Equality in WET Companies – National Equality Standard

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Conference
2017 Water, Environment & Transport Conference
Date
24 February 2017
Decision
Carried

Trade unions and employers are dealing with an increasingly diverse workforce. There are higher proportions of women and people from black and minority ethnic communities in the workforce than ever before. The population is aging, with many people intending to stay in work for longer and many trying to juggle work with caring responsibilities. There is greater recognition that the barriers that disabled people have faced in accessing work should be broken down and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and the issues they face at work have become more visible

Conference believes as well as WET employers abiding by employment law they can do more to promote equality in the workplace.

Yorkshire water is the first water company to commit to the National Equality standard, which sets clear equality, diversity and inclusion criteria against which companies are independently assessed and it has set up work streams on equality issues for example – gender, ethnicity and ability and has invited TU reps to be active members of each stream. This enables the branch reps to challenge and encourage good equality practice in the workplace.

Conference calls on the SGE to make WET branches aware of the National Equality Standard (or similar schemes which are supported by the Equality and Human Rights Commission) and provide branches with basic information on these schemes which can be used to promote equality with their employers during formal discussion.