The Irish workforce of 50 years ago was largely homogenous – and much of it was working in Britain and elsewhere. The recent success of the Irish economy has provided jobs for Irish people, attracted many of our own emigrants home and required employers to recruit abroad – as well as attracting many individual immigrants.

The aim of this handbook is to provide practical guidance for those recruiting and employing migrant workers. The article therefore covers:

1.1  Interculturalism and diversity in the workplace

An intercultural workplace is one where the employer takes account of diversity and plans for the increased cultural and ethnic diversity that arises from the employment of migrant workers and all minority ethnic workers. The development of an intercultural workplace policy should be seen as something that is integral to meeting the wider goals of the organisation and not as an add-on or an afterthought. A whole organisation approach is a common sense approach to address racism and support inclusive, intercultural strategies within an organisation, with reference to equality policies and equality action plans.

2  Employing migrant workers

Irish employers have been actively recruiting people from both within and outside the European Economic Area (EEA) in recent years, especially in Latvia, the Philippines and the Czeh Republic and Poland.

2.1  Recruiting

If you are sending staff abroad to recruit or to oversee recruitment for you, give them adequate training and support. Some Irish hospitals join together to recruit staff abroad: senior management representatives are often sent to oversee recruitment practices and to provide information directly to the results about the jobs and about living in Ireland.

Many employers recruit non-EEA workers through employment agencies, which may be based in Ireland or abroad. Employment agencies can be knowledgeable intermediaries whose expertise can greatly assist in the practicalities of recruitment.

You should see appropriate references and assurances of good practice from agencies because the quality and practices of recruitment agencies can vary considerably. Migrant workers who are recruited through an employment agency that has poor professional standards are more likely to have problems adjusting to their new employment in Ireland. The most common complaints are:

2.2  Employment and Equality Law

Non-EEA workers are entitled to the same employment protections as EEA workers.

The Employment Equality Act 1998

prohibits discrimination in relation to employment on nine distinct grounds: gender, marital status, family status, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, race and membership of the Traveller community. The legislation applies to public and private sector employment; it applies not just to employers but also to employment agencies, vocational training bodies, trade unions and employer, professional and trade associations.

The Act deals with discrimination in job advertisements, vocational training, access to employment and employment conditions including training, work experience and advancement within employment. In addition to outlawing sexual harassment, the act provides that harassment on any of the nine grounds constitutes discrimination and employees who feel they have been harassed can seek redress. As an employer, you can be held – vicariously liable for;

The Equal Status Act 2000

prohibits discrimination in the provision of goods and services, the disposal of property and access to education, on any of the nine grounds set out in the Employment Equality Act 1998.

The Equality Act 2004 gives effect to recent anti-discrimination directives (on race, employment and gender) from the European Union and applies their provisions to all nine grounds in the equality legislation. While Ireland was already largely compliant with the directives, the Act made some changes, the most important of which permits employers to undertake additional measures to facilitate the integration of workers or to eliminate the effects of discrimination on the ground of race.

3.  Developing an Intercultural Workplace

An intercultural workplace is one where the employer takes account of diversity and plans for the increased cultural and ethnic diversity that arises from the employment of migrant and minority ethnic workers. The development of an intercultural workplace policy should be seen as something that is integral to meeting the wider goals of the organisation and not as an add-on or an afterthought.

Developing a proactive policy towards managing diversity in the workplace can have significant benefits for the employer, the employees and their customers.

The European Commission’s 2003 report The Costs and Benefits of Diversity highlights the benefits gained by employers who have invested time and resources in developing active workplace diversity policies.

Many migrant workers are here for the long term; retaining them makes good business senses. It reduces search and recruitment costs and exploits investment in their training and experience. Retention may require action both inside and outside the workplace:

4.  Developing an Intercultural Workplace:

A ) Senior Management:

Equality/Diversity Policy

Inclusivity, understanding and respect for diversity are key elements of an intercultural workplace. The Equality Authority, in association with the social partners, has published an authoritative set of guidelines for employment equality policies in enterprises; the ten steps to developing such policies are as follows:

Raising awareness about diversity

Some employers organise initiatives, including intercultural social events, to provide information about the countries of origin and the customs of people from both EEA and non-EEA countries.

Other approaches include the effective use of posters and publications and the linking of activities to International Day Against Racism or Anti-Racist Workplace Week.

Action steps

Examples:

1.  Jury’s Doyle Hotel Group has displayed posters and has also organized cultural days promoting an exchange of information and knowledge about the cultures of the difference ethnic groups working in the hotel.

1.  An Garda Siochana has organised awareness training in Templemore as part of primary training programmes. Garda Station Open Days have encouraged stronger links with local communities.

B) Frontline Management:

Tackling Racist Behaviour

Racism denies people their basic human rights, equality and respect. As with all forms of inappropriate behaviour in the workplace, there can be different forms of racist behaviour including harassment and bullying. Reported incidents include the circulation of racist emails and jokes or the targeting of individual workers through inappropriate behaviour. There is an onus on all employers to ensure that all employees understand that such behaviour is unacceptable. Racist behaviour may constitute harassment under the Employment Equality Act and the employer may be held responsible.

Action Steps

Examples:

1.  Following the circulation of a racist email, a statutory agency in Ireland organised a one-day awareness-raising programme for a broad range of staff (not just those who had circulated the email)

C) Human Resources:

Induction, Orientation and Support

Migrant workers will need both induction, to ease them into a new job, and orientation to help them to cope with living in a different country. Induction requires a structured programme and must include health and safety training: orientation means providing advice and practical support in adjusting to living in a new country.

Where migrant workers come in groups and their jobs are similar, induction and orientation are easy to manage. Existing structured induction programmes can be tailored to meet some of the needs of migrant workers.

Under the

Equality Act 2004

, employers are permitted to undertake positive actions in relation to employees on the grounds of race (Travellers were already covered under the Employment Equality Act 1998).

Action Steps

Examples

Some employers in Canada use a buddy system to provide individual support to all new workers, particularly to those from outside of Canada. One member of staff provides informal advice and support to the new worker and helps them adjust to their new employment.