4. Assembly Commission as an Employer
As an employer, we ensure that our employment policies and practices are delivered on a best practice approach to equality. In this chapter, we have identified what think we do well as an employer in relation to equality of opportunity and areas where we might improve.
Monitoring Employment Data
Collecting data provides us with evidence and helps us to see whether any individuals or groups of staff are being inadvertently, adversely affected by any of our policies and working practices.
We capture organisational data by gender, ethnicity, disability and age in relation to:
the number of staff in post;
the level of applications received and at each stage of the recruitment process, i.e. sift, assessment, interview and appointment;
the number of staff achieving promotion;
the numbers of staff accessing training;
the number of staff considered to be unsatisfactory performers;
the number of staff involved in grievance procedures;
the number of staff subject to disciplinary procedures; and
the number of staff who cease employment with us.
We recognise that we need to enhance our employment data collection mechanisms. The reason for doing this is to assess whether there are any trends or differential impacts affecting these groups. There can be a difficulty in obtaining data in that there are often unknowns e.g. there might be members of staff who do not disclose a disability because they do not consider themselves to have a disability, or who feel uncomfortable disclosing this information. Employee support systems such as network groups, training and awareness-raising can often reassure staff and provide them with support and guidance.
Human Resources Information Management
At the time of publication, our Human Resources (HR) Team is enhancing its IT information management system to enable staff to input and change their own personal data. As well as information for each member of staff regarding age, gender and grade, the system has the potential for staff to input personal data on disability, gender identity, religion/belief and sexual orientation. Information will be confidential but generic data can be extracted from the system. We anticipate that this will be developed in 2009-10 and we will explore the feasibility and appropriateness of using the system for data collection.
Workforce Profile - Staff Equality Monitoring Survey
An all-staff Equality Monitoring Survey was undertaken in March 2008 and staff were asked to anonymously declare their age, gender, grade, any disability, race, religion/belief and sexual orientation. This was designed to obtain a profile of our workforce in relation to equality. Staff were also given an opportunity to feed back any suggestions to improve equality of opportunity for our workforce. These suggestions have been taken into account in our Action Plan.
The survey was voluntary and 76% of our workforce responded. We intend to repeat the survey every three years in line with this Scheme’s lifespan.
Where we have data from our existing HR IT system, we have used this below for age, gender and grade.
Figure 1: Age
(As of 31 March 2008)
Age |
Number of staff |
% by age group % |
|---|---|---|
<20 |
2 |
1 |
20-24 |
29 |
9 |
25-29 |
56 |
17 |
30-34 |
51 |
16 |
35-39 |
30 |
9 |
40-44 |
33 |
10 |
45-49 |
41 |
13 |
50-54 |
29 |
9 |
55-59 |
33 |
10 |
>60 |
19 |
6 |
Total |
323 |
Figure 2: Gender by Grade
(As of 31 March 2008)
Grade |
Women |
Men |
Total |
|---|---|---|---|
Team Support |
33 |
86 |
119 |
Personal Secretary |
3 |
0 |
3 |
Executive Officer |
29 |
26 |
55 |
Higher Executive Officer |
54 |
22 |
76 |
Senior Executive Officer |
18 |
16 |
34 |
G7 |
12 |
12 |
24 |
G6 |
4 |
2 |
6 |
G3 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
G2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
Salaried |
0 |
2 |
2 |
155 |
168 |
323 |
Where we do not have HR data for disability, sexual orientation, and religion/belief) we have used the survey results. We have not broken this down in order to protect staff privacy.
Figure 3 - Disability
(As of 31 March 2008)
87.9 per cent of respondents stated that they did not have a disability.
5 per cent of respondents had a physical impairment, while 3.3 per cent had a different type of disability. These included the following categories: learning disability/difficulty, sensory impairment, mental health condition and other long standing illness or health condition.
3.8 per cent of respondents did not wish to answer the question on disability.
Figure 4 - Race
(As of 31 March 2008)
Of employees who responded to the survey, 92.9 per cent were white and 5.0 per cent were non-white. This compares to a non-white population of 4.5 per cent for the officially defined Cardiff travel-to-work area. (From previous MRS analysis of 2001 Census figures).
77 per cent of the people who recorded that they were white were in the White Welsh category.
2.1 per cent chose not to answer the question on race.
Figure 5: Sexual Orientation
(As of 31 March 2008)
Of the respondents to the survey, 91.2 per cent were heterosexual.
In total, lesbian, gay and bisexual employees made up 4.2 per cent of the respondents.
4.6 per cent of people did not wish to record their sexual orientation.
Figure 6 - Religion/Belief
(As of 31 March 2008)
Of the people who responded to the survey, the largest religious group was Christian (49 per cent).
The second largest group (38.9 per cent) stated that they had no religious belief.
7.5 per cent chose not to answer the question on religion.
Issues Arising for the Workforce in the Context of the Existing Data and Staff Survey
Age:
no issues were raised
Disability:
some staff preferred not to answer the question on disability in the staff survey which might indicate that more support is needed for disabled staff. Our Disability Staff Network is a mechanism by which to support and reassure our disabled staff.
Gender:
where there are gender imbalances in grades we will review and address any likely causes
While no member of staff declared that they were transgender, as an organisation, we need to feel confident that we can support new staff members or existing staff members should they become/consider becoming transgender.
Race:
we need to ensure we continue to attract a diverse workforce and can measure our performance on this by the number of applicants we attract who are from diverse backgrounds. See Recruitment and Selection paragraph.
