Category: equalities

UNISON relaunches gold standard menopause policy for staff

UNISON has relaunched its “gold standard” menopause policy for staff, setting an important precedent for how workplace environments should accommodate menopausal employees.

Menopause affects a significant proportion of the workforce. This relaunch reflects the union’s commitment to ensuring that it is treated as a key health and safety issue in the workplace, providing guidance that all public sector employers should follow.

UNISON has a wealth of resources, including a template menopause policy that activists can use as a powerful tool when advocating for similar protections and accommodations within their workplaces.

By treating menopause as a core bargaining issue, activists can secure meaningful changes that address the specific needs of menopausal workers, leading to a more inclusive and supportive workplace environment.

Organising around menopause policies can be a catalyst for broader workplace improvements too. Campaigns that highlight the importance of menopause accommodations can unite workers around a common cause, emphasising the need for gender-sensitive policies and health and safety provisions.

Menopause is not just a personal issue – it is a workplace issue. It impacts productivity, retention, and employee wellbeing. By pushing for similar policies with their own employers, activists can make meaningful progress in improving the working lives of many workers, ensuring that menopause is recognised as an integral part of workplace health and safety.

The article UNISON relaunches gold standard menopause policy for staff first appeared on the UNISON National site.

UNISON relaunches gold standard menopause policy for staff

UNISON has relaunched its “gold standard” menopause policy for staff, setting an important precedent for how workplace environments should accommodate menopausal employees.

Menopause affects a significant proportion of the workforce. This relaunch reflects the union’s commitment to ensuring that it is treated as a key health and safety issue in the workplace, providing guidance that all public sector employers should follow.

UNISON has a wealth of resources, including a template menopause policy that activists can use as a powerful tool when advocating for similar protections and accommodations within their workplaces.

By treating menopause as a core bargaining issue, activists can secure meaningful changes that address the specific needs of menopausal workers, leading to a more inclusive and supportive workplace environment.

Organising around menopause policies can be a catalyst for broader workplace improvements too. Campaigns that highlight the importance of menopause accommodations can unite workers around a common cause, emphasising the need for gender-sensitive policies and health and safety provisions.

Menopause is not just a personal issue – it is a workplace issue. It impacts productivity, retention, and employee wellbeing. By pushing for similar policies with their own employers, activists can make meaningful progress in improving the working lives of many workers, ensuring that menopause is recognised as an integral part of workplace health and safety.

The article UNISON relaunches gold standard menopause policy for staff first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Opinion: Why we need to stop women going to prison

by Elisa Vasquez-Walters (above)

Lord Chancellor Shabana Mahmood’s recent announcement that the government will reduce the number of women in prison is a much welcomed and long awaited statement signalling the change in political direction that is needed to successfully deal with women going through the criminal justice system.

As a probation worker of 24 years – and as a lifelong feminist – I feel very strongly that prison is never the correct place for a woman to be.

Women end up in prison as a result of failures in our social support system – this is most clearly indicated by the fact that the most common offence women end up in prison for is shoplifting.

Prison is a traumatic environment. Women are more often than not placed in institutions far away from their support networks, have children removed from their care as a result of incarceration and sometimes have children born in prison and then subsequently removed from them.

In short, prison retraumatises an already vulnerable group of people and also sets the foundations for further intergenerational trauma. The cost of unnecessarily removing children from their mothers cannot just be put into pounds and pence.

What we already know about women going through the prison system should have been enough for previous governments to take action.

  • Women in prison
  • 76% of women in prison report having a mental health problem.
  • 70% of women in prison have experienced domestic abuse.
  • Self-harm was at the highest rate ever recorded in 2023. It increased 52% in the year to March 2023.
  • 53% of women in prison have experienced abuse as children.
  • 72% of women leaving one prison faced homelessness or unsafe accommodation

It has taken a crisis in the whole of the prison estate for us to reach the point where we are at now. As the figures clearly show prison is not working, not for women, not for a lot of men and certainly not for children who have a parent in custody.

