Fair Work Action Plan 2022 and Anti-Racist Employment Strategy 2022: Fairer Scotland duty assessment

Appendix B Anti-Racist Employment Strategy actions

B.1 Action 1: Establish a platform for exchanging learning and good operational practice among employers - practice that is anti-racist and intersectional in its approach

Theme in RAP: Our ask of employers and support available

Action 3.1 of the RAP: By the end of 2023 we will work with partners to join up provision of advice and support for employers by establishing a central Fair Work resource, making it as simple and efficient as possible for employers to use. This would enhance and consolidate existing material to ensure employers have a clear route to access guidance, support and advice on Fair Work. It will involve:

• Advice and tools to promote the benefits of Fair Work and workplace equality
• Good practice case studies
• Advice on networking and establishing peer support groups
• Collaboration with existing trusted business support services and partners

B.2 Action 2: Undertake evaluation of the 'Minority Ethnic Recruitment Toolkit' to ensure it remains fit for purpose (anti-racist and intersectional) and is applied across the public sector. Consider augmenting the toolkit to include other accessible support sources, including those for retention and progression.

Theme in RAP: Our ask of employers and support available

Action 3.1 of the RAP above.

B.3 Action 3: Promote and disseminate learning and practice that shows positive change in employers' end to end processes to increase representation of racialised minorities.

Theme in RAP: Our ask of employers and support available

Action 3.1 of the RAP above.

B.4 Action 4: Develop an intersectional and anti-racist training framework for public and private sector employers by which to assess their training needs and improve the quality of training offered in the organisation.

Theme in RAP: Our ask of employers and support available

Action 3.7 of the RAP: Working with employers, equality stakeholders and training providers, develop and implement an intersectional and anti-racist training framework by 2025.

B.5 Action 5: Produce guidance on positive action to support employers across the public sector and promote this guidance through a series of engagement sessions.

Theme in RAP: Our ask of employers and support available

Action 3.5 of the RAP: We will develop and promote good practice guidance for employers to showcase successful application of positive action measures as per the Equality Act 2010, giving particular attention to sex, pregnancy, race, age, and disability by end 2024.

B.6 Action 6: By the end of 2025 we will review and disseminate learning and best practice on the conclusion of the 2024 Workplace Equality Fund.

Theme in RAP: Our ask of employers and support available

Action 3.4 of the RAP: By the end of 2025 we will review and disseminate learning and best practice on the conclusion of the 2024 Workplace Equality Fund.

B.7 Action 7: Oversee pilot to improve engagement of employers and employability services with racialised minority communities. Includes work to support EQIA process among employers, improving the quality of assessments and how the practice can be embedded at the start of a process or policy development.

Theme in RAP: Support for People to Access and Sustain Fair Work

Action 4.3 of the RAP: The Scottish Government's Employability Delivery will continue to work with Fair Start Scotland providers, within the timescales of the current contract until March 2023, to implement a continuous improvement approach to enhance delivery and outcomes for disabled people and those furthest from the labour market, including people from racialised minorities and women. This will include drawing upon learning from Pathfinders/test and learn projects being delivered by Disabled People's Organisations in 2022/23 and the pilot project on community engagement being delivered by CEMVO Enterprises CIC.

B.8 Action 8: We will work with Labour Market Analysis colleagues to run a series of dissemination sessions when labour market statistics on ethnicity are published to make employers (and stakeholders) aware of data that is available and to support them to use national data to help inform their practice.

Theme in RAP: Public sector leadership

Action 1.5 of the RAP: We will work with the Scottish Government's analysts to run a series of official statistics dissemination sessions with interested stakeholders to help inform their understanding of the labour market landscape in relation to fair work. Where available data allows, this will include considering intersectionality.

B.9 Action 9: We will continue to press the UK Government to mandate ethnicity pay gap reporting, legislate for the prohibition of caste discrimination under the Equality Act 2010.

Part of the aggregated action narrative – "We will also lobby the UK Parliament for key changes to reserved legislation to address racialised systemic inequity, including mandating employers to report their ethnicity pay gap.

B.10 Action 10: Work with partners to establish senior leadership networks to build capability and understanding of racism and racial inequality in the workplace by the end of 2023.

Theme in RAP: public sector leadership

Action 1.4 of the RAP: Work with partners to establish senior leadership networks to build capability and understanding of racism and racial inequality in the workplace by the end of 2023.

B.11 Action 11: Co-deliver a series of engagements with the public sector by end of 2023 to support employers to address the recommendations of the Scottish Parliament's Equalities and Human Right's Committee's inquiry report into race equality, employment, and skill which recommended employers assess their organisations' understanding of racism and structural barriers; employers subject to the Public Sector Equality Duty as a minimum, voluntarily record and publish their ethnicity pay gap and produce an action plan to deliver identified outcomes.

Theme in RAP: public sector leadership

Action 1.2 of the RAP: Work with equality organisations and public sector employers to co-deliver a series of engagements with the public sector by end of 2023 to support employers to address the recommendations of the Scottish Parliament's Equalities and Human Rights Committee's inquiry report into race equality, employment and skills which recommended employers assess their organisations' understanding of racism and structural barriers; employers subject to the Public Sector Equality Duty as a minimum, voluntarily record and publish their ethnicity pay gap and produce an action plan to deliver identified outcomes.

B.12 Action 12: Ensure messaging around anti-racism and intersectionality is taken account of in Fair Work First guidance as used in procurement and grand funding processes.

Theme in RAP: public sector leadership

Action 2.2 of the RAP: By 2023 update the Fair Work First criteria to better reflect priority action required to address labour market inequalities faced by women, racialised minorities, and disabled people, ensuring people can enter, remain and progress in work.

B.13 Action 13: The Scottish Government to undertake an equal pay audit examining pay gaps by gender, disability, race, and age by March 2024. We will act on findings to review and refresh our recruitment and retention policies to address workplace inequalities by end of 2025.

Theme in RAP: public sector leadership

Action 1.1 of the RAP: The Scottish Government to undertake an equal pay audit examining pay gaps by gender, disability, race, and age by March 2024. We will act on findings to review and refresh our recruitment and retention policies to address workplace inequalities by end of 2025.