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School suspends woman over veil.

(Taken from www.bbc.co.uk, Friday October 13th)

A Muslim woman has been suspended by a school in West Yorkshire after she insisted on wearing a veil in lessons.

Bilingual support worker Aishah Azmi, 24, was asked to remove the veil after pupils found it hard to understand her during English Language lessons. Headfield Church of England junior school, in Dewsbury, said she could wear the veil outside the classroom. Ms Azmi refused and was suspended pending the outcome of an employment tribunal, Kirklees Council said.

The tribunal heard the case in September and is due to announce it's decision in the next two weeks. Dewsbury MP Shahid Malik backed the school's decision saying: "In schools the top priority has got to be the education of our children. "I fully support the decision of the education authority and the school in requesting the classroom assistant remove her veil when teaching primary school children. I believe the education authority has bent over backwards to be accommodating and has been extremely reasonable and sensible in the decision it has come too. There is no religious obligation whatsoever for Muslim women to cover themselves up in front of primary school children."

The school, which has 529 pupils aged 7 to 11, takes many children from different ethnic backgrounds where English is not the first language. An Ofsted report carried out in February said: "The first languages spoken by most children are Punjabi, Gujarati and Urdu, and many children are still learning to speak English. Significant improvement is required in relation to the inadequate standards of achievement reached by children and their slow progress over time. Children's speaking skills are poor and this holds them back in most aspects of their work."

Kirklees Council's children's services spokesman Jim Dodds, said Ms Azmi's suspension was "nothing to do with religion. We are simply trying to ensure that our children get the best possible education," he said. "Both pupils and teachers raised concerns because they were finding it difficult to make out what she was saying during lessons. We have a lot of pupils who don't speak English as their first language and you have to be able to see people's lips move when you are being taught. We asked this young lady to remove her veil when she was teaching English language, but she refused."

Mr Dodds said that even is Ms Azmi won her case the council would not change it's position. "Our only concern is that the children are taught properly," he said.

Last week Commons leader Jack Straw angered some Muslims when he said wearing a veil made community relations more difficult.

Why Muslim women wear the veil

Add skills, Add value

(Taken from www.timesonline.co.uk, October 4th)

"It's positive...diversity should be embedded into the business rather than be something that HR does"

It's a tricky balance between being positive about the training and develpment of women and trying not to make the other half (or so) of your workforce feel left out. Why do women need special career development seminars and networking events when there are plenty out there open to men and women alike? The phrase that everyone shies away from in discussion of this topic is positive discrimination, which seems to be the category into which women focused training and development falls. But delve a little deeper and it soon becomes clear that its not as simple as that, and that most companies set up such training provision in response to employee demand - and because it makes sound business sense.

There are still sutble differences, however, in what companies are trying to achieve by giving women the opportunity to take part in courses and programmes aimed at them. "It's part of the development jigsaw," says Sue Acton, the head of diversity at Barclays. "We're embedding diversity into leadership training." Action is using research, evidence and inspiration from Barclay's women in leadership course to "bring a commercial persective to the table" and to show that diversity is good for business.

HSBC's senior manager for global diversity, Michael Shearer, also believes that diversity is at the heart of a good business case, but his company takes a slightly more innovative approach to its women-focused training and tries to harness its power. "Last year we piloted a woman's global summit in Paris, inviting the top 40 women in the company from all over the world," he says, "We asked ourselves how we can represent the best of our female talent, so they were asked to discuss issues of common relevance. Then we asked how can this group bring a different perspective on (the company's) growth?" The premise being that sometimes such events can spark creativity that may not have happened in a different environment.

Shell also has a programme that it believes has a direct impact on the women involved and on the company as a whole. Its women's career development programme is a three day intensive training course which encompasses self-analysis, practical tips and "crystal ball gazing", as Jane Underwood, a programme manager at Shell Learning, puts it. She quotes some impressive statistics: "Thiry percent of women who have been on the course have been promoted and all said that the course helped them; 83% of attendees said that it had enhanced their career. It really focuses the mind."

Another company that is unapologetic about its training and development strategies aimed at women is Accenture. "We've had a global women's programme since 1999," says Samantha Clark, the head of inclusion and diversity. "We want to encourage women in their careers and we recognise that women can face challenges in the workplace. We've identified that sometimes we need to help with skills building." The company's Global Women's Initiative focuses on networking, mentoring and skills development, but it is mentoring that is the most interesting aspect. "We have a long established tradition of career counselling, where employees are assigned a counsellor, usuallt someone more senior in the same area of the business," Clark says. "But the idea of the mentoring programme is that senior people put themselves forward and those to be mentored choose their mentors. People make as much or as little of the mentoring relationships as they need, but when they work well it's very beneficial." Beneficial, that is, for both protogee and mentor; for the former there is the obvious benefit of having someone more senior whose advice they can seek in confidence; and for the mentors the benefit of gaining an insight into aspects of the business they might not usually see.

ABN AMRO goes one step further. As well as its mentoring programme aimed at mid-mangement women, it has a board mentoring programme , where board members mentor senior women. "It achieves two things," says Jackie Pummell, the head of business unit diversity and inclusion in Europe. "One is to support the development of senior women, which is important in ensuring a pipeline of talent to board level. The second is that it is important for board members to have that relationship because they learn from it - they often get the benefit from a different perspective." Pummell is, however, careful not to make the women-focused training and development (the company also offers training and networking opportunities) sound as if it is giving women an unfair advantage. "We believe it's positive for our learning to be inclusive, and generally women are happy with that, but occasionally it's useful for women to do courses with other women because you get a slightly different dynamic." Pummell is of the same opinion as Acton when it comes to diversity and leadership training: "Diversity should be a consideration in all your people processes, which include retirement, talent mangement and promotions. It has to be embedded into the business rather than being something that HR does.."