Data shows we need credible alternatives to custody. For women this means timely access to mental health support, including access to counselling, safe and local housing options which allow them to be with their children and maintain family and friend support networks.

We also need other gender specific services where women can feel safe in accessing whatever support they need to address the root causes of their offending.

At the heart of what must be on offer for women is a probation service that is able to deliver its work in a trauma responsive and gender specific way. This is going to require investment; in training and resources for our staff, in premises and in recruitment and retention.

Whilst I welcome the announcement from the Lord Chancellor, and am looking forward to the creation of her women’s justice board to inform this work, I also challenge her with the fact that the probation service, like many others, has suffered years of underinvestment.

If she truly believes that women deserve better – and truly wants to see women properly supported and rehabilitated within their communities – this will come at a cost.

Read: Proud to work in Probation

The article Opinion: Why we need to stop women going to prison first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Opinion: Why we need to stop women going to prison

by Elisa Vasquez-Walters (above)

Lord Chancellor Shabana Mahmood’s recent announcement that the government will reduce the number of women in prison is a much welcomed and long awaited statement signalling the change in political direction that is needed to successfully deal with women going through the criminal justice system.

As a probation worker of 24 years – and as a lifelong feminist – I feel very strongly that prison is never the correct place for a woman to be.

Women end up in prison as a result of failures in our social support system – this is most clearly indicated by the fact that the most common offence women end up in prison for is shoplifting.

Prison is a traumatic environment. Women are more often than not placed in institutions far away from their support networks, have children removed from their care as a result of incarceration and sometimes have children born in prison and then subsequently removed from them.

In short, prison retraumatises an already vulnerable group of people and also sets the foundations for further intergenerational trauma. The cost of unnecessarily removing children from their mothers cannot just be put into pounds and pence.

What we already know about women going through the prison system should have been enough for previous governments to take action.

  • Women in prison
  • 76% of women in prison report having a mental health problem.
  • 70% of women in prison have experienced domestic abuse.
  • Self-harm was at the highest rate ever recorded in 2023. It increased 52% in the year to March 2023.
  • 53% of women in prison have experienced abuse as children.
  • 72% of women leaving one prison faced homelessness or unsafe accommodation

It has taken a crisis in the whole of the prison estate for us to reach the point where we are at now. As the figures clearly show prison is not working, not for women, not for a lot of men and certainly not for children who have a parent in custody.

Data shows we need credible alternatives to custody. For women this means timely access to mental health support, including access to counselling, safe and local housing options which allow them to be with their children and maintain family and friend support networks.

We also need other gender specific services where women can feel safe in accessing whatever support they need to address the root causes of their offending.

At the heart of what must be on offer for women is a probation service that is able to deliver its work in a trauma responsive and gender specific way. This is going to require investment; in training and resources for our staff, in premises and in recruitment and retention.

Whilst I welcome the announcement from the Lord Chancellor, and am looking forward to the creation of her women’s justice board to inform this work, I also challenge her with the fact that the probation service, like many others, has suffered years of underinvestment.

If she truly believes that women deserve better – and truly wants to see women properly supported and rehabilitated within their communities – this will come at a cost.

Read: Proud to work in Probation

The article Opinion: Why we need to stop women going to prison first appeared on the UNISON National site.

High Court rules government’s Windrush failings are unlawful

The government’s decision to scrap key recommendations from the independent review into the Windrush scandal was unlawful, the High Court has ruled today (Wednesday), says UNISON.

The court found Suella Braverman was “not justified” in breaking promises to create a migrants’ commissioner and boost the powers of the chief inspector for borders and immigration.

Both recommendations had come out of the Windrush Learned Lessons Review – overseen by Wendy Williams. They were to be the checks and balances to prevent something like Windrush from ever happening again.

But three years later, the then home secretary, keen to clear the way for the government’s controversial flights to Rwanda scheme, decided to remove any likely future opposition to the ‘stop the boats’ policy, says UNISON.

Ms Braverman ditched key proposals, despite her predecessor Priti Patel having previously accepted the Windrush findings in full, says UNISON.

