Equality and Diversity
Social Care implications
April 2014
Adult Care, Health and Wellbeing
Table of Contents
Equality and Diversity in Adult Care, Health and Wellbeing
3
Protected Characteristics
4
Age
4
Disability
4
Gender Reassignment
5
Race
6
Religion or Belief
6
Sex
7
Sexual orientation
8
Marriage and Civil Partnership
9
Pregnancy and maternity
9
Social Deprivation - the 10th equalities characteristic?
11
Related articles
12
Challenging inappropriate behaviour
12
Why we do equalities monitoring
13
Bullying and Harassment
14
Different types of discrimination
15
Equality and Diversity Social Care implications
April 2014
2
Equality and Diversity in Adult Care, Health and
Wellbeing
In Adult Care, Health and Wellbeing we are committed to meeting the
diverse needs of all individuals in Cornwall. We work with our
partners to protect and support vulnerable people in the County and
to ensure that they live full and healthy lives.
Below, each of the nine articles of the 2010 Equalities Act are
discussed with relation to their impact on social care provision,
together with further information discussion bully, how to challenge
inappropriate behaviour and different types of discrimination.
The following document appeared as a series of articles in Kevren,
the staff newsletter for Cornwall Council’s Adult Care, Health and
Wellbeing directorate, between October 2012 and May 2013. They
were written by various members of the Directorate Equality Action
Group, credited at the end.
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Age
Disability
Gender Reassignment
Race
Religion or Belief
Sex
Sexual Orientation
Marriage or Civil Partnership
Pregnancy and Maternity
The '10th characteristic' - rurality and deprivation.
There are other articles below, concerning
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Challenging Inappropriate behaviour
Why we do equalities monitoring
Bullying and harassment
Different types of discrimination
Think EIA
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Protected Characteristics
Age
We all have an age throughout our lives, but first and foremost we
are individuals with abilities and preferences which are unique to each
of us.
There are many stereotypes around, for example:
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Young people have energy and enthusiasm but no experience
Older people don’t like change and can’t use IT
The problem with stereotypes is that they can restrict opportunities,
possibilities and development.
From 1 October 2012 the Equality Act protects us all from any
unjustifiable discrimination on grounds of our age. This can be in
employment – not being offered a job, being turned down for
promotion or an opportunity for training.
This protection has now been extended to the provision of goods and
services although, for example, free bus passes for over 60’s or 18–
30 holidays can continue.
In social care this may mean that:
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we need to ensure budgets are not decided based on criteria to
do with someone’s age,
we don’t make assumptions about the options someone is
offered based on how old they are,
we promote social inclusion and community involvement
equally for both older and younger people.
Disability
What practical steps can we take to promote disability equality in
social care? The social model of disability identifies three major
barriers that confront disabled people:
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The physical environment
The way organisations behave
Attitudes we can all have
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Environmental adjustments are not just about lifts and ramps: they
also include making sure there is good lighting, distinct acoustics and
clear signage. Organisations can provide information in different
formats so it is accessible to everyone, and we can take time to
communicate and show empathy so each person is included and
respected. Attitudes are perhaps the most challenging to change and
we need to be aware of the effects of negative language, actions and
behaviour.
Disabled people experience a higher rate of hostility and violence,
both physical and verbal, and they are four times more likely to be
victims of crime.
The e-learning programme ‘Disability Confident’ is available free of
charge through the following link:
www.skillboostersonline.com/cornwall
We know that e-learning is only a beginning, or a good refresher of
knowledge, but the experiences and feelings of people in the video
clips are real and give us an insight into what some of the barriers
are and how we can all contribute to overcoming them.
Gender Reassignment
Under the Equality Act 2010, anyone who is planning, starting or
completing a process to change his or her gender is protected from
discrimination. An individual no longer needs to be under medical
supervision to be protected so, for example, a woman who decides to
live as a man without undergoing any medical procedures would be
covered.
‘Trans’ is used to refer to people who might spend some time crossdressing as well as transsexual people who undergo gender
reassignment treatment and surgery, including genital reconstructive
surgery.
‘Transgender’ is used to describe people who live part or all of their
lives in their preferred gender role – they may use hormonal
treatments to change their body form, but they will generally not
undergo gender reassignment surgery. Transgender is also used to
refer to people who cross-dress.
