BSBDIV501 Manage Diversity in the Workplace: Assessment 1 and 2

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BSBDIV501 Manage diversity in the workplace

Contents
Assessment 1:............................................................................................................................................. 3
Question1: List 6 prohibited areas of discrimination your company’s diversity policy should address....3
Question2: List 3 examples of policies that may cover aspects of businesses operations affected by
diversity................................................................................................................................................... 3
Question3: When should staff be made aware of the diversity policy?....................................................3
Question4: Name 2 ways of promoting the diversity policy......................................................................3
Question5: What should you do if you discover areas of the anti-discrimination legislation which are not
fully addressed by your diversity policy in your workplace?.....................................................................4
Question6: What can happen if your own prejudices cause discrimination during the employment
process and a candidate is dissatisfied?................................................................................................. 4
Question7: List 2 benefits of selecting a socially diverse workforce.........................................................4
Question8. List 3 types of training you may need to offer staff to help deal with the cultural difference in
your team................................................................................................................................................. 4
Question9. List 3 examples of items that can cause tensions between staff...........................................4
Question10. How can you manage staff tensions and assist staff in working effectively with each other?
................................................................................................................................................................. 5
Question11. : Who should ideally be in charge when investigating complaints relating to bullying, racial
vilification, sexual harassment or violence?............................................................................................. 5
Question12. An employer can be held liable for any unlawful workplace behavior unless they can prove
what?....................................................................................................................................................... 5
Question13. What are some ways businesses can promote diversity?...................................................5
Question14. Give an example of how you can use the skills from a culturally diverse workforce to
improve products or services in your industry..........................................................................................5
Question15. Match the following pieces of legislation with their corresponding description....................6

Qusetion16. List the 2 main ways which can be used to lodge and handle a complaint..........................6
Question17. List 4 types of complaints which must be investigated formally...........................................6
Question18. The HR manager asks you to investigate a sexual harassment claim which has occurred
yesterday in the catering department. In brief, outline the steps you should take to address this
complaint in a professional manner. What are the options in case of satisfactory or non-satisfactory
outcomes?............................................................................................................................................... 7
Assessment2............................................................................................................................................... 8
1. Go to the website https://www.humanrights.gov.au/our-work/legal/legislation and identify the purpose
of the following Acts – what is covered, who does this apply to and what is the relevance in a
workplace?.............................................................................................................................................. 8
2. Current projects that have been implemented as part of the national strategies for each of the
following acts can be found in the relevant areas of www.humanrights.gov.au. Review these current
projects and analyze the key factors and campaigns which would be beneficial and could be adapted
for managing a diverse workplace. Which potential benefits for a workplace can you find in each of
these projects?...................................................................................................................................... 10
3. Given consideration to the requirements you have identified in Question 1 and the positives you
have analyzed and identified in Question 2; develop a diversity policy which sufficiently covers all
aspects required to manage diversity in a contemporary, modern workplace which fosters effective
communication and promotes harmony and an inclusive team.............................................................12
4. Develop a bullying/harassment policy that can be used in your workplace........................................14
References................................................................................................................................................ 16

Assessment 1:
Question1: List 6 prohibited areas of discrimination your company’s diversity
policy should address.
Following are a list of the prohibited areas of discrimination that should be addressed in diversity
policy of company-
1. Discrimination of pregnancy and maternity discrimination
2. Harassment including the sexual harassment
3. Expunged homosexual conviction
4. The identity of gender, lawful activity related to sex and sexual orientation
5. Carer status and marital status
6. Religious activity or belief, culture, and activity
Question2: List 3 examples of policies that may cover aspects of businesses
operations affected by diversity
1. Anti-harassment, grievance procedures and anti-bullying
2. Induction and recruitment practices
3. Accountabilities and responsibilities
Question3: When should staff be made aware of the diversity policy?
At the time of the induction process, all the staff of the companies should be made aware of the
diversity policies of the companies so that they can work accordingly while keeping in mind
these policies.
Question4: Name 2 ways of promoting the diversity policy
1. During the process of induction, the copies of diversity policies to be distributed to the
staff members and whenever there is an alteration change should be informed to them
via hardcopy or email.
2. Diversity policies to be displayed on the noticeboard of the company and other areas of
public, or policies to be explained to the staff members at meetings.

