/original/cshdfpm5-1403014919.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=672&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51383/original/cshdfpm5-1403014919.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=672&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Some workplaces are better at helping employees than others.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/haikumania/6819145502/in/photolist-bozUob-5wtskh-boW5yu-6AVY5i-4RXgtT-acz6yS-4omD8i-9QP1fy-bBuPYi-4HGaAL-agRqY4-yRZpM-dfnyRJ-6i27ch-7uHER9-axy5qj-dZyAJc-tduFB-wty2D-8nbxXW-9QNYXQ-9QP1SG-CVNjt-fCP8wb-wtCQh-9QL928-9QLa1H-9QL9EZ-9QP1sy-6KykWZ-bm5Py9-wtx5V-9QL8F2-9QL9HF-9QLaiZ-9QP1Hw-556oDZ-9QNZkf-9QP1yY-9QNZn9-C2A7Z-fJMhck-8fpuSQ-ac1qMi-DV9J6-4Ak5o-wtAX2-bW4waD-ahp9Cx-wFYV5/">Paul Conneally</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The university recently held dementia awareness sessions across all four of its campuses as part of its commitment to become the first dementia-friendly university in Scotland. The action plan involves training managers, lecturers and support staff; updating human resources and occupational health policy and changing each campus to create a welcoming, accessible and enabling environment for people with dementia. </p>
<p>More generally, it is important that we address the issues around dementia in the workplace to increase the chances of these people staying in employment. The more that employers and employees are aware of the possibility and the signs of dementia, the more it will support people with the condition in future. </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/28125/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Louise Ritchie receives funding from the Alzheimer's Society</span></em></p>Recent figures suggest there are around 800,000 people in the UK with dementia. People usually associate the condition with later life, but around 17,000 of people with the condition are under the age…Louise Ritchie, Research Fellow, Institute of Older Persons' Health and Wellbeing, University of the West of ScotlandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.