Suella Braverman’s actions prompted the union to intervene in the case brought by Windrush victim Trevor Donald last year.

In today’s judgment, the High Court declared the secretary of state’s decision to get rid of Windrush recommendations nine and ten as unlawful. The judge said Ms Braverman failed to consult properly and could not justify the discriminatory impact upon Windrush victims.

The judge also said the then home secretary failed to comply with the public sector equality duty*, given the “adverse impact on migrants and future migrants more generally”.

UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said: “The hostile environment had devastating consequences for those affected by the Windrush scandal.

“Rather than learning the lessons, the government’s response has been dire. Many people are still waiting for justice and migrant workers in the UK continue to fear the Home Office.

“The Windrush Review was set up to ensure such terrible miscarriages of justice could never happen again. All 30 of its recommendations were accepted by Priti Patel, the home secretary at the time.

“But Suella Braverman failed on promises made by her government. She decided she’d have no truck with anything or anyone that might stand in the way of putting migrants on flights to Rwanda. She cruelly ditched key recommendations that sought to right some of the many Windrush wrongs.

“No government is above the law. Thankfully the then home secretary’s been caught bang to rights. Ministers must treat all people with dignity and respect, and act with integrity.

“The hope is the next government will act quickly to make amends to this disgraceful chapter in our history.”

Notes to editors:
– The claimant in the judicial review, Trevor Donald, arrived in the UK in 1967, aged 12, and was granted indefinite leave to remain in 1971. But when he visited Jamaica in 2010 to attend his mother’s funeral, he was prevented from returning to the UK and exiled for nine years before the scandal finally came to light. He was challenging the decision of the then home secretary Suella Braverman in early 2023 to scrap key recommendations from the 30 made by the independent review into the Windrush scandal. These were a commitment to establish a migrants’ commissioner (recommendation 9), a strengthening of the powers of the independent chief inspector of borders and immigration (10), and the holding of reconciliation events for affected individuals and their families (3). The challenge to recommendation three was unsuccessful.
– UNISON’s application to the High Court was supported by evidence from UNISON member Michael Braithwaite, a London teaching assistant, who works with children with special educational needs. Michael lost his job due to the Windrush scandal, which he described as “a total nightmare that destroyed my life.” UNISON gave evidence at the judicial review over two days in late April 2023.
– On 21 June 2018, the then home secretary Sajid Javid commissioned Wendy Williams CBE as the independent adviser to the Windrush Lessons Learned Review, which had been announced on 2 May 2018 as part of the response to Windrush. The review was published in March 2020. On 23 June 2020, Priti Patel, now home secretary, gave a statement to the House of Commons. In this, she acknowledged there had been “unspeakable injustices and institutional failings spanning successive governments over several decades”. Priti Patel apologised unreservedly for the pain, suffering and misery caused. She confirmed she would be accepting the recommendations in full. But on 26 January 2023, Suella Braverman decided to abandon three of these commitments. UNISON worked with Mr Donald’s lawyers and intervened to support his case with the Black Equity Organisation.
– The court held that the secretary of state’s decision to abandon recommendation 9 and 10 was unlawful because the secretary of state: failed to consult key stakeholders; could not justify the discriminatory effects of her decision on victims of the Windrush scandal, and failed to comply with the public sector equality duty.
– *The public sector equality duty means public authorities must think about whether people with protected characteristics will suffer any particular disadvantage. They should take action to meet these needs or reduce the inequalities.
– The judgment was handed down today (Wednesday) during UNISON’s annual conference in Brighton, which continues until Friday.
– UNISON is the UK’s largest union with more than 1.3 million members providing public services in education, local government, the NHS, police service and energy. They are employed in the public, voluntary and private sectors.High

Media contacts:
Liz Chinchen M: 07778 158175 E: press@unison.co.uk
Anthony Barnes M: 07834 864794 E: a.barnes@unison.co.uk

The article High Court rules government’s Windrush failings are unlawful first appeared on the UNISON National site.

