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Notes of ECU Scottish HEI Liaison Group meeting
6 October 2016, University of Stirling
Part 1: Equal pay workshop
Close the Gap (Lindsey Millen) and ECU (Ellen Pugh) provided a joint presentation on equal pay and new PSED reporting requirements for April 2017.
Key points arising from the discussion included the following:
=The duties require that senior managers are included in pay gap analysis; it is known that this is an area where there are significant pay gaps in both professional and senior management grades.
=Occupational segregation throughout grades is also an issue with lack of opportunities for people to move between grades and access senior levels.
=Although legislative requirements specify minimal data gathering, in practice, this is insufficient to inform action; good data is at the heart of being able to understand the issues and inform equality outcomes, evidenced by both measurement and narrative.
=The legal requirements specify that only one pay gap figure is required; however, this may mask problems across grades where a problem of occupational segregation may exist.
=Similarly, some institutions may focus on the published ‘5% threshold’ to suggest they do not have an equal pay problem if the pay gap is under this figure; a single equal pay gap figure within the 0 – 5% range may not mean there is no problem across grades and job types.
=All employees should be included in the pay gap analysis, including staff on non-typical contracts to ensure inclusion of all possible issues across grades and roles.
=Under the new duties, there is a requirement to provide a statement on equal pay and on occupational segregation for race and disability (in addition to gender) but currently no requirement to undertake a pay gap analysis for race and disability.
=Undertaking a pay gap analysis for all groups (including race and disability) may help to inform a better understanding of the issues; data collation systems and improvements may be required in order to do this.
=Different BME groups and / or staff with different disabilities may experience greater disadvantage and breakdown categories should be considered where feasible.
=Encouraging and improving disclosure rates will be important in identifying minority groups where further investigation or action is needed.
=Equal pay statements for 2017 should include the policy on pay for all employees and on occupational segregation for gender, race and disability. It should also refer to the results of data analysis and how this will be used to inform priorities and the action to be taken.
=The ECU’s publication ‘Promoting equality in pay’ (referenced below), has a number of useful checklists that may be helpful in examining pay equality data and issues. Note – this publication was produced and has been primarily used within Wales.
Action: Group members please provide any feedback on the usefulness of this publication to either Anne Ireson or David Bass (ECU).
=It is important to highlight what actions will be taken arising from the collection of data and identification of issues.
=There were a range of questions about dealing with small data numbers; links to relevant EHRC and ECU publications are included below. In the longer term, improving data collation and disclosure will help with the new wider duties for disability and race.
=Occupational segregation issues – disability. Key issues discussed included:
–Disclosure rates and under-reporting
–Strategies to increase disclosure (standard and targeted)
–Emphasis on support available to ‘incentivise’ disclosure and evidence commitment
–Provision of a disability confident statement
–Consideration of terminology used for disability – some HEIS had used ‘health condition’ instead
–Provide information for employees that evidences how data and research has been used or will be used to make positive changes
–Consider engaging or consulting with staff, or those who represent them
–Emphasis on disclosure is usually during recruitment, when disabled people may be less likely to disclose. Engagement and focus around further opportunities to disclose, once people are established in roles and in organisations, can be helpful
Ellen (ECU) confirmed there is little research in the area of occupational segregation for disabled staff but it is known that disabled people are likely to be concentrated in part-time work and that issues may be different for staff with different impairment types.
