Stonewall Scotland Workplace Conference 2009

1. Stonewall Scotland Workplace Conference 2009

2. Welcome and Opening Remarks Calum Irving, Director, Stonewall Scotland

3. Stonewall Scotland Workplace Conference 2009 Ty Jones

4. Dare to be Different

5. Competitiveness is all about the recipe • Unique • Difficult to copy • Adds value

6. What really impacts on Diversity? Values Leadership Culture Dialogue

7. Leadership • Recognising that leadership and people management are more important than ever before • Understanding that our most critical resource wears shoes and walks out the door each night • Acknowledging that people differ and the only way to find out how much they differ is to listen • Motivating and inspiring people only happens when you know what makes them tick

8. Values • Recognising that values represent a promise or contract with each and every colleague • Exploring what dignity & respect means • Ensuring they create unity and a sense of belonging • Understanding that values influence our actions

9. Dialogue • Developing knowledge and understanding of what it means to be lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender • Encouraging colleagues to share their experience • Consider the professional issues and challenges when addressing LGBT needs

10. Culture • Understanding workplace culture can still seem like a luxury to most managers • Dealing with the fact that almost a third of line managers feel diversity has nothing to do with them • Ensuring leaders and line managers practice what they preach

11. What difference does it make? • How much would it matter to your job satisfaction and working relationships? • How much would it help your organisation to recruit good people? • How much would it increase your willingness to talk positively about your organisation? • How much would it improve the long-term prospects of your organisation?

12. Diversity & Inclusion Survey % mean score

13. Colleague Perception Gap % mean score

14. Benefits of an Inclusive Workplace?

15. Does Size Matter?

16. Inclusive - Where are you? Confidence x Competence

17. Changing Attitudes

18. Transgender People’s Experiences at Work James Morton SCOTTISH TRANSGENDER ALLIANCE www.scottishtrans.org CHANGING FOR THEBETTER

19. What is the Scottish Transgender Alliance? • An alliance formed by various Scottish transgender community support groups, individuals working for transgender equality and wider LGBT and gender equality organisations. • The Scottish Government Equality Unit is funding the full-time Scottish Transgender Alliance Project Coordinator from April 2007 until March 2011. • Based within the Equality Network – a voluntary sector organisation working to improve LGBT rights and equality in Scotland.

20. What does the Scottish Transgender Alliance do? • Provides policy development & good practice guidance to public services. • Creates information resources & delivers training. • Facilitates transgender people in Scotland to respond to consultation opportunities. • Strategically develops the capacity of transgender groups in Scotland. • Advances research into transgender people’s experiences.

21. What do ‘transgender’ and ‘trans’ mean? • Transgender and trans are ‘umbrella’ terms. • They mean all those whose gender identity or gender expression differ in some way from the gender they were labelled at birth. • Gender Identity = an individual’s internal self-perception of their own gender. • Gender Expression = an individual’s external gender-related physical appearance and behaviour.

22. Transgender Umbrella Transsexual Women (Male-To-Female) Transsexual Men (Female-To-Male) Androgyne People (Non-binary Gender) Cross-dressing People (Transvestism & Drag) Intersex People

23. Legal protection on grounds of Gender Reassignment • Legal protection from discrimination and harassment if a person intends to undergo, is currently undergoing or has previously undergone gender reassignment. • Gender Reassignment is defined as a process which is undertaken under medical supervision for the purpose of reassigning a person's sex by changing physiological or other characteristics of sex, and includes any part of such a process. • In other words: anyone who goes to their doctor saying they want to change the gender in which they live. • It is also called ‘transitioning’.

24. Growing numbers of people transitioning

25. Workplace Experiences • Please welcome two volunteers from the Scottish Transgender Alliance who are going to share some of their personal experiences of transitioning in the workplace. • Prof Jo Clifford • Nick Laird

26. Survey Evidence of Workplace Experiences • The Equalities Review UK research survey ‘Engendered Penalties’ of 872 trans people in 2007 found that 42% of respondents who want to transition are prevented from doing so because they fear the workplace reaction they would face. • 25% of respondents who had transitioned had been forced to change their jobs due to experiencing anti-trans discrimination and harassment.

