Cambridge Regional College

Equality & Diversity

Human Resources Commitment to Equality and Diversity

The College is committed to embedding Equality and Diversity into the heart of everything we do. Through this commitment the Human Resources Department embraces good Equality and Diversity practices into its every day work to ensure we are not only utilising best practice methods of working but also compliant with our legal obligations.

The information below details what Equality and Diversity (E&D) means, why it is important, the work we currently do, the work in progress, how we monitor Equality and Diversity and how to obtain more information.

What does Equality and Diversity mean?

Equality is a term used for allowing everyone to have equality of opportunity.

Diversity is about taking into account an individual’s personal differences.

Why is it important?

Equality and Diversity affects us all, whether this is through the access to goods and services or matters relating to employment. Whilst positively and proactively focusing on Equality and Diversity is the right thing to do, there is also a legal requirement within the Equality Act 2010 to ensure organisations take E&D seriously. This information specifically focuses on the employment elements of Equality and Diversity, however the content still has relevance on the other aspects relating to goods and services.

The Equality Act 2010

The Equality Act became law on 1st October 2010 with the aim to consolidate simplify and harmonise the separate pieces discrimination legislation already in UK law. The protected characteristics it covers are:

Gender
Race
Sexual Orientation
Age
Disability
Religion or belief
Transgender/Gender reassignment
Pregnancy and maternity
Marriage and civil partnership

Ofsted requirements

Equality and Diversity is a key judgement area within the Ofsted inspection framework and impacts on the overall grade received by the College.

For more information please click here:

http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/equality-ofsted-employment-report-april-2009-march-2010

Best practice

Putting aside the legal background to Equality and Diversity, the Human Resources Team strongly believes caring about Equality and Diversity because it is the right thing to do and assists with our aim; Strategic plan for 2011-14: Goal 5: Be recognised as an excellent employer

This information, along with the Human Resources Action Plan 2012-2015 (given below) detail how we care about Equality and Diversity and the actions already completed or in progress as testimony to this.

Equality & Diversity Action Plan

Human Resources Equality and Diversity Action Plan

As part of the public sector, the Equality Act 2010 places general and specific duties on the College in terms of how it incorporates and complies with the Act.

General Duties:

* Eliminate unlawful discrimination
* Advance equality of opportunity
* Foster good relations

Specific duties:

The specific duties in relation to publishing equality and diversity data and objectives.

In response to our public sector duties in relation to HR matters, Human Resources have agreed an Action Plan for 2012-2015 detailing the actions it has put in place to ensure the College meets the HR requirements.

To view the Human Resources Equality and Diversity Action Plan 2012-2015 please click here.

Governance

The College has an Equality and Diversity Group which meets regularly and is chaired by the Principal. HR is represented at this group and reports on its progress against the HR Equality and Diversity Action Plan.

Furthermore HR reports on its progress on HR projects as part of its monthly operational reporting to the College’s Senior Management Team (SMT).

Employment statistics

The College regularly reviews it employment statistics gathered through confidential Equality and Diversity monitoring forms. The purpose of this is to identify any trends and include actions as appropriate within the HR Equality and Diversity Action plan.

This data looks at Equality and Diversity trend in relation to:

* Current workforce
* Applications
* Internal promotions
* Formal case management
* Labour turnover

For details of our employment statistics please click the links below:

2010/11

2009/10

Equality and Diversity Monitoring

The Human Resources Department carries out Equality and Diversity monitoring of all job applicants to the College. The information you provide to Human Resources is treated in strictness confidence and only used for the purpose of analysing trends in terms of the characteristics of our workforce.

Current employees are also periodically requested to complete an Equality and Diversity (E&D) monitoring form to ensure our data is up to date.

If you would like to know more about the current analysis of our workforce please read the information provided in our 'Equality & Diversity Action Plan', detailed above.

Positive about Disabled People

The College is proud to display the Two Ticks symbol which indicates we are positive about employing disabled people. One of the key commitments the College makes as part of this is to interview all disabled candidates who meet the essential attributes criteria for a role.

Click here to see our latest vacancies