=Occupational segregation issues – race. Key issues discussed included:
–The difference between BME staff employed in the UK and those working in HEIS outside the UK
–There is a concentration of BME staff in STEM subjects but an absence in other subject areas
–There are few BME staff in professional services and this is perhaps not reflective of the local population
–Lower graded posts may not be likely to attract BME staff relocating to the area, if for example, there are no established BME communities in the area
–There are significant numbers of BME students studying in Scotland but this does not result in similar employment within the labour market
–The use of data and definition of categories (where possible) is important to help understand the issues involved
–It was recognised there are complex reasons for occupational segregation in the area of race, partly due to prior experiences in the educational system, stereotyping and the lack of role models
Resources
A number of resources on equal pay reporting were highlighted as being useful to HEIs as they write reports:
Promoting equality in pay, ECU -
Occupational segregation in Scottish HEIs: disability, gender, race – ECU,
Working with data, ECU -
Setting equality outcomes: guidance for Scottish institutions, ECU -
Employee Information and the Public Sector Equality Duty, EHRC -
Making Progress? An assessment of public sector employers’ compliance with the public sector equality duty, Close the Gap -
Public sector equality duty: Guidance for reporting on gender and employment, equal pay, and occupational segregation – Close the Gap,
Part 2: Liaison group business
Attendance
Adrian Lui / Glasgow CaledonianAnne Ireson / Equality Challenge Unit
Ajit Trivedi / University of Dundee
Chris Sellers / University of the Highlands and Islands
Claire Ennis / University of the West of Scotland
Edna Docherty / University of Stirling
Erin Williams / Robert Gordon’s University
David Bass / Equality Challenge Unit
Fiona Millar / University of Glasgow
Gary Loke / Equality Challenge Unit
Halena Gauntlett / Scottish Funding Council
Katherine Reibeig / University of Stirling
Mhairi Taylor / University of Glasgow
Muriel Masson / Queen Margaret University
Naira Dar / University of the West of Scotland
Ross McNaughton / University of the West of Scotland
Scott Wigglesworth / University of Strathclyde
Sharan Virdee / Heriot Watt University
Sukhi Bains / University of St Andrews
Apologies: Helen Duncan (UHI); Pauline Hanesworth (HEA); Roz Caplan (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland).
1. Welcome and introductions
=ECU welcomed members and thanked the University of Stirling for hosting the meeting.
2. Notes of last meeting
The notes of the meeting were approved and it was noted that all previous actions had been completed.
3. ECU briefing paper
The following discussion took place:
=Equality Act amendments and governing bodies. Recent changes to the Equality Act will impact on governing bodies and require boards to report on their gender make up within HEIs and more broadly on all protected characteristics (anonymously) to the Scottish Government.
=ECU has produced a draft briefing, outlining the changes and what they mean for governing bodies and HEIs in practice which has gone out to Secretaries. The Scottish Government is beginning to contact boards during October so timescales are tight. EHRC guidance will not be out until November
Action: ECU draft briefing to be circulated to group members.
=Outcome agreements (OAs). Guidance has just been released by the SFC for the OA period 2017 – 20; OAs for 2016 to 2017 have also been reviewed by ECU. ECU analysis will be used to update the ECU outcome agreement toolkit guidance for the new OA period, with a view to publishing this as soon as possible.
=There was some discussion about the OA process and ensuring a joined up approach, with equality being embedded. Halena (SFC) confirmed her view that the requirements of outcome agreements and the PSED duties overlap, should be aligned and the process of writing OAs should include the involvement of E&D leads.
=There was discussion about the gender focus of OAs and the work around Gender Action Plans but there was also acknowledgement there may need to be further discussions about ensuring that race and disability issues are also embedded.
=New ECU Trans guidance. ECU highlighted there will be new guidance on Trans issues published and available in November. If HEIs are working on data with reference to non-binary staff or students now, ECU may be able to circulate relevant extracts from the guidance; members to get in touch if further information required.
Action: group members to let ECU know if information is required in advance of publication date for new guidance
4. SLG member updates
=EIA. There is a recognition that there are ongoing difficulties relating to the EIA process which underpins embedding equality within institutional practice and in addition, is an integral requirement of OAs. Issues identified include unwillingness to engage, a lack of understanding and poor quality where EIAs are undertaken.
5. AOB
=BSL.Halena (SFC) asked the group about information circulated on the aims and ambitions of the BSL Act and whether they had seen this as SFC have only had one university response and feedback is sought.
Action: Halena to recirculate the information.
=ECU member survey. Anne (ECU) reminded the group about the deadline for the ECU survey and advised members that if this has not already been completed within their institutions, it would be very helpful to have feedback on the role provided by ECU to support the sector.
Action: Group members and institutions to complete survey by deadline date of 14 October if possible.
=Upcoming events. The following events were highlighted:
–Scottish Government conference for equality practitioners.On the 21 November the Scottish Government is holding a conference for equality and diversity practitioners across Scotland’s public sector bodies. An invitation from the government is attached.
–Discrimination Law in 2017.An EHRC seminar on discrimination law updates on Monday 23rd January 2017, Radisson Blu Hotel, Glasgow. Further information at in November.
6. Date and arrangements for future meetings
=Dates for meetings for 2017 to be scheduled.
=For the next meeting, it was agreed to hold a ‘surgery’,suggested to take place in January, to allow for discussion in preparation for progress and queries with new PSED reporting. It was also suggested that group members may wish to invite relevant institutional colleagues to the meeting.