Equality, diversity and rights at workplace in Westminster City Essay

Equality, diversity and rights at workplace in Westminster City Council - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that equality and right to equal opportunities are still evident and persistent in most of the places, be it at school, workplace, or society in whole. The exploitation of equal rights is more prevalent in places with diversified culture. Gender equality and women’s rights have gained growing attention over the past decades as a result of which international labor standards and national legislation have been adopted on a wide range of related issues. According to Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development global inequality continued to grow over the 20th century and is still increasing in countries and between countries. OECD estimates that the quantum of inequality will be even larger by the year 2020 between OECD countries and poor countries. The gap inequality on global front is large, but the same gap persists within the nation on the basis of gender, class, ethnicity, age, disability, health, income, employment, etc. Witcher states that mainstreaming equality is done through incorporating equal opportunities issues into all actions, programmes, and policies from the outset. Various legislations have been enacted in the United Kingdom to eradicate the unequal treatment in the society. The first and foremost legislation, Equal Pay Act 1970, was passed to dismantle the roots of inequality in pay rates which were biased towards men as women were paid less comparatively while working in the same capacity as of their male counterpart. Later on various legislations like Sex Discrimination Act 1975, Sex Discrimination (Gender Reassignment) Regulations 1999, Gender Recognition Act 2004, Gender Equality Duty of 2007, Disability Discrimination Acts, Race regulations, employment equality (religion or belief) regulations 2003, employment equality (age) regulations 2006, were enacted and passed so as to provide equal opportunities and protect their rights to equality of vulnerable groups. The recent legislati on, Equality Act 2010 lays the cross-cutting legislative framework to protect the rights of individuals and promote equal opportunities to all and to eradicate discriminatory practices in the society. The act strengthens the previous equal rights acts of disability and employment by preventing the employers from screening the disabled applicant from the recruitment process. The Equality Act 2010 addresses all the problems regarding equal rights and equal opportunities in the society including the workplace. Westminster borough is situated towards the west of London City and home of the UK government at the Palace of Westminster also known as ‘Theatreland’ which is home to numerous landmarks. It is the official residence of Queen with Buckingham place in the boundaries. The borough is an employer of choice, promotes culture, and provides a working environment free from all forms of discrimination and inequality like bullying, harassment, and victimization. Consultation d raft on Single Equality Scheme 2010-13 prepared by Westminster City Council mentioned that it is extremely diverse city attracting new migrants and most of the residents in the council are born outside the United Kingdom. The draft further mentions that more than half of its residents are non-white British, the high proportion of residents are of working age, different religious beliefs, and nearly 15% of them have the disability.