Religion/Belief:
no issues were raised
Sexual Orientation:
Again, some staff preferred not to answer the question on sexual orientation in the staff survey which might indicate that more support is needed for LGBT staff. Our LGBT Staff Network is a mechanism by which to support and reassure our LGBT staff.
Assembly Commission’s People Strategy
Our People Strategy 2008-2011 explains how as an organisation we will recruit, lead, develop, support and manage our staff over the next three years.
The Assembly Commission will also apply for Investors in People (IiP) status which will help us to manage and assess our investment in learning and development as effectively as possible.
Flexible Working Arrangements
Assembly Business (e.g. plenary and committees) operates on the principle of family-friendly working hours: timetabling Assembly Business prior to 9.00am or after 6.00pm on a working day is avoided where possible. A number of flexible working options are open to enable staff and staff with caring responsibilities to balance work and home commitments. These include compressed hours working, part-time working, term-time working, job sharing, homeworking and opportunities for career breaks. We believe that we are an exemplar employer in terms of accommodating the varying needs of our staff in relation to flexible working arrangements.
We acknowledge however that due to business needs, some groups of staff are constrained in taking up flexible working opportunities and are unable to take advantage of these flexible working patterns. Where this is the case, colleagues’ individual requirements are taken into consideration by managers where possible.
Equal Pay
Our emerging Pay Strategy will underpin the principle of fair and equal pay. At the time of publication of this Scheme, there is little evidence to suggest that there are any pay inequalities. Our existing pay system has short and incremental payscales which can go some way to mitigate pay differentials. As part of our pay negotiations in 2010, we will however undertake an equal pay audit and its findings will inform our new Pay Strategy.
Women who return from maternity leave rejoin the payscale at the point they would have been if not absent.
Pregnancy, Maternity and Paternity Leave
With regard to pregnancy, maternity, adoption and paternity leave we also believe we are an exemplar employer, giving benefits which in this area considerably exceed statutory entitlements. Any permanently employed woman who is in paid service at the time her maternity leave begins and has been for at least 12 months, receives six months’ leave on full pay, then three months’ statutory maternity pay with the option of a further three months’ unpaid leave and the possibility of special leave without pay, i.e. a career break, for a period of up to five years after the completion of the 52 weeks (paid plus unpaid) maternity leave (subject to performance and attendance criteria).
Adoption leave is available on the same basis as maternity leave. Paternity leave (this includes co-parent leave for same-sex couples), enables the co-parent to have full pay during their three-week leave entitlement. Staff may also apply for special leave to deal with domestic emergencies and for unpaid Parental leave for a period of up to 13 weeks or 18 weeks in the case of a child who is disabled.
Recruitment and Selection
Our recruitment process uses a competency-based framework to recruit staff. Information about our recruitment process is available on our website.
During the selection process, we use gender-balanced recruiting panels. Our organisation also participates in the Jobcentre’s 'Positive about Disability - Two Ticks Scheme’ by which disabled people are guaranteed an interview on application subject to fulfilling the minimum criteria of a sift process.
We have also had our recruitment practices externally reviewed to ensure that they are not creating a barrier to ethnic minority people who work for us or who could be potential employees.
We must ensure that our recruitment policies and practices (e.g. where we advertise or how we share opportunities with the public), do not form barriers to people who wish to apply for work with us. We use outreach/visits and are developing workplace assignments for under-represented groups to try and broaden our recruitment audience. These issues have been addressed within the Action Plan, including the consideration of different approaches to recruitment advertising in full consultation with TUS colleagues.
Learning and Development
We offer our staff a variety of informal and formal learning and development opportunities.
Our new Leadership Programme will also have equality considerations built in to its delivery. The aim of the Programme is to analyse our current leadership capability and to provide development activities to improve leadership now and for the future. Initially, the Programme will engage with senior managers but as it progresses, development activities will be rolled out more widely.
Equality Training and Awareness-Raising Programme
Equality training is included in our Induction Training package for new members of staff.
The Equality and Access Team is working with service areas across the organisation to develop core equality training on the Equality Scheme and awareness-raising for all staff. Bespoke equality training will be identified and developed with staff in relation to the business needs of service areas and will include training on the requirements of the public sector equality duties.
Employee Support
Challenging Harassment and Bullying
The Assembly Commission’s 'Dignity at Work’ Policy is in place to assure staff and potential employees that any form of harassment or bullying will not be tolerated. The policy provides the opportunity for informal and formal investigation. We are considering in partnership with our TUS colleagues, how the policy can be amended to be consistent with this Equality Scheme. When changes have been agreed, we will arrange refresher training for staff to ensure that they are fully aware of the implications and impacts of their behaviour on others.
We currently have two trained harassment officers. We recognise that there is a need to train and appoint more staff to become harassment officers and investigating officers, and also appoint external investigators when needed to help us to deal with more complex cases.
Staff Networks
We have a Disabled Staff Network and an LGBT Staff Network run by staff for staff and they are both formally recognised by the Assembly Commission and have their own budgets. The purpose of the networks is to serve as support networks for disabled and LGBT staff and to feed into policy development via involvement in equality impact assessment and other methods of consultation.
We will use the experience of the Disabled Staff Network and the LGBT Staff Network to establish a network for ethnic minority staff.
Corporate Health
To promote and encourage the wellbeing of all staff, the following services are available:
Every member of staff receives a Display Screen Equipment (DSE) assessment;
The Employee Assistance Programme is a 24-hour independent counselling service open to all staff;
Access to an occupational health nurse and medical officer;
Risk assessments are undertaken for expectant, new and nursing mothers; and
Promotion of health campaigns.
