Equal Opportunities and Diversity

It is vital that there is equality in the work place. Equality means that everyone is giving the same opportunity to to fulfil their potential no matter what race, age, gender, etc they are. New legislations came in to remove discrimination and create equality. These are Sexual Orientation (2003), Religion & Belief (2003), Disability (2004), Age (2006) and the Equality Act (2010).

Diversity is about acceptance and respect, and recognising that everyone is unique and understanding everyones differences. These differences can be explored in a safe environment and embrace the diversity of each individual.

The purpose of Equal Opportunities Legislation Act is to eliminate unjustified discrimination by making it illegal. This means that all workers get the same chance as everyone else and employers cannot favour someone based on the factors mentioned before. The employers can take positive action to create equal opportunites, this will help with motivation within the company, and could improve staff performance, whilst also creating a better working environment. It also provides a way for people who have been discriminated against to redress the problem.

Age legislation came into force in 2006, this would have had a big impact on employers as they could now not favour people of a preferred age. They would now have to allow people of certain ages to continue working if they wished as they could not make them redundant due to their age as it would break the law. Therefore there would be a much older workforce, they would not be able to favour someone when employing them due to their age. It could also work the other way as employers may not want to hire someone who is too young. Employers may hold stereotypes against older and younger people including (for younger people) that they're lazy and maybe selfish. The media does not portray young people in a good way and gives them a bad name, when they can be very positive and driven to succeed. Some stereotypes on old people is that they could be forgetful and set in their ways but that they are also experienced. There may also be a problem in the work place of employers not hiring women of a certain age, as they are likely to get pregnant and have to take maternaty leave and cost the business more money. With the new legislation this cannot happen now.


How Sainsbury's promote equal opportunities

 They launched a programme called "You Can" in 2008 which encourages a wide range of people to join, particularly for long-term unemployed people and disadvantaged people. It helps them develop skills needed. In 2006 they founded a scheme called WorkRight which was aimed at people with difficulties at work to help them overcome those disadvantages to enable to pursue their ambitions. In 2008 they set themselves a target of increasing the amount of female floor managers to 20% by 2011 and they have achieved this. Then give employees an annual feedback to help improve problems that ethnic minorities face ar work and make sure there is diversity within the organisation. They also planned to recruit 10,000 over 50's to their stores nationwide in a bid to reduce age discrimination and give elder people more chance of work.

Conclusion

In conclusion, equal opportunities are essential in a business, as it makes for a pleasant working environment and it can get the best out of each individual despite their differences. It helps people to feel accepted and enable to them to complete the job to the best of their ability. The Acts are put in place to make this happen and make the work place a discrimination free environment.

Bibliography

•  Mullins, L.J. (2010), Management & Organisational Behaviour, 9th edition, Essex, FT
• http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2005/05/18/29965/sainsburys-seeks-to-recruit-10000-50-somethings.html
• http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/sol/index.jsp
• What are Your Employment Rights?. Available: http://www.aboutequalopportunities.co.uk/employment-rights.html. Last accessed 2011