In your job role, you have a duty of care to challenge discrimination in a positive way and promote inclusion.
If discrimination is challenged effectively, future incidents of discrimination can be prevented, as well as empowering individuals to understand their rights. There is more information about your Duty of Care in Standard 3 of the Care Certificate.
You should always act fairly and try to see things from the other person’s point of view.
Consider that there could be different pressures, needs and cultures.
Always use positive language and never use words or phrases that could be disrespectful towards another person.
It is wonderful that we live in an increasingly diverse society. If you do not agree, you might want to rethink, especially as you chose to work in social care which embraces diversity.
Encourage people to talk about their behaviours and attitudes.
This can help explain and demonstrate how their actions impact on others. Someone may not realise the effects of their behaviours and as a result of a discussion, they can make positive changes to their approach.
Be kind, gentle and sensitive. Avoid confrontation. End a conversation if it becomes aggressive. Seek support if you feel a person is behaving inappropriately.
Note: You can click on the video settings in the bottom right corner to see the subtitles. If English is not your first language and there are things you do not understand, you can copy words or sentences into Google translate.
It is wonderful that we live in an increasingly diverse society.
You need to be able to respond appropriately and sensitively to everyone who you interact with at work. It is your duty of care to ensure that the people you support are treated with dignity and respect. The way you support and treat people must be appropriate to their individual needs and preferences. Working within agreed equality and inclusion guidelines will demonstrate whether you are a suitable person to provide care and support.
One way in which employers have responded to the issue of diversity in recent years has been the development of flexibility in working practices and services. These are some examples:
Employers may offer flexible working patterns to accommodate childcare arrangements.
Doctors’ surgeries may offer weekend and evening appointments for people who work full time.
Institutional Discrimination
Institutional discrimination is about discrimination that takes place in organisations. It happens in the structures, processes and procedures because of prejudice. It can also happen because of failure to take into account the particular needs of people’s different social identities.
There are two key parts to the Equality Act that relate to institutional discrimination. These are:
Public duties
Public bodies including local authorities, education, police forces, national health services, NHS trusts and bodies must comply with a number of duties. The implementation of these public duties will identify and address institutional discrimination. Each of the public duties requires employers to:
- Publish equality objectives
- Carry out impact assessments on their functions, policies and practices
- Carry out equality monitoring and take action to redress any imbalance
- Publish the results of any work undertaken.
If you feel discrimination has taken place, talk to your employer. Don’t forget, this could be deliberate or inadvertent.
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