Equality experts just a click away

Dealing with staffing issues like recruitment, maternity, flexible working and redundancy is a key challenge for smaller to medium sized businesses, according to a new poll from the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) in association with the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland.

Tuesday 20 March 2012

Launching a new online resource to help address the equality aspects of these issues, Chief Executive of the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland, Evelyn Collins, CBE said: “We are very focused on ensuring that we provide all businesses with expert advice on all equality issues.
“We know that some smaller businesses may feel that, without a dedicated HR facility or the resources to bring in consultants, it can be a struggle to deal with them effectively.
“We were very pleased to be involved in the FSB’s regular survey of their members in relation to equality issues and it has been very helpful to us in designing our advice services to meet the particular needs of small to medium sized businesses.

“We want all employers to know that free, expert help is simply a click away.
“Around half (49%) of The Voices of Small Businesses 2011 panel reported that they found issues like dealing with sickness absence difficult, while nearly four in ten (37%) found maternity issues to be of the greatest challenge and around a fifth (20 and 17% respectively) said redundancy and recruitment were the main challenges.

The Equality Commission has created a new web-based resource to help deal with some of the common equality problems faced by employers, including information to help draft job descriptions and advertisements, advice on flexible working, and model policies on maternity or absence management and redundancy.

Speaking about the launch of the web-based service, Wilfred Mitchell OBE, Policy Chair of the FSB said: “The guidance that the Equality Commission is providing in this new initiative is clearly a welcome response to the findings of the FSB member survey that shows small businesses struggle to comply with the raft of legislation and regulation.

Membership of the FSB provides a free 24 hour legal helpline to advise on employment issues, and members use this service extensively. The Equality Commission’s web-based service is a valuable and welcome addition to ensure employers have the knowledge to apply to their businesses.”

Ms Collins added: “Small to medium-sized enterprises are not just the backbone of our economy, but its future, as many will be the drivers of potential job creation.
“We also know that in these businesses, time really is money, so we have focused on helping them to find solutions to their problems by simply clicking on our tailored website www.equalityni.org/supportforsmallerbusinesses ”

As well as on-line support the Commission provides a free telephone advisory service for employers and free training on a wide range of issues. The advice line dealt with over 3,000 employer queries last year and more than 800 employers across Northern Ireland took part in training.

The Equality Commission’s business support services have enjoyed a high approval rating, with almost 9 out of 10 employers satisfied with the services they had used.
Over the coming weeks, the Commission will be present at a number of business events to raise awareness of its advisory services. It is also running a series of briefings, in conjunction with the Labour Relations Agency, to update business support staff who work with SMEs on the range of free services they offer. They will take place in Newry (March 22), Ballymena (March 27) and Belfast (March 29).

Pictured:
Equality Commission Chief Executive Evelyn Collins CBE launching the new SME web-based resource with Wilfred Mitchell OBE from the Federation of Small Businesses.