In 2022 the remit for equalities was transferred to the Chief Officer, People Resources’ portfolio and this has provided additional resources and a focus to further advance equality in our employment environment.  

The following illustrates some aspects of our employment practices where advancing equality is at its heart. 

Supporting a diverse workforce  

With a predominantly female workforce and an ageing one we recognised that many of those women will be approaching and going through the menopause. A new Menopause and Hormonal Change Policy provides advice and guidance for employees that are either directly experiencing symptoms of the menopause or are affected by it. To launch this policy a number of menopause café style events were organised to provide opportunities for employees to come together and share experiences and get support. Guidance for managers has also been published.  

There is also the inevitability that some, if not many employees in our workforce, will have experience of Gender-Based violence (GBV). Eight employees have volunteered to become GBV Support Officers to provide emotional and practical support to any employee who requests it. We also have a GBV Policy that sets out the support that employees can expect and additional guidance provides information for line-managers and supervisors. 

Our Dignity at Work Policy aims to tackle bullying and harassment in the workplace and provide recourse for those who experience it. To support employees we also have a number of Dignity at Work Support Officers who will support employees who wish to address bullying or harassment.    

To address issues of harassment experienced by an employee by a service user the Council in partnership with the Employee Equality Forum developed anti-violence and harassment posters to be displayed in all public reception areas.    

The Reasonable Adjustment Protocol aims to provide a standardised process for disabled employees to negotiate and agree the reasonable adjustments they need to support and sustain their employment. A Disability Policy for the Council is currently under development and will include a disability passport protocol. 

Our Smarter Working Policy allows employees to work flexibly, allowing them to balance the needs of their work and home life.  To compliment this, we have developed an e-learning module What is flexible working? This gives an overview of the aims and types of Flexible working available and how to deal with Flexible working requests.  We also include the Happy to Talk Flexible Working logo on all of our job adverts opening up the application process to a wider pool of people. 

We continue to provide access to occupational health services like medical advice, counselling, debt counselling and physiotherapy and we continue to develop and promote our WorkwellNL and NL Life provisions to support and reward our employees across the Council. These programmes have been well received and well used by our employees and they will become increasingly important as we enter a period of increased change and transformation across all our services.  

The launch of our Sexual Harassment Policy in 2024 involved a campaign alerting staff to the Council’s zero tolerance approach to instances of sexual harassment. A week of action in August involved an announcement by the Chief Executive, awareness sessions coinciding with committees to engage with Elected Members, a poster campaign and a lunchtime staff awareness session.

Employee Health and Wellbeing 

Our people management practices across the Council have been recognised through the accreditations we have received. We were the first Local Authority in Scotland to be accredited as a Disability Confident Leader. In 2023 this accreditation was subject to external validation and was renewed for a further three years.  In March 2023 we were reaccredited the Bronze Standard in the Equally Safe at Work accreditation programme that aims to advance gender equality in the workplace.  

Our workforce Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy was born out of recognising that our employees are experiencing high levels of mental health issues, resulting in high levels of absenteeism, and the need to support them better. The Strategy has recently been reviewed and its aims are to:  

1. develop a supportive culture, build resilience and address factors that may negatively affect mental wellbeing; 

2. support employees to minimise the risk of mental ill health by providing information on how to control stress, increase resilience and to boost low self-esteem as a way to help keep symptoms under control; 

3. to provide support for employees experiencing mental health and wellbeing difficulties; and 

4. to recognise that workplace stress is classed as occupational ill health. We will train & support our managers in proactive approaches to reduce instances of workplace stress. 

To support the aims of the strategy and our employees better there is now a focus on service based mental health groups that will tailor support and strategies to the individual needs of the services and their workers rather than have a one size fits all approach. These service groups were launched in March 2023. 

Employee Engagement 

We use a variety of means to engage with employees around equality issues. 

Having employees with the lived experience to influence our work is important to us not only to provide their own experience but also for the credibility of the work. 

Employee Equality Forum (EEF)

The EEF aims to provide a focus for employees to discuss and raise equality and employment matters with the Council. It also acts as a consultation mechanism for the Council when developing employment policies and initiatives.

Since 2023 some initiatives the EEF have been involved in include:

• Working in partnership with the Disability Equality Working Group to host two very successful disabled employee events to mark International Day of Persons with Disabilities. Both events welcomed over 60 disabled employees and a number of those have signed up to become members of the EEF.

• Having representation on the Disability Equality Working Group

• Assisting in the development of the second employee survey to explore the experiences of the Council’s minority ethnic employees.      

• Responding to employment policy consultations – Sexual Harassment Policy, Review of the Dignity at Work Policy, the development of the Disabilty Policy Working Group; the development of the Council’s Equality Outcomes 2025-29

• Being alerted through our employment information gathering exercise to higher numbers than of LGB&T employees in comparison to previous years we are beginning to explore the needs of our LGB and T employees.

Equal Pay Audits

The Council undertakes an equal pay audit every two years. Equal pay for equal work is the concept that individuals in the same workplace should receive equal pay for performing the same or substantially similar work, regardless of their sex.

An equal pay audit involves comparing the pay of males and females who are doing equal work, investigating the causes of any pay differences and planning to close any differences that cannot be justified. We are committed to ensuring equal pay structures for all our employees.

Fair Work First commitments 

The Council recognises that work is an important part of adult life and is critical to our wellbeing and shaping how we live. The Fair Work Convention’s Framework defines Fair Work as work that offers effective voice, fulfilment, opportunity, respect and security. We believe Fair Work can boost creativity, realise untapped potential and increase productivity. We are committed to Fair Work and are meeting the criteria by:   

• providing effective channels for effective employee engagement;  

• investing in workforce development;  

• not using zero hours contracts inappropriately;  

• taking action to tackle the gender pay gap and create a more diverse and inclusive workplace; 

• committing to paying the Real Living Wage; 

• offering flexible and family friendly working practices for all workers from day one of employment; and  

• opposing the use of fire and rehire practice.   

We have agreed with our Trade Union colleagues a statement on Fair Work First and this has been published on the Council’s website.