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The Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has partnered with public sector union Unison to designate specially trained harassment support workers who are tasked to assist employees experiencing bullying and harassment. Confidential assistance is provided informally to address conflicts with less confrontation. Other measures that helped in reducing bullying and harassment is explained.

Strategies that have been enforced by the Tower Hamlets Council to address religion and belief in the workplace are investigated. The Tower Hamlets Council is deemed to be one of the most religiously diverse workplaces in the UK, with more than 80 percent of its residents believing they have a religious belief. It maintains equal religious representation across all pay categories.

A survey of 37 employers in UK found that around 75 percent offer flexibility patterns as an employees retirement approaches, while almost 67 percent offer flexibility based on retirement age. A portion of these employers also believe that flexible retirement options could help in retaining experienced staff and occupational fund structures hinder the offering of flexible retirement.

Measures that have been implemented by Lloyds TSB to ensure equality and inclusion of its lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) employees are discussed. Lloyds TSB's sexual orientation strategy has been enforced since 2005 as a component of its diversity program. Creating a workplace environment that made employees open about their sexuality has been an aim in the strategy.

The Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) in the UK has adopted a flexible working arrangement to meet the needs of employees and accommodate employees regardless of their circumstances. The arrangement also aims to address work-life balance issues. Details on HCC's work hours and its impact on business and productivity are discussed.

A February 2009 survey found that a quarter of 74 employers reported that they have a religion and belief champion, however, there are differences in who assumes this role. Results also showed that 72 have a policy that mentions belief or policy. How the employers accommodate the religious beliefs of their staff, customers, and suppliers is examined further.

Transport for London (TfL) only consider companies which can demonstrate a commitment and ability for ensuring equality for its multi-million pound contracts. The contract for TfL's East London Line project, for instance, has a condition for equality, in which bidders should pass equality requirements first before proceeding with the tendering process. TfL's equality requirements are presented.

Kent County Council has launched a number of initiatives to attract younger workers as 56% of its employess are within the 35-55 age bracket. The Council's strategies include a graduate program and the creation of 250 apprenticeships at the local authority. The Council's different proactive schemes of targeting younger workers are described.

Eversheds could win a bonus for meeting workplace diversity targets that include having at least 25 percent of their partners to be female and 10 percent of its trainee intake to be from black and minority backgrounds. The firm is going to large universities to broaden their trainee intake and has established an internal diversity and inclusion committee.

The effective implementation of various laws and policies implemented in the United Kingdom, to promote family-friendly work environment, are discussed. Graphs and statistics representing the public opinion are also presented.

Nacro received British Diversity Award Fellowship Accolade for 2005. Synopsis on the organization's employment practices on diversity and equality management is presented.

Widening opportunities for women is a program launched by Leeds Metropolitan University in 2000. The program was started to ensure that women filled 35 percent of the vacancies in senior academic positions by 2004. An assessment of the program and the benefits it brought to both the university and the women is presented.

A survey conducted jointly by Equal Opportunities Review and Trade Union Congress on the efficacy of the Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations, which came into effect on December 1, 2003, is discussed. The regulations were enforced to provide statutory protection to the rights of lesbian, gay and bisexual workers.

The viability of employing ex-convicts is examined. Case studies on companies such as Overton Recycling, which recruited ex-convicts, are presented.

The exemplary measures taken by the Department for Constitutional Affairs to handle the needs of the carers amongst its employees are discussed. The department won the 2004 Carers UK 'Carers in Employment Award' for its innovative methods.

The factors that attribute to the success of Disability Champions at Work program of Amicus and East Riding College, and the details on the expansion of the project are examined.

A year after the Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003 and the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003 legislation came into effect, EOR (Equal Opportunities Review) surveyed 76 organizations to find out how employers have dealt with the new anti-discrimination laws. The sample group included public and private employers, a diverse range of small and large organizations, and the manufacturing as well as the service sector. The key findings of the study are overviewed. Also included are some of the employment tribunal decisions under the new Regulations and guidance to the new Regulations from the Employers' Organization for local government.

The Acas Equality Services was successful in opening up the Leeds project in 2002 after the Regional Development Agency; Yorkshire Forward became aware of the diversity issues surrounding some small businesses. The execution of the project is analyzed.

An exhaustive survey conducted among 122 organisations on age diversity, policies and changes employers needed to make to comply revealed severe shortcomings in rules and practices that actually fostered age discrimination. The study highlights the responses in percentages and summaries on a lot of issues.

The introduction of several new legislations in the United Kingdom such as the Local Government Act 2003, the EC Procurement Directive and the National Procurement Strategy, has widened the scope for local authorities to adopt equal opportunities contract compliance in their procurement processes. The existing legal status of contract compliance is examined together with the approach adopted by the Greater London Assembly, the London Borough of Haringey and councils in the West Midlands.

