Assessment of equality

Pursuant to the Non-Discrimination Act, the obligations to promote equality apply to authorities, education providers and employers.

Pursuant to section 5 of the Non-Discrimination Act, the authorities shall evaluate the realisation of equality in their activities and take measures considered necessary to fostering the realisation of equality. Such measures shall be effective, expedient and proportionate, taking into account the authorities’ operating environment, resources and other circumstances. The authorities must have a plan of the necessary measures for the fostering of equality. The obligation to draw up a plan does not apply to the Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Orthodox Church or an individual actor which discharges public administrative functions and regularly employs fewer than 30 persons.

Pursuant to the Non-Discrimination Act, the authorities are obliged to prepare an equality promotion plan both from the perspectives of government activities and the employer (actions and HR policy). The plan should include an assessment of the equality situation, a description of the methods used in assessment, and concrete measures for promoting equality in government activities and at the workplace.

Pursuant to section 6 of the Non-Discrimination Act, the education provider and the educational institution maintained by it shall evaluate the realisation of equality in its activities and take any measures considered necessary to fostering the realisation of equality. Such measures shall be effective, expedient and proportionate, taking into account the educational institution’s operating environment, resources and other circumstances. The education provider must ensure that the educational institution has a plan for the measures necessary to fostering equality.

The education provider and the educational institution maintained by it must reserve an opportunity for pupils and their guardians as well as students or their representatives to be heard on the fostering measures.

The education provider is also obliged to assess equality from the employer’s perspective.

Pursuant to section 7 of the Non-Discrimination Act, an employer must assess the realisation of equality in the workplace and, while taking into account the needs of the workplace, develop the working conditions as well as the methods complied with in the selection of personnel and in making decisions concerning personnel. Such measures shall be effective, expedient and proportionate, taking into account the operating environment, resources and other circumstances.

An employer who regularly employs at least 30 persons must have a plan for measures considered necessary to the promotion of equality. Such measures and their effectiveness must be discussed with the personnel or their representatives.

A shop steward elected on the basis of a collective agreement or a collective agreement for central government, or if one has not been elected, an elected representative as referred to in the Employment Contracts Act, or another representative of the personnel who participated in the planning of non-discrimination measures, has a right to access information, on request, on what actions the employer has taken to foster equality in the workplace. The occupational safety delegate has the same right.

One of the key objectives of the Non-Discrimination Act is to prevent discrimination. Identifying discrimination is a key element of assessing equality. When conducting an assessment, you should be aware of the following: what does discrimination in various forms mean according to the Non-Discrimination Act, what is prohibited discrimination and what is legally permissible different treatment, what does positive discrimination mean, what does reasonable accommodation mean and what kinds of discrimination do various population groups encounter.
Under the Non-Discrimination Act, nobody may be discriminated against on the basis of their age, origin, nationality, language, religion, beliefs, opinions, political activity, trade union activity, family relationships, state of health, disabilities, sexual orientation or other personal characteristics. Discrimination is prohibited, regardless of whether it is based on a fact or assumption concerning the person him/herself or another. In addition to direct and indirect discrimination, harassment, denial of reasonable adjustments as well as an instruction or order to discriminate constitute discrimination as referred to in the Non-Discrimination Act.

The evaluation of discrimination may target both HR policy and activities. The assessment may, for instance, seek answers to the following questions:

• Does discrimination in various forms occur in the organisation or in its services?
• How has the discrimination been observed?
• Which groups face discrimination?
• What kinds of procedures are applied to intervening in cases of discrimination?
• How efficient are they?
• What kinds of other measures are applied to the prevention of discrimination? (influencing attitudes etc.)
• What kind of information on discrimination is available in the organisation’s line of business?
• Are persons with disabilities provided with appropriate and reasonable accommodation?
• Is non-discrimination taken into account in job advertisements?

