Northern Ireland Office

Equal Opportunities

A Guide

Text Version

Page Nos

Contents

NIO Equal Opportunities Policy Statement 3

Introduction - Aims of the guide 4

Section 1: Equal Opportunities 5

What does it mean?

Section 2: The Law 6 - 7

Legislation governing Equal Opportunities

Statutory agencies

Section 3: Behaviours Affecting Dignity at Work 8 - 10

Direct discrimination

Indirect discrimination

Victimisation

Stereotyping

Harassment

Bullying

Section 4: Making The Policy Work 11 - 13

Selection & promotion

Terms & conditions of employment

Family friendly policies

Training & development

Grievance & disciplinary procedures

Positive action

Monitoring

Section 5: Roles & Responsibilities 14 - 15

Roles of managers and staff

Section 6: Dignity at Work Complaints Procedure 16 - 20 Your right to complain

Help & advice

Harassment advisers

Options

Informal procedures

Formal procedures

Industrial tribunals

Records of complaints

Section 7: Departmental Contacts 21

Section 8: Useful Addresses 22

NIO Equal Opportunities Policy Statement

The work of the Northern Ireland Office is fully informed by the principles of equality of opportunity, equity of treatment and parity of esteem for all staff. The Department strives to ensure that all NIO staff are treated fairly and equally by promoting equal opportunities policies whereby no employee or job applicant is unfairly discriminated against either directly or indirectly on such grounds as race, colour, ethnic or national origin, gender (including gender identity), age, marital status, responsibility for children or dependants, disability, sexual orientation, religious or political beliefs. The following is the NIO policy statement:

“The Northern Ireland Office is committed to providing equality of opportunity and to creating and sustaining an environment where everyone is treated with respect and dignity, free from any form of inappropriate behaviour. It is our policy that all eligible persons shall have equal opportunity for employment and advancement in the Department on the basis of their ability, qualifications and aptitude for the work. Everyone has a right to equality of opportunity and to a good and harmonious working environment and atmosphere in which all staff are encouraged to apply their diverse talents and in which no member of staff feels under threat or intimidated. This right is protected in many instances by legislation.

In order to provide the best service to our customers the NIO needs to attract and retain the best people. Our equal opportunities policy is essential to help us achieve this. We want everyone who works in the NIO to develop their full potential and be appropriately rewarded for their achievements. Creating a working environment where individual differences are valued and respected enables all staff to give of their best and helps us to respond more effectively to the needs of the people we serve.

The NIO will continue to promote equality of opportunity and fair participation - and strive to achieve a workforce which mirrors local communities, both in London and Northern Ireland.”

Equal Opportunities is a subject which involves all of us. We all have to be aware of, and apply, this policy. Both Management and the Trade union representatives are fully committed to the policy and fully support its implementation.

Equal Opportunities in the Northern Ireland Office

Introduction

The Northern Ireland Office is an Equal Opportunity employer. This means that we want everyone who works in the Department to be treated fairly and equally. We all have the right to equality of opportunity - and to a good and harmonious working environment. We should be able to work in an atmosphere which encourages us to use our talents and skills - and in which none of us feels threatened or intimidated.

The aims of the guide

Any of us could experience discrimination - either intentionally or unintentionally - at some point in our career. It is therefore important that we are all aware of what Equal Opportunities is about - and also of the good practice we need to follow to make sure that discrimination does not take place. This guide summarises the main issues surrounding equality of opportunity and how these affect you, and provides guidance in the following areas:

It should be read in conjunction with the full Dignity at Work policy which is available on HRConnect under HR Handbook - HR policies - Employee Relations. The site also contains a user guide for dealing with complaints under the policy. If you do not have access to HRConnect, you can request a copy of the policy by phone on 0000 0 000 000 or by e-mail to

Section 1

What is Equal Opportunities?

Our Equal Opportunities Policy applies to all aspects of working in the NIO - including day-to-day behaviour and how we treat our colleagues and customers. To make sure the policy works we must all understand what Equal Opportunities actually means - and what it doesn't mean!

Equal Opportunities is about:

It is not about:

Section 2

The Law

Equality of opportunity is of fundamental importance to the Northern Ireland Office. It is important, therefore, that everybody is aware of the main laws which govern equal opportunities in Northern Ireland and Great Britain. Equality of Opportunity is also protected by European Community Law.

Religion and Political Opinion

In Great Britain, the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003 make it illegal to discriminate in employment on the grounds of religion or belief.

In Northern Ireland, the Fair Employment & Treatment (NI) Order 1998 outlaws discrimination both in employment and in the provision of goods and services on the basis of religious belief or political opinion. In this context political opinion includes trade union activity. The legislation places a duty on employers to consider the appropriateness and practicability of affirmative action including goals and timetables to secure fair participation by both sections of the community.

Sex Discrimination

The Sex Discrimination Acts of 1975 and 1986 and the Sex Discrimination (NI) Orders of 1976 and 1988 outlaw discrimination on the grounds of sex or marital status, and apply to both men and women. The Equal Pay Act 1970 and Equal Pay Act (NI) 1970 require employers to give equal treatment to men and women in respect of pay and other terms of their contracts of employment. The Gender Recognition Act 2004 gives Transsexual people the legal right to live in their acquired gender.

Disability

The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 - and Regulations made under it - makes it unlawful for an employer to treat a disabled person less favourably than someone else because of their disability unless there is good reason. This applies to all employment matters - including recruitment, training, promotion and dismissal. In order to help a disabled person to do the job, employers have to consider what changes they could make to the workplace or to the way the work is done, and make any changes which are reasonable and which will help the disabled person carry out their job more effectively.

Race

The Race Relations Act 1976 and Race Relations (NI) Order 1997 outlaw unlawful discrimination on grounds of colour, race, nationality or ethnic or national origin.

Harassment

The Protection from Harassment Act 1997 makes harassment a criminal offence. The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Health and Safety at Work (NI) Order 1978 place a duty of care upon employers to provide a safe place of work. In equality terms, this includes freedom from harassment.

Sexual Orientation

The Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003 and (NI) Regulations 2003 make it illegal to discriminate both in employment and, more recently, in the provision of goods and services on the grounds of sexual orientation. Under these regulations, it is also illegal to discriminate on the basis of perceived sexual orientation.

Age

The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 and (NI) Regulations 2006 outlaw discrimination in employment on the basis of age. The regulations cover both younger and older workers.

Statutory Agencies

The following Agencies have been established to ensure that the laws governing equal opportunities are implemented in the workplace. They are statutory bodies with legal powers. These are:

Northern Ireland

Great Britain

The Commissions have a number of roles which include:

Advice and guidance on the law and best practice for employers is contained in codes of practice issued by the Commissions. The Department of Higher and Further Education, Training and Employment (DHFETE) and the Cabinet Office have both issued a similar code of practice on the employment of people with disabilities.

The NIO will continue to operate in accordance with the guidance contained in these codes and other relevant publications issued by the statutory bodies when developing personnel policies and procedures.

Section 3

Behaviours Affecting Dignity at Work

A variety of terms can be used to describe inappropriate behaviours which may impact on a person's dignity at work, including discrimination, harassment and bullying. This policy covers any form of unwanted, unreasonable and offensive conduct which has the purpose or effect of violating a person's dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment.

Discrimination

In the context of equal opportunities, unlawful discrimination means being treated less favourably because of your: - sex (including sexual identity), marital status, religious belief, political opinion, disability, colour, race, ethnic or national origin, sexual orientation or age. It may be direct or indirect - or take the form of victimisation or stereotyping. Failure to make a reasonable adjustment for a person with a disability to enable them to do their job is also a form of discrimination.

Direct discrimination means treating people less favourably in their employment because of their sex, race, marital status etc. Some examples could be:

Indirect discrimination happens where a condition or requirement is applied equally to all but which is harder for one group to meet than another or which has a disproportionate or otherwise detrimental impact on them and cannot be justified. Examples include:

Indirect discrimination is often more difficult to spot than direct discrimination - and often takes place by accident. However it does not matter if the discrimination took place with or without intent - it is still against the law!

Victimisation means treating someone less favourably because they have made a complaint - or people think they are going to; or they are helping

someone else who is making a complaint. Victimisation does not need to be on grounds of sex, marital status, race, religion or disability.

