Equality Act Workshop in the North East

CWU representatives from the North East attended a one-day Equality Act: Disabilities workshop in York.

This workshop, delivered by Fevzi Hussein CWU Policy Assistant and Paul Newsham CWU Tutor, covered how to apply the law around disabilities, topics such as the impact in the workplace, reasonable adjustments and how to apply the Equality Act 2010 effectively in a case.

It emphasised the significance of making sure CWU members record their disability. As we age, our health needs change and usually, while we are still of working age. By understanding our disability rights, we can continue to be fully supported in the workplace. Most importantly, disclosing a disability can influence disability related policies positively, the more disability information is recorded and shared with us, the stronger we are when talking to the employer on your behalf.

Using case studies, Fevzi went through the process step by step, breaking it down into easy to understand ways of referencing the sections and how to apply them.

“The Equality Act plays a vital role in protecting the rights of individuals with disabilities. This isn’t just about legislation; it’s about fundamental human dignity and ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to live a full and productive life, free from discrimination,” said Trish Vollans, North East Regional Secretary, “The Equality Act covers a broad range of areas, this specific CWU training course delves into how our CWU representatives can use legislation to support those members with disabilities. Empowering our representatives with valuable courses helps them build strong cases to fight daily injustices affecting our members. Representatives play a pivotal role in ensuring that our members are protected and have a crucial role to play in ensuring members understand their rights. I hope to see more training courses like this in the near future. I would recommend this to all those representatives who do disciplinary and grievance cases.”

NE Regional ULR Lead Bev Walmsley, who organised the workshop, hoped that the reps who attended the workshop would be able to apply the information gained to support CWU members, not only in Employment Tribunal cases, but in many applications of attendance and conduct cases that they deal with on a daily basis.