The Non-Discrimination Act also defines permissible different treatment. According to the Act, not all different treatment based on a personal characteristic, such as state of health, age, citizenship or the equivalent, constitutes discrimination. Pursuant to section 11 of the Non-Discrimination Act, different treatment does not constitute discrimination if the treatment is based on legislation and otherwise has an acceptable objective and the measures taken to attain the objective are proportionate. For example, legislation on tobacco, alcohol and traffic contains provisions on different age limits and requirements.

Even different treatment which is not based on legislation may have an acceptable objective with regard to fundamental and human rights. For instance, measures preventing the social exclusion of young people, promoting the equality of language groups or subsidies granted to religious minorities do not constitute discrimination because they strive towards a goal which is acceptable from the perspective of fundamental rights. Such goals may include the promotion of linguistic and cultural rights, non-discrimination, equality, and the rights of children and minorities.

According to section 9 of the Non-Discrimination Act, positive discrimination that aims de facto promote equality, or to prevent or eliminate the disadvantages attributable to discrimination, does not constitute discrimination. Positive discrimination must have an acceptable objective in terms of fundamental and human rights, and must be planned, proportionate and temporary. Positive discrimination includes, for instance, recruitment measures aimed at increasing the proportion of persons belonging to a disadvantaged group (such as immigrants). Positive discrimination may not, however, constitute discrimination against other persons.

Pursuant to section 12 of the Non-Discrimination Act, different treatment at work and in employing personnel is justified if the treatment is founded on genuine and determining requirements concerning the type of occupational tasks in question and their performance, and the treatment is proportionate to achieving the legitimate objective. When hiring a priest, for example, it is permissible to require membership in a certain church, or workers with a Chinese background may be sought for a Chinese restaurant.

When collecting information about discrimination, regulations on privacy protection should be observed and understood. The Personal Data Act secures basic rights related to the protection of private life and other privacy protection when processing personal data. The Act applies to the processing of personal data and, among other things, includes a prohibition on processing sensitive data. The Personal Data Act does not, however, prevent the collecting of information on discrimination, as long as such information is not personal data by nature.

The following therefore applies to the assessment of equality:

• Information collected through various channels may not constitute personal data or a personal data file.
• Equality surveys must be anonymous.
• Such surveys must ensure that the responses cannot be linked to a certain person by any factor other than the person’s name.

Any person may have to confront discrimination or prejudice on the basis of some reason related to them, such as age, religion or state of health. Persons who belong to groups which face negative stereotypes or prejudice are particularly susceptible to discrimination. Although the mechanisms of discrimination are often similar, the situations in which discrimination occurs vary between groups. Knowledge of special issues affecting different groups can be useful in identifying discrimination. Examples of discrimination and factors influencing equality with regard to the grounds for discrimination are as follows:

Examples of experiences of discrimination among various population groups

Fostering equality is a broader-based complex of issues than discrimination and intervention in cases of discrimination. Equality and fostering equality can be assessed from perspectives such as equality between population groups (based on grounds for discrimination), organisational activities or good relations between population groups. When assessing equality, attention should be paid both to formal and actual equality in the work community and within activities.

The purpose of group-specific assessment is to consider whether persons of different backgrounds have equal opportunities to act within an organisation, or to use the services it provides. In connection with such an assessment, certain methods can be identified of promoting equality between persons of different backgrounds. The prerequisite for conducting an assessment is that the organisation has sufficient knowledge of and competence in the special issues affecting the groups. Awareness can be enhanced through measures such as training staff and involving non-governmental organisations, representing different groups, in the assessment.

The questions in the following table may help in getting started with an assessment.

The promotion of equality can also be examined from the viewpoint of the development of organisational functions. Naturally, the functions of organisations vary between sectors. For instance, the organisational development of educational institutions from the equality perspective requires different measures to those applied when developing police functions. However, most organisations are fairly similar with respect to sectors of HR policy or, say, the service process. The purpose of function-based assessment is to examine how equal the various functions of an organisation are, how equality problems can be identified and what kinds of measures can be used to foster equality.

