It’s Equalities and Diversity Day 2015

It’s Equalities and Diversity Day 2015

Today, Thursday 26 November, is Equalities and Diversity Day at Aberdeenshire Council. The council is committed to creating an inclusive environment where we aim to end discrimination, foster good relations and advance equality of opportunity for our colleagues and residents.

This year the focus is to be on raising the profile of equalities and spreading the message that equalities is EVERYONE’S business. The Council has made a commitment to ensure that every single employee completes the two equalities training courses by 31 March 2016. These courses are:

1) Respecting Diversity
2) Equalities – What does it mean for me?

The courses explain our equalities duties and illustrate how small things can make a huge difference in the workplace.

How can the training be completed?

The training is available to employees in the following formats:

It is essential that when training courses have been completed, this information is recorded so please inform your line manager of the date you carry/carried out each of the training courses.

Line managers must email ALDOSupport@aberdeenshire.gov.uk and confirm the names of the employees who have completed the courses; their payroll numbers; the name of the course(s) and the date of completion.

Prizes are up for grabs for those who complete the training!

There are two £25 Marks and Spencer’s gift vouchers available.  These prizes will be drawn at random in relation to the following:

  • A name from the list  of those people who have completed the training prior to 26 November 2015, and
  • A name from the list of people who complete the training on Equalities and Diversity Day

Good luck everyone!

In addition, for employees who draft Equality Impact Assessments, please ensure that you familiarise yourself with the following important messages:

  • Consider equalities before your carry on – ensure EIAs are carried out at the START of a piece of work.
  • Please always ensure that EIAs are carried out to a high standard.

Finally, please feel free to contact your Equalities Service Champions if you have an equalities-related query.

For further information please see the Equalities pages on Arcadia or contact the Equalities Team by emailing Equalities@aberdeenshire.gov.uk or by telephoning 01224 664658.