Trans people can be heterosexual, lesbian, gay or bisexual.
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In social care we can promote someone’s equality by offering a
supportive environment so a person feels confident enough to share
their gender identity or history, and any social care needs they may
have as a result.
More information is available from the Gender Identity Research and
Education Society http://www.gires.org.uk/.
Race
What is race? We all have a race, and yet understanding and
definitions vary greatly.
Under the Equality Act 2010 we are all protected from discrimination
on grounds of our colour, race, nationality and national or ethnic
origins, whether that discrimination is:
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direct (being treated less favourably because of our colour etc);
or
indirect (when a rule or policy which applies to everyone is
actually unfair to a particular group).
In social care our person-centred value base helps us to respect and
empathise with each individual, although we still need to be careful to
avoid stereotyping. We also need to be aware of how past
experiences of discrimination in someone’s life may have affected
their self-esteem or capacity to trust. In Cornwall, many people from
minority ethnic groups live as individuals or perhaps as a family in a
community where they may be separated from their extended
networks. Their identity may not be expressed through any
representative group or advocate, so we need to be even more
proactive and mindful.
For example, we can be sensitive about someone’s preferred
language, dietary needs, dress code, religious beliefs and customs,
hair and skin care, hygiene requirements or norms about segregation
of the sexes. We may need to check someone’s preferred name or
whether it is appropriate to remove (or cover) our shoes for example.
Remember: always ask and never assume.
Religion or Belief
Once again the protection which we all have from discrimination
under the Equality Act 2010 includes respect for each other’s religion
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or philosophical belief. This equally protects people who do not have
a religion or belief, so it’s very broad and inclusive.
In social care we don’t need to be experts about different religions or
beliefs but we do need to recognise that these can be very important
in people’s lives. This is why it is so essential to explore with people
what their needs, customs and traditions might be. Areas to be aware
of or ask about could include:
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Dress
Diet and food preparation
Times of day set aside for meditation or prayer
Times of the year or seasons for fasting or festivals (Ramadan,
Diwali, Passover and Christmas would be examples)
Social etiquette and relationships which are or are not
acceptable.
The BBC multi-faith calendar is an excellent source of information
about the world’s religions and any special seasons or holy days
which may be coming up
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/tools/calendar/.
Remember – in Cornwall there are people of many faith groups
already living and worshipping. These include Baha’is, Buddhists,
Christians, Hindus, Jews, Muslims and Pagans. Cornwall Faith Forum
seeks to provide a place where people of faith can share their
experiences and gain understanding, and there is a project to build a
multi-faith centre in Cornwall called ‘Dor Kemmyn’ (Cornish for
‘common ground’). More information at:
http://www.dorkemmyn.org.uk/.
Sex
The Equal Pay and Sex Discrimination Acts were incorporated into the
Equality Act 2010. Sex is a protected characteristic under the Act so
women and men all have legal protection from direct and indirect
discrimination. This protection covers:
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Recruitment and selection.
Determining pay.
Training and development.
Selection for promotion.
Discipline and grievances.
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Countering bullying and harassment.
We should all also have equal access to goods, facilities and services.
In employment there can sometimes be a justifiable reason for
advertising for and appointing a man or woman to a particular post.
This is permitted only when there is a ‘genuine occupational
requirement’ – to maintain the privacy or decency of an individual,
for example.
In social care we need to ensure that we are not excluding anyone
from a service unless there is an objective justification. Some health
screening programmes, for example, are targeted at either men or
women when the condition is gender specific. The NHS is committed
to eliminating mixed-sex wards and we need to ensure that each
person who receives care is treated with dignity, so they are not
embarrassed or humiliated. For example in a care setting single-sex
bathroom and toilet facilities should be available, and people able to
choose the gender of the carer offering them intimate and personal
care. As employees in the public sector (or carrying out work on
behalf of the public sector) we have a duty to:
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eliminate unlawful discrimination;
advance equality of opportunity; and
foster good relations between people who share a protected
characteristic and those who do not.