The following examples describe common functions related to HR policy and operations, and how equality within such functions can be purposefully fostered. In addition, the table shows examples of best practices used in trying to meet the goals set.

Fostering equality in HR policy

Equality in operations

Equality can also be assessed from the perspective of good relations between people. This means analysing the impacts of the social atmosphere in the working community or society as a whole on the operational capability of people from diverse backgrounds. The key domains of good relations are attitudes, personal security, interaction with others, and participation and influence. For instance, the following aspects may be reviewed: what kinds of attitudes do members of the organisation have towards various population groups, how safe do staff feel, can individuals be openly themselves, what kinds of factors influence interaction between different groups and what kinds of experiences of inclusion and influence do people of different backgrounds have. Support materials have been developed for the monitoring of good relations, including a set of indicators for the measurement of good relations, to be used when conducting the related kind of assessment. Sample materials are available in the following section of the equality.fi website:

http://www.yhdenvertaisuus.fi/kampanjat/good-relations/

An example of the assessment of equality by analysing the domains of good relations

The most common way to chart equality issues is to implement an equality survey for employees or stakeholders (service users). An employee survey may chart issues such as the following: do employees experience the workplace as non-discriminating, do employees have experiences of discrimination, have they observed discrimination towards others and how effective do they find measures that foster equality in the workplace. Employee surveys may also chart staff views about the equality of operations, training needs, forms of cooperation with groups at risk of discrimination etc. Stakeholder surveys may target a range of groups such as service users, cooperation partners, non-governmental organisations etc. The purpose of such surveys is to compile an outside assessment of the equality of operations or, say, the targeting of measures taken to foster equality.

Special events, including meetings focused on a single theme, or workshops, can be organised in order to assess the organisation’s equality and non-discrimination status. The purpose of such events is to facilitate a joint assessment of how equality is implemented, whether discrimination arises, what kinds of measures could be taken to develop equality between different groups further etc. The new Non-Discrimination Act places a particular emphasis on the possibility of employees, schoolchildren and their custodians, and students to participate or to be consulted in the planning of equality-promoting measures and their assessment. Meetings and workshops on equality can serve as methods of including the groups concerned in the planning and assessment of measures. Assessment meeting content can also be included in training sessions on equality. This may encourage employees to participate more actively.

Consultation of groups at risk of discrimination is a good method of collecting information about the equality of operations from the perspectives of various groups. Consultation can be implemented in a range of ways, including consultation sessions, comment rounds or interviews with experts from organisations representing different groups. A number of tools have been prepared to facilitate consultation, including the electronic commenting service for administrative authorities, (https://www.lausuntopalvelu.fi/FI) and the commenting service open to all actors (https://www.otakantaa.fi/fi-FI).

Equality assessment can be integrated with an organisation’s strategic process. For example, within certain ministries, departments have been requested to assess the implementation of equality as part of operational and financial planning. Such materials provide an excellent basis for assessing equality. Common equality objectives can be defined as a basis for assessment and included as part of the organisation’s equality promotion plan. Table 1 gives an example of the equality objectives applied by the Ministry of the Interior in 2013–2014, the implementation of which has been monitored as part of the planning of its operations and finances.

An example of non-discrimination and gender equality objectives whose implementation is assessed:

In an analysis of core functions, the organisation reviews its core functions such as communication, management, the various sectors of the service process, marketing, HR policy etc. from the equality perspective. Such an assessment may be conducted through considering the following questions.

1. How equal are the various functions from the viewpoint of different users or participants? (group-specific review)
2. How accessible and available are the functions?
3. What kinds of measures might promote equality?
4. What kind of methods provide information on the equality of core functions?
5. What is the impact of employees’ attitudes towards the implementation of measures and their equality?