UNISON ‘unequivocally condemns’ Tory donor’s ‘horrific abuse’

UNISON considers comments made by Frank Hester, the Tory Party’s biggest donor, that looking at Diane Abbott MP makes you “want to hate all black women” and the MP “should be shot”, to be racist and sexist, unacceptable and dangerous.

Diane Abbott MP has been a significant public figure since 1987, the first to open doors into political leadership for Black women. No woman in public life should have to accept this kind of abuse and intimidation. Black women all over the UK feel labelled, hurt, and scared.

UNISON unequivocally condemns Frank Hesters’s racist, violent language. The Prime Minister was also slow to acknowledge the comments as racist and wrong.

UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said: “The personalised, horrific abuse levelled at Diane Abbott is frightening. She has had to endure intolerable abuse and intimidation. Our members expect us to call this out. The government should do the same.”

The article UNISON ‘unequivocally condemns’ Tory donor’s ‘horrific abuse’ first appeared on the UNISON National site.

UNISON ‘unequivocally condemns’ Tory donor’s ‘horrific abuse’

UNISON considers comments made by Frank Hester, the Tory Party’s biggest donor, that looking at Diane Abbott MP makes you “want to hate all black women” and the MP “should be shot”, to be racist and sexist, unacceptable and dangerous.

Diane Abbott MP has been a significant public figure since 1987, the first to open doors into political leadership for Black women. No woman in public life should have to accept this kind of abuse and intimidation. Black women all over the UK feel labelled, hurt, and scared.

UNISON unequivocally condemns Frank Hesters’s racist, violent language. The Prime Minister was also slow to acknowledge the comments as racist and wrong.

UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said: “The personalised, horrific abuse levelled at Diane Abbott is frightening. She has had to endure intolerable abuse and intimidation. Our members expect us to call this out. The government should do the same.”

The article UNISON ‘unequivocally condemns’ Tory donor’s ‘horrific abuse’ first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Ramadan 2024: Your rights at work

The holy Muslim month of Ramadan is due to begin on the evening of Sunday 10 March, with the first fast from sunrise to sunset on Monday 11 March.

Eid-al-Fitr, the celebration that marks the end of Ramadan, is expected to fall on Tuesday 9 April. 

During this important holy period for Muslims, UNISON reminds both workers and employers that it is within the Equality Act 2010 for all employers to ensure flexible working and provide reasonable adjustments for workers wishing to observe Ramadan, which includes fasting, prayers, charity and reflecting on the Quran.

During Ramadan, Muslims spend a period of 30 days abstaining from food and drink, including water, during daylight hours, as a means of celebrating and reflecting on their faith.

Iftar, the meal that breaks the fast when the sun has set, is often shared with family and the local community. Traditionally, the fast is broken with a date (pictured above).

Workplace advice: flexible working

Tell MAMA have produced useful employers’ guidance on how Muslims can be supported at work during Ramadan.

Advice includes:

  • consider the energy levels of staff, especially where work is physically demanding, and where possible, scheduling meetings earlier in the day and avoiding evening meetings or work events
  • avoid scheduling lunchtime events
  • be fair and considerate in the distribution of additional rest breaks
  • as the month of Ramadan is aligned with the lunar calendar, Eid-al-Fitr has no fixed date. Employers are encouraged to be flexible with their annual leave requests from Muslim workers around this time.

Guidance from ACAS and the EHRC provides employers with a range of best practices during the holy month, for example, by allowing Muslim workers to start their work day earlier, or longer break times on Fridays for Jummah prayers.

A 2021 survey of British Muslims on support from employers during Ramadan found that the most supportive adjustment (desired by 69% of recipients) was flexible shift patterns, followed by team members understanding what Ramadan means to them (60%), and annual leave for the final days of Ramadan (58%).

The article Ramadan 2024: Your rights at work first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Ramadan 2024: Your rights at work

The holy Muslim month of Ramadan is due to begin on the evening of Sunday 10 March, with the first fast from sunrise to sunset on Monday 11 March.

Eid-al-Fitr, the celebration that marks the end of Ramadan, is expected to fall on Tuesday 9 April. 