Sexual orientation
We are all attracted to someone at sometime in our lives and we all
have a sexual orientation. This may be lesbian, gay, bisexual or
heterosexual. A small percentage of people are asexual. We are all
protected from discrimination on the grounds of our sexual
orientation, whatever that might be. Because there has been a long
history of homosexuality being illegal (in England & Wales until 1967
and in Northern Ireland until 1982), or socially unacceptable, it is still
common for people to be reticent about disclosing their preference, or
‘come out’, until a relationship of trust with another person has been
established.
This may be a particular challenge for older people, so in social care
we need to be even more aware and sensitive to issues which may
arise as a result. Being professionally competent means:
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Remember – each one of us has our own sexual orientation as well as
an age, culture, race or belief system – we are complex in our
diversity and each one of us is wonderfully unique.
Marriage and Civil Partnership
Marriage and civil partnership are one of the protected characteristics
under the Equalities Act 2010. In the Marriage Act 1949, part of the
definition of ‘marriage’ is that it must be between one man and one
woman.
A ‘civil partnership’ is a legal union between two people of the same
sex. This is, to all intents and purposes, a right of marriage for gay
and lesbian couples.
All the key elements that come with marriage apply to civil
partnerships. The law accords civil partners equitable treatment for
important financial matters, like inheritance, pensions, life assurance
and, where children are involved, maintenance.
It also provides next-of-kin rights for couples, for instance, with
regard to health or tenancies. Immigration and nationality rules are
extended to civil partners.
One important difference is that marriage as a word has some
religious connotations, even if a civil ceremony is conducted.
Marriages can be conducted by Church of England clergy without any
civil preliminaries being required. Civil partnerships are only
conducted by Registrars.
At the time of developing this legislation the Government said that it
wanted civil partnerships to provide, as far as they could, the same
responsibilities and rights as those that apply to marriage.
In a social care setting, the legislation assumes that our next of kin is
the person we are either married to, or in a civil partnership with. So
the rights and responsibilities that a husband/wife has should
naturally fall to the civil partner in the same way. So if Mr J was living
in a care setting and unable to express himself, his civil partner would
be asked about his care needs and preferences (unless an advance
directive was present covering those things).
Pregnancy and maternity
Pregnancy is the condition of expecting a baby.
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Maternity refers to the period after the birth, and is linked to
maternity leave in a work context.
Originally, maternity rights were designed around health and safety
principles, for the protection of the mother and her unborn or
newborn baby.
The protected period starts when a woman becomes pregnant. It
continues for 26 weeks after the birth of the baby, or in a work
context, until the end of her maternity leave, or she returns to work
(whichever is sooner).
Outside the protected period, unfavourable treatment of a woman
because of her pregnancy would be considered as sex discrimination
rather than pregnancy and maternity discrimination.
Work-related examples
Pregnancy discrimination:
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Refusal to appoint or promote.
Overloading work in the run-up to maternity leave, or long
hours of work.
Treating pregnancy-related sickness as a disciplinary matter.
Maternity discrimination:
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Reorganisation during maternity leave with no consultation.
Hours of work or mobility requirements which are incompatible
with childcare needs.
Denial of flexible working.
Outside of work, protection against maternity discrimination includes
treating a woman unfavourably because she is breastfeeding in a
public place.
Social care examples
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Failing to take into account childcare or breastfeeding
requirements.
Failing to maintain a care plan to accommodate changing needs
during pregnancy.
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Social Deprivation - the 10th equalities
characteristic?
Disadvantage and inequalities can affect us all, and Cornwall Council,
together with all public authorities, takes these into account when
making policy decisions.
However the ‘socio-economic duty’ was not implemented with the
other nine characteristics on 1 October 2010, when the new Equality
Act came into force, so there is no ‘public sector equality duty’ to
eliminate discrimination on these grounds.
This poses an interesting question for people working in the adult
care field. The Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD), shows that while
rural areas across England, and Cornwall as a whole, are not classed
as deprived, there are areas within the county where there are very
high levels of deprivation. This has as much impact on how we offer
and deliver our services as the other nine protected characteristics –
if not more so!
There are 33 areas in Cornwall (typically 1,000-3,000 people, ie
village sized) which fall into the ‘most deprived’ category in the
Government’s IMD data.