Some examples could be:

The failure to protect an employee from retaliation or unpleasantness following a complaint may give rise to a further act of discrimination.

Stereotyping - Unfair discrimination may result from attributing certain characteristics to people based on general assumptions about the capabilities and characteristics of particular groups. Examples include:

Harassment -There is no clear definition of harassment - it can take many forms and may not always be easy to identify. Any unwanted, unreasonable and offensive conduct linked to aspects of a person's social identity e.g. gender, race etc. may constitute harassment and may be unlawful. Whether or not the behaviour is intended to be offensive is irrelevant; if it is unwelcome it is harassment. Harassment does not have to be directed at you in order for you to report it. If you witness behaviour of the type described below, and find it upsetting, you can still make a complaint. Some examples include:

Further examples of the most common forms of harassment can be found on the HRConnect website.

Bullying is when someone attempts to undermine the personal and professional performance of others through persistent offensive, abusive, intimidating, malicious or insulting behaviour. Examples of bullying include:

Dealing with Harassment or Bullying

All employees have the right to be treated with dignity. Harassment of any sort is unacceptable conduct and, if you think you are being harassed or bullied at work, there are procedures in place to help you deal with it.

For guidance on dealing with discrimination and harassment - see

Section 6

Section 4

Making the Policy Work

The most important thing about having an equal opportunities policy is making sure that it actually works. To do this it is vital that:

Our Equal Opportunities Policy is at the heart of all Personnel policies and procedures. This section looks at some of the principles which underpin our procedures in a number of areas including selection and promotion, terms and conditions of employment and training and development.

Selection and Promotion

The increased use of job-specific selection for vacancies within the NIO means that more of us will become involved in some kind of selection process in the course of our career - either as an interviewer or as a candidate. It is, therefore, increasingly important that we are all fully aware of the equal opportunities aspects of selection and promotion.

To ensure that we recruit and promote people solely on the basis of their ability, qualifications and aptitude for the work, all the methods we use to attract and select candidates are kept in line with equal opportunities policies i.e. they must be justifiable and free from bias or prejudice.

Job Adverts should:

Selection processes should:

If you are involved in recruitment or promotion you will be given the appropriate training to ensure that you adhere to the procedures contained in the relevant codes of practice.

Terms and Conditions of Employment

Terms and conditions of employment must be applied fairly to all staff and are reviewed from time to time to ensure that they do not unfairly discriminate against individuals or groups of staff. Discrimination and inequality of opportunity can occur in the absence of regular critical scrutiny.

Family Friendly Policies

The Department has a range of personnel policies designed to assist staff to combine their departmental and domestic responsibilities. These include provisions for maternity leave, assistance with childcare costs, job-sharing, part-time working, special leave and career breaks. Staff are encouraged to use the flexible working arrangements so that there are no barriers to equality of opportunity for career development.

Training and Development

Equality of access to training and development has a key role in promoting equal opportunities. The Department's achievement of Investors in People status underpins our commitment to developing the potential of all our staff. This is achieved by:

It is recognised that the need to undertake training can present difficulties for part-time staff and those with family commitments. Consequently every effort is made to meet training and development needs within agreed working hours.

Grievance and Disciplinary Procedures

The grievance and disciplinary procedures are kept under review to ensure that they are appropriate and cover all aspects of equal opportunities policies.

Affirmative action

The Department is committed to enabling all individuals to develop their full potential and to overcome the effects of unlawful discrimination. A major objective is to ensure that it's staff should reflect the community served at all, including senior management, levels. In recognising that the promotion of equal opportunities involves more than just a commitment to remove discrimination, the Department will, where necessary, take positive action as permitted under

equality legislation to redress imbalances in the workforce. Such action can include:

Affirmative action is not positive discrimination, as individuals continue to be recruited and promoted solely on the basis of their ability, qualifications and aptitude for the work.

Monitoring

To determine to what extent the workforce reflects the community served, monitoring exercises are carried out on a regular basis. The information obtained is used to assess the effectiveness of the Department's Equal Opportunities policies. It is for this reason that new staff are asked to provide, on a voluntary basis, details of their ethnic origin and whether or not they consider themselves to be disabled.