The purpose of a document analysis is to assess how equality is taken into account in the contents of the documents produced by the organisation and how diversity could be made more visible in the future. Analyses can be conducted not only on documents, but also on media content and other communication.

The accessibility of premises and services promote equal opportunities for many population groups. Accessibility reviews may form part of an equality assessment. Accessibility reviews may target the built environment or, for instance, the accessibility of electronic services. Accessibility can be taken into account in the evaluation criteria of acquisitions regarding construction and systems. Excellent materials have been published on accessibility reviews:

Materials of the Accessibility Centre ESKE of the Finnish Association of People with Physical Disabilities (FPD) for the charting of, and guidance and training on, the built environment: http://www.esteeton.fi/

The ‘Culture for All’ Service includes excellent tools: http://www.kulttuuriakaikille.info/accessibility

The stamp: Accessibility taken into account by the Finnish Federation of the Visually Impaired (FFVI) (in Finnish only)

With regard to web content, information on the testing of various materials and self-assessment is included in the recommendation Accessible information and communication environment (Stivi) www.esok.fi/stivisuositus (in Finnish only)

Discrimination issues may be discussed by occupational health and safety materials. When preparing occupational health and safety action plans, issues considered important from the equality perspective can also be examined. For instance, racist comments targeted at employees from diverse ethnic backgrounds by customers within service contexts increase the psychological and social stress related to work.

Materials produced in connection with gender equality work can be used in the assessment of non-discrimination. Experiences of discrimination based on gender may highlight issues such as multiple discrimination or other factors affecting equality in the workplace. Measures implemented in connection with gender equality work can also have a positive impact on equality in the workplace.

Issues related to equality in the working community may also be handled in performance reviews between supervisors and employees. This can relate to experiences of discrimination, attitudes or the fostering of equality.

Equality issues can be included in customer satisfaction surveys. This is one way of gaining an external evaluation of the equality of operations. Charting of customer satisfaction may also include consideration of methods (accessibility, forms in different languages etc.) of facilitating responses that cover as many customer groups as possible.

Control of legality materials concerning the authorities may include observations that are important to the assessment of equality. The annual reports of the authorities controlling legality, and the internal legality control reports of certain authorities, may constitute such materials.

An external body may be commissioned to evaluate equality. For instance, many development projects include external evaluation, to which equality assessment entities can be connected.

Scientific data may also be available on equality and non-discrimination issues in the organisation’s line of business. If such information is available, it may facilitate the assessment of equality within various operations. For instance, the discrimination monitoring system coordinated by the Ministry of Justice has collected a great deal of information on forms of discrimination within education and during free time, working life and in social welfare and health care services.

Several international human rights supervision bodies conduct assessments of Finland at regular intervals. Country-specific reports on the implementation of human rights conventions include recommendations for diverse walks of life on topics considered key to the equality of many groups.

Further information:
Ministry for Foreign Affairs’ website on human rights conventions

The purpose of equality assessment is to identify development targets related to non-discrimination. Measures for promoting equality in the workplace and operations can be planned on the basis of such an assessment. Concrete measures are entered in the equality promotion plan. This plan may be separate or form part of another plan (an equality plan, a curriculum, an activity programme for occupational safety and health, etc.). A wide range of material, listed as sources in this guide, is available in support of the preparation of an equality promotion plan.

An equality promotion plan may include a description of the methods used for assessing equality and assessment results, a list of concrete measures for fostering equality and a specification of the follow-up, assessment and updating, if necessary, of the plan’s implementation and the related schedule.

Assessment matrix

Various guides on equality planning may serve as a source of ideas for an assessment of equality and plans made on the basis of such an assessment. Although certain materials were prepared while the former Non-Discrimination Act was in force, the guides and materials herein are ideal for preparing a plan pursuant to the new Non-Discrimination Act that takes account of all grounds for discrimination. Some guidelines prepared after the entry into force of the new Act have been published. This list includes the material in chronological order: