Complying with the Equality Act 2010

All CLC practices must comply with the Equality Act as employers and service providers, as must the CLC itself. There’s a lot of very helpful of guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission on complying with the Equality Act 2010:

https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/equality-act/equality-act-2010

Recruiting and retaining the best talent

All businesses are competing for the people who are most able to help them develop and thrive. There is considerable evidence that a diverse workforce and diverse leadership teams build more successful organisations.

Offering quality experience of work, adopting new approaches to recruitment and breaking down barriers to entering work for people from disadvantaged groups can benefit business by tackling skills shortages, building new talent pipelines, boosting retention rates and achieving higher productivity.

The CLC’s research shows that black and minority ethnic groups aren’t present in the CLC-regulated workforce in the proportion that we’d expect given the make-up of the England and Wales population.  Business in the Community’s (BITC) website has many  resources available about developing inclusive recruitment processes. https://race.bitc.org.uk/

We’ve also found that, though women make up nearly three-quarters of all workers in CLC-regulated firms, only around half of women are managers. Men are twice as likely to progress to a manager role. BITC also have useful resources. https://gender.bitc.org.uk/

Could you be overlooking what older workers have to offer? There are plenty of resources available, such as: https://age.bitc.org.uk/ and https://www.ageing-better.org.uk/our-work/fulfilling-work  

Inclusive Employers  also has a great deal of practical guidance and materials.

Helping employees be themselves at work

People perform best when they can be themselves at work. But Deloitte found that 61% of people hide some aspect of themselves in the workplace. Visibility of role models and an inclusive environment can give your employees the confidence to bring their full selves to work – and your business will benefit.

The InterLaw Diversity Forum runs events and develops publication on race, gender, disability and LGBT inclusion.

The Association of Women Lawyers offers associate membership for non-solicitors working in the legal sector as does the Association of Asian Women Lawyers.

The Society of Black Lawyers, the Black Solicitors Network  and the Society of Asian Lawyers provide support for BAME lawyers.

Other resources for employers

LawCare promotes and supports good mental health and wellbeing in the legal community.

To help build an inclusive environment, why not promote events such as Black History Month, LGBT History Month,  or Holocaust Memorial Day to colleagues?

Inclusive Employers has a Diversity Calendar  that lists key events as well as some of their own activities.