In addition, Fair Employment legislation requires employers with staff working in Northern Ireland to submit annual returns to the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland detailing the religious composition of their workforce. For NICS staff in NIO this information is monitored on our behalf by DFP. HCS staff working in N.I. are monitored by NIO Personnel Services and the information is passed to Cabinet Office for inclusion in their returns to the Commission. Where it is not possible to identify your community background you will be assessed as “Not-Determined”.

Any information provided for monitoring purposes is treated in the strictest confidence.

Section 5

Roles and Responsibilities

The Equal Opportunities Officer is responsible for specialist advice on equal opportunities matters and for co-ordinating the Civil Service policy of non-discrimination within the Department. The Equal Opportunities Officer's role is to act as a focal point for promoting and monitoring equal opportunities policies. Line managers are responsible for promoting equal opportunities in their own commands and for ensuring that business is conducted on the basis of the policies set out in the statement.

It is the responsibility of all of us, though, to make sure that equality of opportunity is a reality in the day-to day workings of the NIO. Equal Opportunities is part and parcel of good management practice.

Managers need to:

legislation;

We all need to:

You should be aware that individuals can be held responsible for an act of discrimination, harassment or victimisation. This can result in:

dismissal;

Section 6

Dignity at Work Complaints Procedure

This section provides a summary of the procedures in place for dealing with harassment and discrimination. Full details of the complaint procedures can be found on the HRConnect website. If you wish to make a complaint, you should familiarise yourself with these before proceeding.

There are separate procedures for dealing with other types of complaints: Information on disagreement over the content of an annual report can be found in CSC36/94 (NICS staff) and “Performance Pay and Annual Reports” (HCS staff) available from Personnel Services. Complaints about personal matters are covered by the policy on grievances which is on HRConnect - HR policies - Employee Relations - Grievance.

Your right to complain

The NIO Equal Opportunities Policy states that “everyone has a right to equality of opportunity and to a good and harmonious working environment in which no member of staff feels under threat or intimidated.” Within NIO it is our policy to develop a working environment where discrimination and harassment are widely recognised as being unacceptable and where you have the confidence and support of management to challenge such conduct if it occurs. Consequently, there are procedures in place to help you if you think you are being harassed or discriminated against at work. (Section 3 of this guide explains what constitutes harassment or discrimination).

Help and advice

You may be reluctant to make a complaint, hoping that if you ignore the problem it will go away. This rarely happens and it is essential that you have the necessary support and advice to enable you to address the problem and deal with it effectively. There are a number of people who can give confidential advice and support or be with you at an interview. These include:

Names and telephone extensions of those who can provide advice can be found at Section 7. If an accusation of discrimination or harassment is made against you, you can also seek advice from these people.

Harassment Advisers

A number of specially trained advisers have been appointed with the specific role of offering support and informed advice on the procedures and options available and assisting you to determine if and how you wish to proceed. You can talk to an adviser without any obligation to proceed further. All information will be treated in the strictest confidence, subject to the need to conduct an enquiry or where a serious breach of the disciplinary regulations or a criminal offence has occurred.

Options

It is easier to resolve complaints of harassment or discrimination if they are raised at an early stage when events can be readily recalled and verified. You should, therefore, act promptly. If you decide to take the matter forward there are a number of options open to you, the choice of which to follow rests with you. These include:

Informal Procedures

You may decide to deal with the matter informally by either confronting the person or making an approach in writing. Before doing so you may wish to:

If you decide to see the person, you should:

c) give examples of what has made you feel harassed or

discriminated against;

d) say what improvement in behaviour is expected;

e) tell them the action you intend to take if there is insufficient improvement in behaviour.

If you choose to write to the person concerned, you should:

Raising the Matter with Line Management

You can approach your line-manager and expect a prompt and sympathetic response. Your confidence will be respected but line management will have to tell the alleged offender that their behaviour has led to a complaint. It may also be necessary to interview witnesses. Once the facts have been established, the line manager will then consider whether disciplinary action is necessary and seek advice from the Department's Equal Opportunities Officer or the Head of Personnel Operations.

