Equal Pay Act

In 1970, the UK Government passed the Equal Pay Act. This prevented men and women from being treated differently or unfairly when it comes to pay and work conditions. By the time this law came into force, women had been campaigning for these rights for over 90 years.  

At the same time, Black and minority ethnic workers in the UK struggled to find jobs, had less job security, and often worked more for lower pay. Anti-immigration and racist attitudes led to attacks against Black people, and an increase in riots in many cities.  

Despite the introduction of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, disabled people still had to push for the opportunity to become part of the workforce and be recognised as the capable and talented workers that they were. 

These are just a few examples of how different people throughout recent history have faced exclusion at work. The Equality Act 2010 has increased the rights of people in the workplace but that doesn’t automatically lead to them feeling included.  

So, what does inclusion mean?  

We think it means that people are part of an organisation where they feel welcomed, valued, involved and respected for the ideas, perspectives and experiences that they bring. For us to achieve this, we need the commitment of every person who is a part of Llais.    

Our Strategic Equality Plan also let you know what we hope to achieve over the next four years as part of our equity, diversity and inclusion programme.  

Having strategies and plans is great, but we know that actions are needed to make sure that Llais is promoting inclusion as much as we can for our people and the people who need our services.  

Over the last 6 months we have been looking at how we can make an impact, as individuals, starting with the small things that we can all do that will lead to the bigger changes. 

Our staff and volunteers have told us that they would like to learn more about how they can be inclusive when engaging with everyone who wants to share their experiences of health and social care in Wales.  

As part of our wider work around cultural competency, we are currently creating a glossary that people can use to help them develop their knowledge. We understand the importance of language, we know that the words and phrases we use matter, and we have heard about the impact (both positive and negative) that words can have.  

This has been developed with help from Llais Pawb (our Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Working Group) and some of our partners. 

We will soon be asking for your help and guidance on what terms you like or don’t like and what language you prefer and why, which we will use to complete it. As language is always evolving this will be reviewed regularly to make sure we are keeping ourselves informed.  

Other small steps we have taken include a dedicated recognition section at the front of our newsletter where our staff can highlight each other’s contributions; making sure we include our pronouns in our email signatures; celebrating difference using our inclusion calendar; and engaging with people in their communities and spaces where they feel most comfortable.   

Our hope is that as we grow, Llais continues to build a culture that is inclusive, where people feel confident and safe to be their true selves at work. This is just the beginning of our journey, and we want to thank all our people who are working very hard to make a positive impact in our organisation. 

Would you like to make sure you and your community’s voice is heard? Do you want to help decide the future of health and social care services in Wales?  

Read more about how you can become part of the change here.