Management handling of sexual orientation, religion & belief in the workplace | findings

Accomodating religious observances (e.g. holy days, festivals, dress requirements and dietary requirements), and the fear that not doing so would be seen as indirect discrimination, were key issues for managers. Managers were  committed to accommodating reasonable requests when these could be balanced against business needs.

The bullying, harassment and victimisation of lesbian, gay and bisexual employees were still seen to be key issues even after the introduction of the legislation. Managers needed to deal more prominently with the change to what was now legally unacceptable behaviour. They also needed to tackle the view that challenging discrimination based on sexual orientation was still seen as somehow 'controversial'.

The relative lack of case law and employment tribunal decisions in these areas, compared to  established areas such as race and gender, had a negative impact on how confident managers felt about tackling issues when they arose. Some solutions suggested by Managers included:  the better promotion of case law; better equality and diversity training; and learning about what to do from other organisations and from existing staff.

Organisational cultures that needed to be challenged included: ingrained cultures of bullying and harassment; lack of diversity across management and employee profiles; and poor diversity awareness in the workplace. Good leadership in making the case for fairness and equality, which consequently signalled support for such policies was viewed as key to achieving organisational change, as was broadening responsibility for these issues to all managers and not just human resources managers.

Managers identified a number of measures that would foster good practice in the workplace. These measures included: transparent recruitment procedures; diverse interview panels; and advertising job opportunities in a variety of places. Managers needed to build a culture of trust in which employees would feel that their complaints would be handled seriously and sensitively. Tackling complaints as early as possible, knowing where to seek advice when a complaint was made and having training on handling difficult conversations were all seen as ways to facilitate this.

Monitoring of religious belief and sexual orientation was seen as particularly sensitive but necessary if fairness and equal opportunities were to be achieved. Good practice included ensuring that the purpose of collecting such information was properly explained; giving reassurances about how data would be stored and used; and introducing monitoring at the same time as policies to challenge discriminatory cultures in the workplace.