If the alleged offender is your line manager you should report the matter to another manager or your grade manager in Personnel Services Division.

Formal Procedures

If informal attempts have been unsuccessful, or if the behaviour is too serious to be dealt with informally, you can make a formal complaint in writing to the Equal Opportunities Officer through HRConnect. In doing so, you will need to identify the person concerned and provide full details of what happened, when it occurred and the names of any witnesses. This information will be given to the person you have complained about who will be asked to provide an account of their behaviour.

The Equal Opportunities Officer will consider whether there is a case to be pursued under the formal procedures and, if appropriate, will instruct HRConnect to carry out a thorough and impartial investigation. The aim of the investigation will be to establish the facts of the matter and resolve the grievance, in line with the dignity at work policy, as quickly as possible.

What you can expect

Enquiries into complaints of discrimination or harassment are, by their nature, sensitive. However, every care will be taken to ensure that no unnecessary distress is caused to anyone involved and that no-one's reputation or career is unjustly affected by the complaint having been made.

Your complaint will be accepted as having been made in good faith, will be heard sympathetically and will be treated seriously. Each side will have an opportunity to present their account of events and may be accompanied by a colleague or trade union representative.

Complainants will not normally be moved from their usual duties or treated in any unusual manner while an investigation is being carried out. You may, however, find it difficult to continue in your current position whilst awaiting the outcome of your complaint. In those circumstances, no action will be taken without fully consulting with you and, preferably, with your trade union representative or a supportive member of staff.

The investigation will be completed as quickly as possible, and you will be advised if there are any prolonged delays. You will be informed of the outcome and told if the person you complained about will be disciplined.

Follow Up Action

If the complaint is upheld following completion of the investigation, the Equal Opportunities Officer will pass the case to the Head of Personnel Operations to consider if disciplinary action is appropriate. This could include:

If, after an investigation, it is considered necessary to relocate or transfer one party, your wishes will be considered first. Even where the complaint is not upheld, for example because the evidence is inconclusive, consideration may still be given to moving one or both should either of you feel you can no longer work together.

Victimisation (See Section 3)

If you make a complaint of harassment or discrimination in good faith, you and anyone who gives evidence in support of the complaint will be protected from any form of victimisation as a result of having made the complaint - whether or not it is upheld.

If a complaint is considered to have been made other then in good faith, it will be treated as a serious matter and may lead to disciplinary action.

Employment/Industrial Tribunals

Employment Tribunals (In GB) and Industrial Tribunals (in NI) are independent judicial bodies which can determine complaints of harassment or discrimination on the grounds of race, gender (including gender identity), disability, religion or political opinion, sexual orientation or age brought under equal opportunities legislation. You have a statutory right to take your complaint to an Employment/Industrial Tribunal. The fact that the Department has an internal complaints procedure does not affect this right, but the Tribunal will expect you to avail of these procedures first.

If you feel that you have been harassed or discriminated against and wish to take your complaint to a Tribunal, there are a number of organisations which can offer advice and assistance. These include:

In GB:

In NI:

Further information on these organisations can be found at Section 2. Details of their addresses and how to contact them are at Section 8. You may also wish to obtain legal advice, perhaps through your Trade Union, before applying to the Tribunal.

Hearings are held in public and may last several days. Information given in confidence at an internal investigation may have to be released to the Tribunal as evidence. The Equal Opportunities Officer will be informed of the outcome and Personnel Services will consider whether to take any action against any individual.

You should be aware that complaints to Industrial Tribunals must be lodged within three months of the incident having taken place. Therefore, even if you

decide to raise your complaint under the internal complaints procedure, you may wish to protect your interests by simultaneously lodging a claim with the Office of Tribunals. Such claims can be withdrawn at a later date if you are satisfied with the outcome of internal investigations.

Record of complaints

Anyone handling complaints will ensure that records are kept in strict confidence and no record of the complaint will be kept on your personnel file. If you make a complaint to Personnel Services or go to a Tribunal, the records will be held by HRConnect. If the complaint is upheld details of disciplinary action taken will be placed on an offender's personnel file.

Section 7

Departmental Contacts

Section 8

Useful Addresses

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