The top five are: Camborne South ward North Central (Pengegon);
Penzance Treneere; Redruth North ward West Central; Camborne
West ward West Central; Illogan Highway South. Other deprived
areas occur right across Cornwall – there’s probably one near you.
See www.cornwall.gov.uk/deprivationmap for full details.
What is social deprivation?
Social deprivation can take many forms; people’s income and other
factors (such as belonging to a minority group, high unemployment,
rising house prices and recession) can have a real impact on how
people are able to interact with society and also how they access our
services if they need them. Combine this with a very large and rural
county and the impact becomes greater, particularly if someone lives
in an area with poor public transport links or does not own a car.
What do I have to do about it?
When considering what would help people who use our services, think
about the impact that a decision may have. For example, how will
their income be affected, how will they will access the help they need,
do they own a car or can they access reliable transport? If you
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signpost people to information about a service, do not assume that
person has access to the internet or social media.
For staff who complete Equality Impact Assessments, rurality and
deprivation are important considerations. Think about the effect your
decision may have on people’s income, how someone may access
services, their needs and their quality of life.
The “public duty” may not have been implemented (ie we are not
obliged by law to consider social deprivation in the way that we are
with gender, race, disability and the rest) but it is still an important
factor for all our service users and the county we live in.
Related articles
Challenging inappropriate behaviour
One of the things that many people find difficult is to challenge the
words or actions of another. We may be in conversation with
someone, or working alongside them, and they say or do something
that we find mildly offensive.
What do we do? One thing which is easy (at first) is to do nothing!
But of course nothing will change, well at least for the better. If
someone realises that those actions or words are acceptable to you
they may get more offensive. (They may feel, as you’ve not
challenged them, that you agree!)
Another response is to allow things to build up to the point where it
all spills out (perhaps with some anger), and the reaction often is
surprise as they’ve had little or no idea that this was a problem.
So what people would often like, is to be able to say something in the
moment, which stops the words or behaviour, and is not said in an
angry or heated way, therefore not causing offence to the person you
are talking to.
Three step approach
1.
2.
State the behaviours / words, something like "when you do
this / say this ..." (Make sure you have proof, evidence,
examples, be specific).
State the impact / effect "... it has ... on me/us/the team…"
(Offensive, trigger/snowball effect, can't do core business,
angry, inappropriate in the workplace, bad PR, effect on the
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3.
team morale, embarrassed, unprofessional, uncomfortable,
increase the workload for colleagues.)
State the action / outcome, and clarify what you want to
happen, or not happen.
So for example…
We might be with a colleague who says something like "All young
people are lazy!"
Our response to this could be (step 1) "That’s quite a sweeping
generalisation! When you say that I feel quite upset and hurt because
I frequently see quite the opposite."
Then (step 2) "Saying that all young people are lazy, paints a very
negative image on a huge number of our population. I feel hurt by
this and I’m sure that many young people would be hurt and upset to
hear it too."
Finally (step 3) "I really do enjoy our working relationship, and the
conversations we have, however I would be grateful if you didn’t say
such derogatory things about young people in front of me in the
future".
Why we do equalities monitoring
What is it? Why do we do it? How do we do it well?
Most of us will have been asked, or have asked other people, to
provide information for equalities monitoring. Typically we focus on
someone’s age, whether they consider themselves to have a
disability, their gender and race or ethnic identity, although in recent
years the growing trend has been towards also asking more - about a
person’s sexual orientation and religion or belief, for example. All of
this can seem intrusive unless we understand and can explain why we
are asking, what is done with the information, and what difference it
makes.
What?
Equality and diversity monitoring is the process used to record, store
and analyse information on people’s protected characteristics under
the Equality Act 2010. It tells us who is using or not using a service,
and the composition of our workforce. Data collected in this way
should be analysed and used anonymously.
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Why?
When we plan or review services, equality and diversity monitoring
will tell us who might be experiencing barriers. We can then consult
and find a way to meet the needs of those excluded. Likewise in the
workforce, we will know if there are differences between groups, in
terms of engagement, satisfaction and progression. An organisation
can only recruit and retain the best people from the widest talent pool
if it welcomes and appreciates diversity.
How?