During this important holy period for Muslims, UNISON reminds both workers and employers that it is within the Equality Act 2010 for all employers to ensure flexible working and provide reasonable adjustments for workers wishing to observe Ramadan, which includes fasting, prayers, charity and reflecting on the Quran.

During Ramadan, Muslims spend a period of 30 days abstaining from food and drink, including water, during daylight hours, as a means of celebrating and reflecting on their faith.

Iftar, the meal that breaks the fast when the sun has set, is often shared with family and the local community. Traditionally, the fast is broken with a date (pictured above).

Workplace advice: flexible working

Tell MAMA have produced useful employers’ guidance on how Muslims can be supported at work during Ramadan.

Advice includes:

  • consider the energy levels of staff, especially where work is physically demanding, and where possible, scheduling meetings earlier in the day and avoiding evening meetings or work events
  • avoid scheduling lunchtime events
  • be fair and considerate in the distribution of additional rest breaks
  • as the month of Ramadan is aligned with the lunar calendar, Eid-al-Fitr has no fixed date. Employers are encouraged to be flexible with their annual leave requests from Muslim workers around this time.

Guidance from ACAS and the EHRC provides employers with a range of best practices during the holy month, for example, by allowing Muslim workers to start their work day earlier, or longer break times on Fridays for Jummah prayers.

A 2021 survey of British Muslims on support from employers during Ramadan found that the most supportive adjustment (desired by 69% of recipients) was flexible shift patterns, followed by team members understanding what Ramadan means to them (60%), and annual leave for the final days of Ramadan (58%).

The article Ramadan 2024: Your rights at work first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Blog: Trade unions wouldn’t be the same without Black Britons

Throughout history, the contributions of Black people have been overlooked and ignored. But Black History Month and UNISON’s Year of Black Workers are all about getting Black people’s achievements recognised and appreciated all year round.

Key Black figures have been at the forefront of fighting for social justice and equal rights in the UK. They’ve been instrumental in developing Britain’s culture, art and society as we know it now.

During this year’s Black History Month, we’ve been celebrating their achievements, but particularly those of Black women, as community builders, trade unionists, change makers and trailblazing political influencers. Like Olive Morris, a 1960s and 1970s south London community activist who fought for Black women’s rights and organised others to oppose inequalities.

The trade union movement – and UNISON – wouldn’t be the same without Black Britons. UNISON has over 185,000 Black members and hundreds of Black staff, and some of them have made history.

May Parsons, an NHS matron, administered the first NHS Covid-19 vaccine to 90-year-old Maggie Keenan. This year, May was recognised as one of the most influential Black women in health by the HSJ magazine, along with our deputy head of health Helga Pile.

Saluting our Sisters: Black History Month

I’ve spoken many times during UNISON’s Year of Black Workers about the 75th anniversary of Empire Windrush, and the 75th birthday of our NHS. If that ship had never docked in Tilbury, we wouldn’t have our NHS today. New migrants from the Caribbean helped to build our NHS, and the struggles they’ve faced since then will never be forgotten by UNISON. We’re committed to our legal action against the government’s decision to renege on actions that would give justice to victims of the Windrush scandal and prevent another similar scandal from happening again.

But there is still a lot of work to do. NHS workforce data shows that Black workers are still underrepresented in senior roles, and many experience harassment and bullying from the patients. Black women are often disadvantaged in the workplace and ethnicity pay gaps still persist, meaning Black workers are not getting the pay and recognition they’re owed.

We will continue to use UNISON’s Year of Black Workers to establish a legacy to generate change, and build on our campaigns to push for more change in UNISON, in society and through government – at the next general election and beyond.

Because, as the biggest and best trade union in the UK, we take our responsibility in challenging racist policies and championing anti-racist campaigns seriously. We know that, together, we can make the UK a place where Black people are never left underrepresented, undervalued or underpaid.

Black History Month

The article Blog: Trade unions wouldn’t be the same without Black Britons first appeared on the UNISON National site.