27. Survey Evidence of Workplace Experiences • Surveys have found trans people have above average educational qualifications and are more likely to work in professional and managerial occupations: • 33.0% of trans respondents are in professional occupations compared to 10.8% of the UK population. (Engendered Penalties, 2007) • 55% of trans respondents have a HND, degree or postgraduate degree qualification. (Transgender Experiences in Scotland, 2008)

28. Trans staff still working in original gender role: • “What is it like being transgendered but no one at work knows you are? …I’m in knots. Completely. My mind races with fears and worries. I often feel sick… I worry about how I’ll be received… I worry about not knowing who will be nice, who will reject me.. I worry about being laughed at. And I worry this worrying is affecting my work. I want to prove I’m a good worker, a worthy manager, that this part of me won’t change. I want to show I’m still a nice person, someone you can trust. That this part of me won’t change… I just want to be seen as just another person getting on with their life. At the minute people see me as a friendly, sociable, confident, fairly successful man. It’s just the last bit I want to change.”

29. Staff who are undergoing gender reassignment: • “[My employer] suspended me illegally; they were rude, inconsistent and really nasty.” • “Once my employer became aware of my TS status six months ago they have refused to refer to me by my new name or to refer to me in the feminine. Also at various times I have been threatened and subjected to discrimination.” • “I had to leave this employment due to employers giving out personal info that only human resources should have known about. I was then subjected to abuse by colleagues.”

30. Staff who are undergoing gender reassignment: • “When I told my line manager, I was close to tears. I was so nervous I could hardly speak. He was surprised but supportive and understanding, and made it clear this would make no difference to our working relationship. At my request, he advised my senior managers who also expressed their absolute support. It was good to be told by them that I was, and would remain, a valued and respected member of their team. We were able to produce an action plan and schedule for my transition and arranged regular progress meetings along the way. Over a period of a month, I explained myself to some 23 colleagues in my office and was given the time to do so. I provided them with the HR website information which proved invaluable. Every colleague expressed support at the time and since my transition they have given me exactly that. I have had nothing but encouragement – and crucially, respect.”

31. Staff who have trans backgrounds: • “Lack of data security led to me being ‘outed’ at work as transsexual and it was extremely hard to remain attending work after this happened as it felt like the equivalent of everyone at work seeing me naked – I felt that exposed and vulnerable.” • The Gender Recognition Act 2004 makes it a criminal offence with a £5000 fine to reveal gender history without person’s consent. • Important exceptions where the information is required: • for prevention or investigation of a crime. • for medical emergency treatment when person is unable to provide consent.

32. Staff who have trans backgrounds: • “When I decided to ‘transition’, I steeled myself for the worst. I was prepared to be an outcast and never be with anyone, but I’ve surpassed my wildest dreams. Not only do I have a lovely boyfriend, but I’ve realised my full potential at work, and my business has taken off. I don’t need to tell everyone I meet about my past, and because of how I look, people don’t guess.” • “I have now found that I can bring so much more to my workplace and my life in my new gender than I did in my old… My workplace colleagues have also found me more productive, helpful, more approachable and gregarious, and the general comment that I often get is that I am a much better person.”

33. Good Practice Guidance • Be proactive in demonstrating commitment to transgender workplace equality and inclusion. • Always use a person’s preferred name and pronouns. • Change name and gender on records at first request. • Do not ask unnecessarily intrusive questions or make comments about their physical body or gender history. • Maintain confidentiality about their gender history.

34. Good Practice Guidance • Always let trans people decide which toilet is the most appropriate for them to use. Legally, they are allowed to. • Don’t make assumptions about how trans people view gender – listen carefully to what they actually tell you about their gender identity. • Don’t make assumptions about the sexual orientation of a trans person or their partner, they could be gay/lesbian, bisexual or straight.

