Ethos Public Relations Manchester

Test your knowledge of the new Equality Act

by Ethos public relations

The coalition government will go ahead with the introduction of the Equality Act on October 1st. With the aim of making Britain a more equal society, the Act which was planned by the previous administration, has been broadly welcomed – however, there is concern that its implications have not been fully understood by the housing sector.

Chloe Weatherhead Head of Housing e-Academy said: “The Act includes a single ‘public sector equality duty’ applying to public bodies which embraces grounds such as sexual orientation and religious belief as well as race, disability and gender which comes into force next year.

“It’s vital housing staff fully understand and are prepared for the changes.

“To see if your staff fully understand the implications of the new Act – we’ve developed a short quiz which anyone can do via the Housing e-Academy website.”

Many Housing e-Academy members have requested help with the practical implementation of the Act. In response to this demand, the Housing e-Academy, has worked with Bradford based social housing provider Incommunities and Chris Root a leading equality and diversity consultant to develop a new e-learning course 'Opening Doors: Equality, Diversity & Cultural Awareness'.

Ian Stone, Incommunities’ Employee Learning & Development Consultant has completed the course. He said: “I understand more about the way in which cultural diversity is key to the success of our organisation. The module also helped me to think about wider diversity issues when attempting to meet the needs of our customers.”

Chloe said that any organisation concerned about staff knowledge of the Act and its implications will find this e-learning course useful. It takes around two hours to complete and can be done at a time and place to suit the individual.

“To find out if this course if for you, try the short quiz on our website which people can use as an informal tool to assess employee understanding of the new Act,” she said.  “Making mistakes can be costly on every level and staff training may be required to ensure peace of mind for your business.”

For more information or to order a copy of ‘Opening Doors: Equality, Diversity & Cultural Awareness’ telephone Chloe Weatherhead on 01943 885085 or go to www.housingea.co.uk. For more information about e-learning call 01943 885085 or e-mail info@housingea.co.uk.

Posted at 29^th September 2010