AIBU not to share personal diversity data at work?

[Itsdeffoabat]

My work has repeatedly asked me to update my diversity data on our work database. They say they need to know employee demographics to ensure they are providing an equitable, diverse and inclusive working environment.

I am sceptical of DEI in the workplace so have chosen not to disclose any of my protected characteristics. I have just left it blank instead of answering “prefer not to say”. I have had a few emails asking me to either populate the answers or say “prefer not to say”.

Am I unreasonable to just continue to leave it blank. I do not want to give an answer and am suspicious that “prefer not to say” has a different meaning attached?

Please just put 'Prefer not to say' and move on with your life.

Prefer not to say is accurate though ?

I always say ‘prefer not to say’. I would far rather my work place judged me on my skills rather than my skills despite being a women / of Pakistani heritage / in a wheelchair / caring for a disabled child etc etc.

I just put prefer not to say. If you leave it blank, you’ll continue to just get chased about it as it won’t show as being completed. Nobody cares if you put prefer not to say.

Well, you prefer not to say, don't you? So put that down.

I've never once answered any of these in (checks notes) 42 years.

And i wouldn't intend starting now.

OP is concerned that 'Prefer not to say' will be treated as significant - ? passed over for promotion? ? branded a troublemaker? I am concerned that by repeatedly refusing to choose 'Prefer not to say', as is her right, OP will be branded a troublemaker. Think of the poor colleague who has to do the work of reminding you several times over.

I also do the same as you and have left it blank after the EDI team told us they treat ‘prefer not to say’ differently than those who leave it blank. I get chased twice a year and just ignore it as they have the data they need

They just need it populated so that you’ll stop being chased and they know the gap in the data is on purpose and not due to an error or someone not doing their job. I don’t think anyone looks at the individual data and makes decisions about a person based on it.

So, you prefer not to say, but you prefer not to say that you prefer not to say?

The mind boggles 🙄

I work somewhere that sounds very similar. There was a huge drive to add this sort of thing to your record, and really the uptke as very poor until finally it was officially confirmed that no one can see it except the central HR team (who do not get involved in day to day stuff, and would have no reason whatsoever disclose it to anyone, and are not allowed to do so either) and it's not related to e.g. requesting reasonable adjustments / OH referrals / anything individual - it's purely so they can say x% of our workforce is disabled/gay/atheist/whatever.

It was used during a redundancy consultation so they could say 'x proposal disproportionately affects y group and could be indirect discrimination'. Stuff like that.

It's entirely reasonable to ask who can see the information if you do complete it, and I would not be happy to complete it unless I knew that.

Eta: clarity

Christ alive. Just say 'prefer not to say', which is the literal truth. Stop being so paranoid.

I work somewhere that sounds very similar. There was a huge drive to add this sort of thing to your record, and really the uptke as very poor until finally it was officially confirmed that no one can see it except the central HR team (who do not get involved in day to day stuff, and would have no reason whatsoever disclose it to anyone, and are not allowed to do so either) and it's not related to e.g. requesting reasonable adjustments / OH referrals / anything individual - it's purely so they can say x% of our workforce is disabled/gay/atheist/whatever.

So (as always) cui bono ?

I just put wrong answers in these when asked.

They don't treat the person any differently. They treat the data differently, ie it gets categorised differently and they don't lump in a blank form with the 'prefer not to say' group.

Apparently there are no "wrong" answers.

If you tick "Black", even if you are as the driven snow, who gets to say you lied ?

The thing is 'prefer not to say' is not necessarily safe, if its visible to someone who maybe you already have a difficult relationship with.

If the answer is no, people just say no, there's no possible negative affect to saying no. 'prefer not to say' is taken to mean 'yes, there's something but I'm not disclosing what'.

You see it in the data returns - prefer not to say is not generally treated as a 'no', it's either on its own or lumped in with the various sorts of 'yes'.

No one's going to assume one thing based off 'prefer not to say'. It could be someone doesn't like DEI, someone is closeted LGBTQ+ and doesn't feel confident saying it, someone has some mixed heritage but isn't sure how to express it or of it matters enough and various other things. That is why the option exists, because they want to give a judgement-free option not to disclose if you'd rather not.

It's for data analytics reasons, so whoever reports on this info, do them a favour and put "prefer not to say" to make their life easier and save yourself the hassle of getting bombarded

But the question isn't 'do you have some sort of protected characteristic'

It's 'what's your ethnicity' or 'are you disabled' or 'do you identify x / y / z'

@SerendipityJane the organisation, mostly. In that they can say 'look, aren't we brilliant with our gender pay gap / representation of x group in terms of general population.

But also can benefit the staff if they say a certain group is under represented in a certain area / why is that / is there a systemic issue / here's how we are fixing it.

I ticked rather not answer for every question and accounts personnel read it out and mocked it.

If you can’t answer honestly, I don’t see the point.

If you're sufficiently concerned about EDI monitoring to not want to complete the form then you should email them explaining your reasons. Because leaving it blank makes no point at all. They'll just think you couldn't be bothered.

No one, but it gives me immense satisfaction.

There's something that doesn't sit right with your instincts about putting prefer not to say.

I have felt the same. Sometimes it's impossible to tick one option and 'prefer not to say' doesn't cover it because of the right option was there I would tick it

Not making a choice can feel different to being forced to make the wrong one. It doesn't matter what it is for, if it doesn't sit comfortably then I would continue as you are.

Prefer not to say prevents some unfortunate data manager from having to keep sending them, as it currently looks as thought they arent doing their job.