35. Ten steps to begin workplace trans inclusion • Include transgender equality as an equality strand in general equality policies. • Ensure that transphobic bullying and harassment is included in your workplace bullying and harassment policy. • Set up a staff LGBT support network and ensure that transgender support info is available to staff. • Create a name and gender change procedural guidance note to enable records to be quickly updated upon request. • Ensure your workplace absence management policy includes allowing time off for gender reassignment medical assessments and treatments.

36. Ten steps to begin workplace trans inclusion • Be proactive in supporting the right of trans people to use workplace toilets in safety. • Identify a senior member of staff to champion transgender equality. • Include transgender issues within your staff diversity training programme. • Carry out a staff attitudes survey including questions on attitudes towards transgender people. • State commitment to transgender equality in recruitment advertising and by advertising in LGBT media.

37. Further assistance: • James Morton - Project Coordinator SCOTTISH TRANSGENDER ALLIANCE www.scottishtrans.org info@scottishtrans.org EQUALITY NETWORK 30 Bernard Street, Edinburgh, EH6 6PR Office: 07020 933 952 Fax: 07020 933 954 Mobile: 07840 570 202

38. Legal Update:Where Are We Now? Chris Phillips 11 February 2009

39. This Session • Sexual Orientation Cases • Transgender Cases • Legislative Developments • Case Study Workshops

40. “On Grounds of Sexual Orientation” • E was subjected to sexual innuendo which suggested he was gay • E is heterosexual, is married and has 3 children • His tormentors knew that • Was the treatment “on grounds of sexual orientation”? • ET and EAT said no • CoA said yes • English v Thomas Sanderson Blinds Ltd

41. Interplay with Religion/Belief Regs • Christian Registrar refused to officiate in CP ceremonies saying inconsistent with her beliefs • Disciplinary action taken against her • Direct discrimination - was the reason for detrimental treatment a prohibited ground? • Indirect - did the requirement to make every registrar perform CP duties place people of L’s religion or belief at a particular disadvantage? • If so, could it be objectively justified? • Islington LBC v Ladele & Liberty (Intervener)

42. Interplay with Religion/Belief Regs • Magistrate = member of family panel • Legislation introduced allowing same sex couples to look after children • M asked to be relieved of these duties but was refused • Was his objection because of a religious or philosophical belief? • McClintock v Department for Constitutional Affairs

43. Burden of Proof • For the claimant to prove facts from which a tribunal could conclude that the employer has treated him/her less favourably on the grounds of sexual orientation • Then, burden of proof moves to employer to prove on the balance of probabilities that the treatment is not on the grounds of sexual orientation • Kauffman v Vescom Ltd

44. Transgender Discrimination • G was working as an agency driver for Blue Arrow, placed with Exel/DHL • Claimed she was removed from her regular run by Exel/DHL because of her transition status • Claimed her grievances were not treated correctly by Blue Arrow • Gaynor v Blue Arrow & Exel/DHL

45. Transgender Discrimination • Other recent cases • Allegation that a transphobic person had been appointed to an interview panel – unsuccessful claim • Constructive dismissal claim arising from perfunctory investigations into grievances – successful claim - £60,000 plus awarded

46. Equality Bill • Gender reassignment definition to be amended • Indirect discrimination against transgender people to be outlawed • Direct discrimination against transgender people to be extended to cover discrimination by association • Discrimination on grounds of CP or marital status to be retained

47. Equality Bill • Public Sector Equality Duties • Single public sector equality duty covering all strands • Requirement to have “due regard” to the need to promote equality will be retained • General and specific duties retained • Procurement guidance

48. Questions

49. Chris Phillips, Partner : 0131 228 7140 : Chris.Phillips@mms.co.ukwww.mms.co.uk/epb

50. Key Note Address: Chris McCoy Equality and Diversity Manager, Visit Scotland