The voluntary sector is considered as slow in terms of issues of diversity, and one of the largest voluntary organizations in UK is the Women's Royal Voluntary Services (WRVS) with over 95,000 volunteers. The pressure to recruit and retain volunteers that have forced the organization to consider how it can become more diverse, and the measures that are needed to bring about changes are reported.

Some of the barriers to refugee employment in the U.K. are discussed. The possibility of solving U.K.'s widely reported skills shortages, by facilitating the employment of skilled and experienced refugees in both, public sector and private sector, is explored.

The complexities of the equal pay legislation and the arguments on mandatory pay audits to help eliminate pay discrimination from the workplace are discussed. The charts on the recent developments on equal pay and reports on the key equal value cases are also presented.

The extent to which organizations are using e-learning or online training to facilitate training on equality and diversity is investigated. The cost-effective feature of e-learning or online training could have boosted its popularity since a consistent message can be provided to large audiences. The application of this technology at the University of Manchester is also investigated.

How the 'Narrowing the Gap' program by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales enhanced retention rates of experienced female finance professionals is explored. This program is aimed at helping female finance professionals at crucial phases of their careers and encouraging employers to share best practice. Activities included in the program are described.

The Realistic Opportunities for Supported Employment, managed by Sharon Gould and Jenny Carr, provides personal job coaches to clients with learning disabilities. These coaches give individual support, staying with clients during their shift until they can independently work. The project has been successful with 79% of clients staying at their jobs after six months.

Measures that have been done to ensure that the workforce in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets mirrors the local working population are discussed. As part of this goal, the council and the NHS Tower Hamlets have launched a joint strategy for recruitment with no need for conventional application forms. Positive-action entry plans and personal development programs are among the other measures.

The 2004 regulations to make equal value claims proceedings in the UK simpler are shown to have led to more years in the handling of such cases due to not meeting the indicative timetable and lawyers challenging independent experts' (IEs) evaluations. Concerns on the number of available IEs and information quality on the claims are discussed.

A survey reveals that some two-thirds of associates in employment law departments are women and that the likelihood of women heading the department is almost equal to that of men. Results also show that more women are attaining partner status but are yet to attain parity at the level of equity partner. The working conditions of women working in employment law are examined further.

The University of Sunderland's annual equal pay program has resulted in them having one of the smallest academic gender pay gaps in the UK. They conduct annual equal pay audits and they appoint all new lecturers to the same salary point to close pay gaps.

Staffordshire Police is a gay-friendly organization and they have mandatory equal opportunities training for all its police officers. They have the highest proportion of staff that identified themselves as lesbian, gay, or bisexual.

A work-life balance employee survey finds that four in five requests by employees to work flexibly are accepted fully or partially. Men working in the private sector are more likely to have requests declined.

Preventing bullying and harassment complaints at work includes taking a zero tolerance abuse to these behavior and having a safe environment for people to speak up. The informal procedure for dealing with these complaints that was developed by the Brent Council is presented.

Progress in promoting racial equality in the public sector in the UK is described. About 57% of public bodies surveyed repoted difficulties in prioritizing and mainstreaming race equality, while 48% reported problems in allocating resources to this area of work.

The gender wage gap in the UK has dropped only slightly while pay reviews have been postponed. UK tribunals referred 32 equal value cases to independent experts from 2003 to October 2004. Pay reform in the public sector is also discussed.

Nottinghamshire County Council Social Care initiated a scheme help black and minority ethnic people with their career development as a response to the low number of black employees participating in training courses. A description of strategies involved in devising a course that would aid non-managerial ethnic staff to realize their career objectives is also presented.

Shopworkers' union Usdaw has established a 'supporting parents and carers' campaign that is oriented at raising awareness of rights and benefits, improving contractual rights and expanding Usdaw's appeal. The growth of employer support on workplaces participating in events that showcase family-friendly rights is discussed. Insights into the Usdaw's future role are also presented.

National Grid has implemented the 'Families at Work scheme,' to promote a work environment that balances workers' family lives and job obligations. The scheme is operated by volunteer employees who provide advice on parenting and caring issues, among other concerns. How the scheme's information sharing and buddy support system helped employees and managers is explored.

The apprenticeship program of British supermarket Sainsbury's is accessible to all regardless of age or qualification for UK government funding. It trains each apprentice in acquiring craft, while helping them to enhance presentation and communication skills. Aside from increasing the number of management trainees, Sainsbury's has been enabled to expand its skilled recruitment pool.