Equal Opportunities Project - Breakthrough

The main purpose of the project was to develop an innovative benchmarking tool to assist Small and Medium Size Enterprises (SMEs) in the north-west region to undertake an equal opportunity audit focusing on gender. The tool ‘Breakthrough’ identifies weaknesses and strengths in SMEs equal opportunity policies/provision in order that they can achieve best employment practice and avoid legal challenge.

The tool encourages the mainstreaming of equal opportunities in SME organisations by:

- Encouraging SME employers to review their pay systems for evidence of gender bias in order to reduce/remove the gender pay gap.
- Encouraging SME employers to remove gender bias from recruitment and promotion policies and practices.
- Encouraging SME employers to reduce gender segregation in their workforces by encouraging them to adopt new forms of work organisation.
- Focusing on benchmarking and assisting SMEs to identify weaknesses in organisational equal opportunities practices/policies. This will assist women in terms of access and progression, access to training and pay differentials.

The tool focuses on the following key areas:

Setting the Equal Opportunities Agenda
Creating & Defining Jobs
Finding Employees to fill Jobs
Selecting to fill Jobs
Developing within your Organisation
Paying your Employees
Offering Flexibility
Sexual Harassment in your Organisation

More information can be obtained from the Breakthrough website