Equality Impact Assessment Consultants

Proactively managing diversity and inclusion mitigates legal risk. Our expert consultants assist employers in conducting comprehensive Equality Impact Assessments. We provide strategic guidance to help businesses prevent discrimination, ensure regulatory compliance, and foster a legally protected, inclusive workplace culture.

EIA Guidance for Employers

The purpose of an equality impact assessment is to eliminate discrimination, primarily indirect discrimination (such as a policy or company action disproportionately affecting some employees more than others) experienced by protected groups within an organisation.

Defined by the Equality Act 2010, those protected groups are determined by nine characteristics:

Age
Disability
Gender reassignment
Marriage and civil partnership
Pregnancy and maternity
Race and ethnicity
Religion or belief
Biological sex
Sexual orientation

First introduced to ensure public sector organisations were complying with the Equality Act, equality impact assessments are today fostered by both the third and the private sectors to help a company, charity, or organisation meet their inclusion goals.

A good equality impact assessment can go beyond the protected characteristics to include things like a person’s socio-economic background and whether or not they are a carer.

Instead of being undertaken annually or bi-annually, many organisations undertake an equality impact assessment each time they make a decision that could impact one group more than another. Those instances where one might prove particularly useful include moving a workplace from one site to another, the process of staff promotion, and introducing opportunities for training and development.

How Loch can help

The solicitors at Loch can guide you through the process of undertaking an equality impact assessment, highlighting the benefits, which include unlocking talent that might otherwise be overlooked.

It can be easy to treat an equality impact assessment as a tick-box exercise. Instead, we can help you to see opportunities within the data, improving your workplace inclusion and making sure your business is protected from claims of discrimination.

Ensuring inclusion within an organisation can feel like a daunting task. With our help, it doesn’t have to be.

Are equality impact assessments a legal requirement?

Equality impact assessments are not a legal requirement in the UK, but are used as an effective tool to meet an organisation’s dedication to inclusivity. Undertaking an assessment when making a company decision or taking action could ensure that protected groups of employees are not unfairly treated.

Is there a standard equality impact assessments template?

One equality impact assessment will be different from another depending on the company and the decision or action being made or taken. Therefore, a standard template would not be able to capture all of the data necessary to successfully complete an assessment.

The solicitors at Loch can help you to draft an equality impact assessment that meets your needs.

Why are diversity and inclusion important in the workplace?

Diversity and inclusion are important because they can expand your potential pool of talent significantly. Groups of people who might otherwise have been overlooked for jobs and promotions can join their competition on a level playing field without the danger of biases.

By including those same groups of often-indirectly-discriminated-against people in your company’s decisions, you can promote higher levels of engagement and employee satisfaction too.