When working with a person on an individual level, a different type of
exploration is appropriate. It may be more relevant to know, for
example, that someone is vegetarian than to know if this comes from
a religious belief, or to know which relationships are special rather
than necessarily needing a label of a particular sexual orientation.
However if we can build relationships of trust then people are more
likely to share and be confident of a respectful and caring response.
Bullying and Harassment
Bullying and harassment are often considered together, and can be a
single occurrence or persistent.
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Bullying is offensive behaviour which is an abuse or misuse of
power, and has the effect of undermining, humiliating,
denigrating or injuring another person.
Harassment is a violation of someone’s dignity or ‘the creation
of an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive
environment’. This might be based on personal characteristics
related to gender, race, disability, sexual orientation, religion or
belief, age, politics, trade union membership or something else.
Harassment focuses on the effect on the individual and their
experience; it is a form of discrimination.
Victimisation can also occur if someone is treated unfairly because
they have made a complaint, or are believed to have made a
complaint, or have supported someone who has made a complaint.
In the workplace, we all have a responsibility to prevent and
challenge inappropriate behaviour, even when this is unintentional.
Managers have an additional duty of care towards employees, and
need to be proactive about creating a positive workplace culture.
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If you feel you have been harassed, bullied or victimised then there is
action you can take or people you can talk to:
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Your line manager (if appropriate)
For Cornwall Council Employees, contact People &
Organisational Development (accessed via the HR Helpdesk
01872 323500), for others, contact your Human Resources,
Personnel or similar department’
Trade union representative.
Together we can make a positive difference.
Different types of discrimination
Discrimination is prejudice in action; it’s the application of someone’s
prejudice to another or others. Prejudice is learnt. We don’t come
with it built in.
Discrimination (under the Equalities Act 2010) is an action or
omission against someone who has a Protected Characteristic (PC).
These are listed above. All of us are covered by at least three of the
characteristics, some of us even more. See the ACHW Equality and
Diversity intranet page for more information about all of the PCs.
Direct discrimination
When someone is treated less favourably because of a PC they have.
Discrimination by association
Direct discrimination against an individual because they associate
with another person who has a PC – any PC.
For example, a non-disabled employee discriminated against because
of action she needs to take to care for a disabled dependant. The
protection by association could have implications in relation to
requests for time off or flexible working.
Perception discrimination
Direct discrimination against an individual because others think they
possess a particular protected characteristic. It applies even if the
person does not actually possess that characteristic.
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For example, two women who live together for convenience, are
thought of as gay and discriminated against as such, where in fact
they are not gay, they just share a house.
Indirect discrimination
Indirect discrimination is when a condition, rule, policy or even a
practice applies to everyone, but has a disproportionate impact on
people with a PC. Indirect discrimination can be justified if we can
demonstrate that we acted reasonably for a sound business reason:
i.e. that it is `a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim´.
Being proportionate really means being fair and reasonable, including
showing that you’ve looked at `less discriminatory´ alternatives to
any decision you make. This shows the value of equality impact
assessments (EIA’s).
Harassment
Harassment is ‘unwanted conduct related to a relevant PC, which has
the purpose or effect of violating an individual’s dignity or creating a
hostile, intimidating, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment
for that individual’ (HIDHO).
Victimization
Victimization occurs when an employee is treated badly because they
have made or supported a complaint or raised a grievance under the
Equality Act, or because they are suspected of doing so.
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Articles written for Kevren by
Kathy Pope, Manager, Social Care Learning and Development –
Race, Sex, Sexual orientation, Equalities monitoring, Bullying and
Harassment
Sarah Wilson, Advanced Practitioner - Modern Working - Rurality
Tyler Bennetts, Staff Development Officer, Social Care, Learning
and Development – Marriage and civil partnership, Pregnancy and
maternity, Challenging inappropriate behaviour, Types of
discrimination
Uncrerdited - Age, Religion or belief, Gender reassignment,
Disability
Edited by Hannah Danson, Communications Co-ordinator, Adult
Care, health and Wellbeing, Chief Executive’s Directorate, Cornwall
Council.
If you would like this information
in another format please contact:
Cornwall Council
County Hall
Treyew Road
Truro TR1 3AY
Telephone: 0300 1234 100
Email: enquiries@cornwall.gov.uk
www.cornwall.gov.uk
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