Examining whether workplace equality law was working for people with a visible difference
Hannah Saunders – Law Faculty
Queen Mary University, London
The lovely people at the VTCT Foundation have asked me to write a short piece about my research, which they have generously funded. The project aims to improve access to equality rights for people with a visible difference.
When I first began researching this topic, the reaction from other people was often one of surprise. While lots of brilliant research had taken place into the social and psychological aspects of disfigurement, the legal aspects had remained largely unheard of. This offered both an opportunity (to make an impact in a new area) and a challenge (not to target the research too thinly and lose depth). With this in mind, I decided to focus my research on equality rights at work.
I began by undertaking a PhD examining whether workplace equality law was working for people with a visible difference. What I found was a number of problems with the law, and the way it connected to the lived experience of visible difference. So the logical next step was to try to address these problems and, thanks to the VTCT Foundation, that’s what I’m hoping to do in my current research.
The research has three workstreams, all linked by the goal of improving access to equality rights. The workstreams are as follows:
Stream A: Finding out how employers approach issues of disfigurement equality in the workplace and identifying factors which help or hinder inclusion. Using these findings, I hope to provide increased guidance to employers on how to create appearance-inclusive workplace environments and processes. This research stream will involve a two-stage participative process:
- Conducting qualitative interviews with employers about their approaches to disfigurement equality at work. Together with the themes from my earlier PhD study, these interview findings will inform the creation of draft models of best employment practice.
- Consulting on these draft models in focus groups. Two focus groups will be convened – one with employer representatives and one with individuals who self-identify as having a disfigurement. Once agreed, the models of best practice will be published.
Stream B: Making information about challenging visible difference discrimination more accessible to affected people, their legal advisers and representative organisations. My PhD research revealed considerable uncertainty about these legal rights among those who may need to use them. The issue of understanding what is, and what isn’t, a ‘severe disfigurement’ (which are the words used in the relevant equality legislation) was a particular hurdle. This stream aims to provide some clarity on this.
Stream C: Seeking to increase awareness of, and engagement with, the topic of visible difference equality at policy level. My PhD identified various ways in which the current approach to disfigurement is falling short. But little discussion has taken place about this because the issue of disfigurement equality has remained largely hidden at policy level. I am therefore hoping to raise the topic with relevant bodies, including the Equality and Human Rights Commission in the UK, and the Committee overseeing the application of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
At the time of writing, the project is only 4 months into a 24-month project, but we have made several exciting steps forward. Under Stream C, in conjunction with Face Equality International (one of our partner charities), we have begun a dialogue with the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and made a formal submission about the impact of artificial intelligence on people with disfigurements, which we finalised shortly before Christmas 2021. We are awaiting publication of the Special Rapporteur’s final report on this topic but are thrilled to have had the opportunity to provide input.
We are also working with colleagues at the Centre for Appearance Research at UWE to produce some guidance for people with a visible difference – including a return-to-work support pack for those with a recently-changed appearance. And we are working with colleagues in a London law firm to produce a guidance note about the law in this area targeted at practitioners.
I am very grateful for the VTCT Foundation’s faith in this project, and the chance to work with some of the charities in the Appearance Collective and other members of this community.