Equal Opportunities

Equality is the quality of being the same in quantity or measure or value or status. The Sex Discrimination Act (1975) and The Race Relations Act (1976) are a couple of acts that have helped to establish equality in the workplace. Diversity is the quality of being different. Diversity is variety. Multiculturalism is the acceptance or promotion of multiple ethnic cultures, for practical reasons and/or for the sake of diversity. Examples of diversity factors are race, culture, ethnicity, age and gender. The difference between equality and diversity is that equality is where everything is the same (or at least treated the same), whereas diversity is where there is a variety.

What Margaret is saying about women only being appointed to senior positions on the basis of merit without using positive discrimination, would be useful in order for equality to be sustained. It would mean that men cannot claim that women are worse than them or that women are only there to “make up the numbers”. It would also help with women’s confidence, as they would then feel that they really are equal to men, and can do the same jobs just as well. Using positive discrimination is just emphasizing the belief that women need to be supported, whereas men do not. On the other hand, positive discrimination does help how companies are perceived. If a company has an equal number of male and female workers working for them, they are going to look good and attract more potential employees. Using positive discrimination will also help to raise women’s confidence, as it gives women more opportunities to show that they can do the job just as well as men can. Furthermore, positive discrimination helps women with things that men don’t actually understand, like maternity situations. It gives women the extra help that they require. Overall however, I believe that positive discrimination should not be used in order to help women. Women should be given the opportunity to show that they can perform certain tasks just as well as men can and they should not be given help or have it handed to them on a plate.

The new age legislation which properly came about in 2006 will have the impact of forcing employers to employ more younger or older workers even if it is against their will. For example, if an older person was to apply for a job that involves heavy lifting, the employer would not be allowed to discriminate, even though it may mean that this older worker does not perform as well as the younger workers in that company. The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 covers all employees and workers of any age, protecting them from age discrimination including partners of firms, contract workers and anyone in vocational training. The default retirement age is 65, making compulsory retirement below 65 unlawful. Employers will need to avoid making stereotypical judgements about people’s capabilities according to their age. Employers may not agree with it but they will still have to comply. The wording of a recruitment advert is certainly something employers will need to consider, as they will not be allowed to use words such as “energetic”, which may imply that they are looking for a young person, or “mature” which implies they are looking for someone older.

Age discrimination is absolutely everywhere. It is perceived that old people are too weak and fragile to do certain jobs, and that young people are too reckless or poorly behaved to do others. These are common stereotypes. Young people are sometimes considered as “inexperienced” whereas older people can be considered as “past it”. Employees have the right to request working beyond 65, and employers must give serious consideration to these requests, however they do not have to agree with them. Ways in which organisations can attempt to change these typical stereotypes, are by giving employees of all ages exactly the same tasks, and then comparing the results amongst the employees. Just because a person is older does not mean they cannot perform better. Take Ryan Giggs the Manchester United footballer for example, he is still playing at the highest level and performing much better than some of his younger teammates in games even though there are people who say he should have retired by now and have criticised him for not. He has proved that just because he is older does not mean he can perform the tasks that are required of him. Another thing organisations can do is to create teams with both young and old people in. This will ensure that they work together and this will enable them to recognise and utilise each other’s skills. These should help to stop the typical stereotypes that are still going round and help to provide a much more equal working environment.
The way in which Sainsbury’s maintains equal opportunities, is by following a policy which is based on a commitment to:
· Provide workplaces where all staff feel valued, respected and able to contribute to the business.
· Employ a workforce that recognises the diversity of current and potential customers.
Through these pledges Sainsbury's aim that all staff can work without fear of discrimination, harrassment and bullying and that all colleagues, job applicants, customers and suppliers should be treated fairly, regardless of the following:
· race, colour, nationality, ethnic origins or community background
· gender, gender realignment, sexual orientation, marital or family status
· religious or political beliefs and affiliations
· disability
· real or suspected infection with HIV/Aids
· membership or non-membership of a trade union
· differing working patterns such as part time
· age
http://www.bized.co.uk/compfact/sainsbury/sains15.htm
All of these equal opportunity aspects are seriously considered when Sainsbury’s recruit and retain its employees.

It is the same at Waitrose. Waitrose has a completely diverse range of employees. Age, gender and race are all taken into account on the application form, however none are discriminated against. People with disabilities are able to work there. When I was injured in a football match, and did not have the ability to lift heavy objects, I was still able to work, as they put me on the checkouts. I have noticed that most Waitrose employees are young people (mainly students of some sort) and most are also part time employees for this reason. However there are older workers there who work full time, and of course there are managers who are both young, old, male and female, from different races and cultures. Waitrose does not care about whether somebody has a disability, of status, however if you have sibling who previously worked for them, you are more likely to be able to work there, especially if that sibling was a very good employee.

John Lewis and Waitrose recruit staff on an equal opportunities basis, and do not require you to state on your CV any of the following:
Age, Sex, Marital, Status, Ethnicity, Medical History. This allows the organisation to recruit staff with the most skills and experience to meet the demands of the role without any discrimination.
http://www.jobsvacancies.org/john-lewis-and-waitrose-job-vacancies.html

At B&Q, The company strongly believes that a diverse workforce creates a mix of talents that makes the company such a success. More than 1,200 B&Q staff speak over 60 different languages, with many being multilingual. From products and working practices to store layouts and training, B&Q continue to promote equality of opportunity in everything they do, so there are no barriers for anybody who wants to be part of the B&Q team. http://www.mccarthyrecruitment.com/retail-employers/featured/b-q