Unit 3: Assignment 3- Citizenship and Diversity:
Equal opportunities are the right to be treated without discrimination, especially on the grounds of
one's sex, race, or age.
Grievance procedure is the movement is an official process for dealing with a complaint raised by an
employee against their employer regarding treatment believed to be wrong or unfair. For grievance
procedures to be effective, both parties should view them as a positive force that facilitates the open
discussion of issues. In some cases, the settling of grievances becomes a sort of scorecard that
reinforces an "us versus them" mentality between labour (employees) and management.
Bullying and harassment at work this loosely follows the grievance procedure, bulling and
harassment at work, this can include unwelcome conduct. An occasional offensive joke or a one-time
incident isn't illegal, bullying can be legal. There are many ways to bully someone that don't break
anti-harassment laws. A boss who screams at every subordinate and belittles all of them regardless
of race, religion or gender may not be a harasser. Insulting an employee for her personality or
clothes may not be harassment if it isn't tied to race, gender or other protected characteristics.
Other anti-discrimination policies; There are any other anti-discriminatory policies, some includes
an Organization is committed to providing an environment free of discrimination and harassment,
where all individuals are treated with respect and dignity, can contribute fully and have equal
opportunities. Under the Ontario Human Rights Code, every person has the right to be free from
harassment and discrimination. Harassment and discrimination will not be tolerated, condoned or
ignored at an Organization. If a claim of harassment or discrimination is proven, disciplinary
measures will be applied (such as grievance), up to and including termination of employment.
An Organization is committed to an indiscriminative strategy to address harassment and
discrimination, including:
providing training and education to make sure everyone knows their rights and
responsibilities,
regularly monitoring organizational systems for barriers relating to Code grounds
providing an effective and fair complaints procedure and
promoting appropriate standards of conduct always.
In my opinion, these have been more effective in recent years due to the acceptance of other
cultures and beliefs, meaning that discrimination is decreasing, however still an issue.
Recording and monitoring of equal opportunities data and complaints - There are many benefits to
an employer having an equal opportunities policy that is effectively implemented and communicated
to all employees. Some include that It may improve the recruitment process; help retain valued
employees and deter acts of unlawful discrimination. Furthermore, the best way of ensuring that all
employees and agents understand the organisation's equality policy, how it affects them and the
plans for putting it into practice is to provide regular training. Moreover, one aim of any sensible
recruitment strategy is to find the right person for the job regardless of race, sex, pregnancy or
maternity, sexual orientation, religion, disability, age, married or civil partnership status, or
transsexual status. In order to do that, organisations need to identify the skills and abilities that are
needed to carry out the work, and to make sure that the vacancy advertisement states these clearly.
, However, if an employer does not have and implement a policy that deals with the consequences of
discriminatory actions by its employees and other third parties, may be found to be liable for those
actions. In my opinion, recording data is a good thing as you can acknowledge your diverse
workforce, however, don't hire diverse people because you must, it defeats the objective of being
diverse. Have a diverse workforce is beneficial to you and everyone, they are people, who have a
variety of versatile skills and talents to give to the community; who need support.
Complaints procedures for service users-
Make your complaint directly to the organisation. And they will try to resolve your complaint within
five working days. If you are unhappy with the response, you can ask them to consider your
complaint at stage two.
The organisation will investigate your complaint in more detail. At stage two you should be given a
final decision after no more than 20 working days, unless there is clearly a good reason for needing
more time.
https://www.spso.org.uk/how-to-complain-about-public-service
This website gives information on how to contact and the steps needs for each service; providing the
clarity to give someone the right steps to complain to a service.
Complaints could be about (for example with the NHS): inappropriate treatment, delay in providing
necessary treatment, giving, stopping or withholding treatment without appropriate consent;
misdiagnosis or failure to diagnose a condition; harm caused by wrong or unnecessary treatment;
failing to meet a patient’s basic needs or to respect their dignity (e.g. not feeding them properly in
hospital; not keeping them clean); lack of cleanliness or infection control. There’s are examples of
when you could make a complaint against a public service. These are in place to create
improvements to forces like the NHS and police force, it makes them better to know so they can
make it better for others.
Diversity Issues:
Employment within public services- The public sector consists of those organisations owned and/or
financed by central and local government. This sector provides goods and services to the community
through public corporations, local government and other statutory agencies (e.g. the National Health
Service).
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) (at https://www.prospects.ac.uk/jobs-and-work-
experience/job-sectors/public-services-and-administration/overview-of-the-public-services-sector-
in-the-uk) , 5.42 million people are employed in the UK's public sector - accounting for 16.5% of all
those in paid work (June 2019.)
For example, in the fire service of the 33,000 firefighters in England, 5.7% are women, compared to
the 3.6% in 2009. 4.1% of firefighters in England at 31 March 2018 are from Black, Asian and
Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds, compared with 3.5% in 2011. However, there is 95.9%
firefighters are white; compared to the low 0.6 % of Asian, 13% of black and the 0.4% of Chinese;
this is incredibly low to the 95.9 % who are white. This follows through to the recruitment strategies
and polies in place to increase the ethnic minorities and other cultures who are suitable for the job.