To ask HOW the govt can justify discrimination against women and lone parents in 2016?

[austounding]

Extract from the new equalities assessment for the proposed doctors contract. It's all over my facebook as I have a lot of doctor school-friends. I normally don't engage much, but can't quite believe what the government have written here.

(tried to attach screengrab - hope it's worked....)

How in 2016 is this acceptable?

(Disclaimer: I know, I know I risk starting a major bunfight by posting about the NHS... but my focus here is on what the govt has said about LPs and women in the workplace, as I think this is a worrying sign of how they view us generally).

I should add that the Equality Act consolidated our domestic equality legislation and was drafted in line with EU equality directives - so it is compatible with EU law (for the large part).

But mummyBex - the government is forcing through contracts to change the working arrangements to the detriment of working parents. These are professionals who have been training and working for many years and are now facing a turnabout of the working arrangements. This is not business as usual.

herecomes The changes are no worse than the current arrangements. Pay increases by time served is equally discriminating.

Probably the same way they justified it in 2015, 2014... I'm amazed that people as 'well educated' as medical doctors have only just noticed that the Tories hate single parents, to be honest. It wasn't exactly their best-kept secret in the 80s either.

The junior doctors are all over this actually, hence the strike action.

So...why do they not put in measures to try and counteract the problem? Why not HR making strategic relationships with local childminders who will do overnights and accommodate shift-working? What about on-site childcare provision that prioritises those who otherwise wouldn't be able to work? What about joint working with other local employers to support working parents? What about not assuming everyone - single or otherwise - has a traditional home set-up and actually talking to staff and potential staff to help problem-solve. The NHS is a massive employer - and I would hazard a guess has a higher than average workplace proportion of female staff. It must be able to support the needs of all workers when having to staff on a 24 hour basis. It is not ok for them to recognise discrimination and not even try to counteract it. Big employers need to be part of the solution, not shrug shoulders and blame lone parents for piss-poor childcare provision and the political will to scapegoat them for all society's ills.

I think it's clear that this government is uncaring about the workforce and will lie and scheme to save as much money as possible at the expense of the human manpower.

warning Guardian link

"We are very concerned by the language in the government’s own equality analysis of the contract, which warns that features of the new contract ‘impact disproportionately on women’. Recent commitments from government to support women in business are greatly welcome. We view the wording of the equality analysis as incompatible with this approach.”

from 2 female heads of Royal Colleges of Medicine

The Guardian says:

There is particular unease about its statement that “while there are features of the new contract that impact disproportionately on women, of which some we expect to be advantageous and others disadvantageous, we do not consider that this would amount to indirect discrimination as the impacts can be comfortably justified”.

I say:

I have particular unease with this statement which is appalling in its style as well as its prevarication.

This is a warning shot for all other NHS workers. The consultant contract is up for renewal as well, and the same dodgy justifications will be applied.

Pretty much everyone else is on 'Agenda for Change' banding (nurses, therapists, hospital receptionists, admin staff, managers... everyone inside a hospital bar the privatised security, cleaners, food staff and porters) and gets a modest unsocial hours premium if they do work at weekends, after 8pm or before 6am. Rates here.

So if the precedent is set that you can massively expand the definition of 'not-unsocial-hours' then all of these staff will soon be brought in line too.

All ready for further privatisation.

The NHS workforce is 77% women. graphic here
It's arguably the largest longterm employer of women in the entire world. (The US military and China's Red Army are bigger, but I'm guessing they have rather more men; and entry level positions at Wal-mart and McDonald's aren't usually a lifetime job).

We have a conservative government that believe the nuclear family are the ideal.
Why are people surprised, this is what i don't understand.
You don't have to be too intelligent to know this it's in every AS level text book for Sociology and has been since I can remember.
They have always been the same, it's nothing new.

The issue is though whether this is lawful and whether they actually can do this.

The BMA has now launched a judicial review challenging the lawfulness of the health secretary’s decision to impose the junior doctors’ contract.

This is based on the Government’s failure to pay due regard to the equalities impact prior to imposition.

The problem is the fathers not stepping up to do their share of the child care.
Perhaps there could be something added to maintenance payments to take account of this.
If you have a child with no partner or family support how much should the state step in?
It doesn't seem straightforward to me.

HazyMazy The whole point of the current CM system is that it is intend to be based on income and ignore conduct. NRP can't refuse to pay because PWC refuses contact and PWC can't refuse contact because NRP is not paying.

To try to superimpose an obligation on NRP to provide PWC with childcare or pay more is hopeless. What about the NRP who would be happy to but PWC has moved away? Or who now has a young family who also need childcare?

So the NHS is struggling (partly due to recruitment issues) and they think the logical solution is to make it an even more unpleasant place to work!? Riiiiight. If I were an NHS doctor I'd be running out of the door to check out office rents in Harley Street right now!

Are the BMA and junior doctors indulging in disability discrimination by unreasonably pursuing their strikes .... as that disproportionately affects weak, ill, vulnerable, and disabled people?

could be worse, you could be a lone woman or even worse a lone man.

Are the doctors Equality Act compliant?
Are the doctors compliant with Human Rights Legislation?
When does professional negligence become knowing recklessness?
Can untreated / injured / dead patients (or their representatives) sue striking doctors?
Whose duty is it to investigate those questions?

What is a "lone woman" and a "lone man"?

Probably lone parent female or lone parent male. Lone parents may be interested in this petition.parliament.uk/petitions/126895

As i have been saying to women for decades - never ever go part time or work short hours. It never works. If someone has to do it let the muggins be your husband.

The Government's response to possible litigation on the new contract by the way is at www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/515671/JFH_PAP_response_11_04_16.pdf