Your staff should reflect the local community

(Taken from www.timesonline.co.uk, October 4th)

Diversity is no longer just a box ticking exercise in the annual report. Leading organisations now see it as a business issue which must be placed high on the agenda.

Debbie Allen, the director of corporate responsibility at BAE Systems, explains: " A diversity policy has moved on from the nice-to-have, and we now see it as part of managing risk. Unless our organisation reflects the genders, races, religions and abilities of our customers and suppliers, the company can not be sustainable in the future."

Sue Jex at HSBC says that diversity feeds into every area of business. "It's about finding new markets and new ways to serve our customer base. We know that employing and managing diverse people gives us a more rounded and balanced organisation and makes us more adaptable to new situations. This is not simply about gender, ethnicity, disability or age. It's about open mindedness, embracing non-conformity and creating balanced teams. Respect for individuals will inspire loyalty in employees and customers."

"For MacDonalds," says vice president David Fairhurst, "the business case is simple. Our restaurants serve local communities across the country and our staff must reflect these communities to be locally relevant and provide good customer service in an environment which people feel is familiar. This makes customers return again and again - which is good for business."

A company brand attracts customers to its goods or services, and since women have 80% of the consumer spend according to a survey by the US marketing organisation Just Ask A Woman, the brand must reflect diversity. Microsoft targets female customers through the Trestle Foundation which provides technology support to female IT entrepeneurs.

HSBC has also identified the business need to appeal to the broadest spectrum of customers. Jex says: " A generalised market approach can not reach the whole market. By having representatives of the smaller segments of the customer base within our workforce we can gain an understanding of those customers and so can adapt our products and services for their needs. The organisation gains a competitive edge from the variety present among our staff."

Firms urged to help the mentally ill

(Taken from www.bbc.co.uk, Monday October 9th)

Employers are far less likely to employ people with mental illnesses than with physical ailments, a report shows.

Just 20% of those with servere mental health problems have jobs, compared with 65% who have physical problems. The Government is launching an initiative urging employers to improve conditions for people with a mental health problem. A spokesperson for the Confederation of British Industry said the majority of businesses offered staff support.

It is estimated 1 in 4 people will suffer a mental illness at some point in their lives. And even for those with more common types of mental illness, such as despression, only about half are competitively employed. However, up to 90% of people with mental health problems want to work, compared to 52% of disabled people generally. The voluntary standards, launched to coincide with World Health day, will also be used by Public Sector organisations, including local councils, government departments and hospitals.

The Disability Discrimination Act, which comes into force this December will require these bodies to end unlawful discrimination and promote equality of opportunity.

Health Minister Rosie Winterton said: "Ignorance and stigma still surround the issue of mental health and when someone does develop a problem, they often do not get the support they need from society to help them recover. We all have a role to play in helping to tackle this issue. Employers can help by raising awareness of mental health issues amongst staff, supporting those affected and combatting discrimination against staff and customers. This is good for staff and good for employers, who we know will benefit from reduced staff turnover and sickness absences."

Work and Pensions Minister Lord Hunt said " Work is important and beneficial to our physical and mental well being. Because of this, it is essential that we remove the barriers that prevent people starting, returning to, or remaining in work."

A Confederation of British Industry (CBI) spokesman said: " Three quarters of companies already operate a stress management policy and 84% offer rehabilitation support when staff become ill. But employers, especially small firms, need more support and advice in helping employees with mental ill health, so we welcome the Department of Health's promise to listen to businesses' needs and to develop commonsense guidance."

A growing number of parents think that their children are depressed and are turning to mental health charities for help. Young Minds says one in five people who call their helpline are parent seeking advice about their children's depression. Figures suggest that for every child who takes his or her life, 50 more will try.

'Millions unaware' of ageism laws

(Taken from www.bbc.co.uk, Monday 25th September)

Millions of UK workers are unaware of new ageism laws which come into force on October 1st, a survey suggests.

The Employers Forum on Age survey of 1000 people aged over 16 found that 50% did not know that ageism in the workplace would be outlawed. It also found 61% of respondents knew of cases of what they considered to be ageist behaviour where they worked. It also found evidence that both young and old could lose out in areas such as pay and promotion because of their age.

A separate survey for the charity Help the Aged, published on Saturday (23rd September 2006) found that just 42% of 1000 people surveyed knew that the law on age discrimination was about to change.

"Ageism is endemic in our society and rife in our workplaces," said Sam Mercer, of the Employers Forum on Age. "These attitudes need to be challenged and outlawed so that they become as unacceptable as racism or sexism. This legislation will help provide protection for the people who feel that they have been discriminated against on the grounds of age."

One of the biggest changes that will be brought in under the new laws is that employers will not be able to impose compulsory retirement before 65. At the moment many employers state that 60 is their standard retirement age. Whether or not compulsory retirement should be kept at the new level of 65, or be abolished all together, will be formally reviewed by the Government in 2011.

Even though a growing pensions crisis means that many people will have to work for longer, 25% of those aged between 55 and 64 who responded to the Help the Aged survey felt that firms would not employ them beyond 65. According to the charity, the UK has "a serious job to do" in making sure that older workers realise that they can take action against employers who force them to retire before 65 of refuse them promotion or work because of their age.

"While the new regulations will make a difference, it;s regrettable that the Government has seen fit to continue to allow employers to force people to retire at 65," said Help the Aged spokeswoman Kate Jopling.

Although the Age Regulation doesn't come into effect until October 1st, other countries are well ahead. To read here to learn about Age Discrimination policies around the world.

If you would like some further information of the new ageism laws read 'Older people written off by Age Discrimination Laws' by Chris J Perry, Director of Age Concern Hampshire