Question5: What should you do if you discover areas of the anti-discrimination
legislation which are not fully addressed by your diversity policy in your
workplace?
After finding anti-discrimination legislation areas, feedback will be provided to colleagues for
ensuring updating of policies and communicating it to the staff and management.
Question6: What can happen if your own prejudices cause discrimination during
the employment process and a candidate is dissatisfied?
A complaint can be made by the person to the Anti-discrimination code. (Huebsch, 2019)
Question7: List 2 benefits of selecting a socially diverse workforce
The two benefits of socially diverse workforce include the following-
 Improved customer services and international trade opportunities
 Reduced turnover rate of employees and increase their productivity (Chignell, 2018)
Question8. List 3 types of training you may need to offer staff to help deal with
the cultural difference in your team.
Following training will to the staff will help in dealing with the cultural differences in the team-
 Training related to the cultural competency and specific and ethics training
 Training of workplace bullying, harassment or discrimination
 Human rights and diversity training
Question9. List 3 examples of items that can cause tensions between staff.
The items that can cause tensions among the staff includes-
 Due to the language barriers, the staff do not properly understand the instructions of
work which result in creating tensions among them by which their productivity is affected
 Misinterpretation of emotional responses sometimes causes tension between the staff. It
may be interpreted uncaring if some staff members show no emotions at the time of
occurrence of the problem.
 Differences in the religious belief are not understood by the employees properly which
create conflicts among them sometimes.

Question10. How can you manage staff tensions and assist staff in working
effectively with each other?
The staff tensions, conflicts can be managed, and assistance can be given to the staff by
establishing the rules and regulations related to the staff. Offerings of training to the staff about
the social customs, religious beliefs, cultural awareness and language barriers. Immediate
attention to be given by managers to the complaints and deal with them effectively. Proper
training should be given to the managers about the communication techniques so that they can
manage multicultural workforce systematically and can identify the tensions areas and
encourage the staff collaborations so the smooth workings can be performed in the organisation
(Smith, 2012).
Question11. : Who should ideally be in charge when investigating complaints
relating to bullying, racial vilification, sexual harassment or violence?
In-charge for investigating the complaints about the sexual harassment, bullying, violence and
racial vilification should be in the hands of the person who has dealt with all these situations
successfully.
Question12. An employer can be held liable for any unlawful workplace behavior
unless they can prove what?
Unless the employee proves that he has implemented all the reasonable steps for averting
unlawful behaviour he will be held liable for the unlawful behavior at the workforce.
Question13. What are some ways businesses can promote diversity?
Diversity can be promoted by the business through staff meetings, newsletter, and bulletins. It
can also be done by creating the programs of mentorship, offering diverse opportunities for the
engagement of employees, and communicating clearly and creating the employee-led tasks
forces (Walsh, 2015).
Question14. Give an example of how you can use the skills from a culturally
diverse workforce to improve products or services in your industry.
By drawing from the pool of culturally diverse talent, benefits can be gained by the companies
from hiring the professionals having a broad range of skills which is not even accessible if hiring
is done locally. Cultural diverse workforce skills can be used for improving the products and
services in the industry as the Travelodge’s company can use the ability of employees speaking
the multiple languages to deal with the foreign customers and the customers having a culturally

diverse background.
Employees knowing different countries’ cultures, religions, and traditions can be used by L’Oréal
company for promoting its products and services in different countries and deciding the tagline
of the goods or services so that it does not lose in its translation.
Question15. Match the following pieces of legislation with their corresponding
description.
o Age Discrimination Act, 2004- Protects older and younger people from the unlawful
treatment on their age basis
o Racial Discrimination Act, 1975- protects against discrimination by national origin, skin
colour, descent, ethnic extraction, etc.
o Disability Discrimination Act, 1992- protects against the discrimination on the disability
basis
o Sex Discrimination Act, 1984- Protects against the discrimination on the sex,
pregnancy or marital status basis.
o Australian Human Right, Commission Act, 1986- Established the Australian Human
right commission, defines discrimination can give power.
Qusetion16. List the 2 main ways which can be used to lodge and handle a
complaint.
For lodging and handling the complaint below mentioned ways can be used-
1. Government agency like Anti-Discrimination Board may be involved for handling and lodging
the complaint at the workplace.
2. Procedures and guidelines to be followed rigorously by all the staff and members of the
company. It is important for the employers and managers to stay calm listen well and
acknowledge the problem and offer solutions to the problems.
Question17. List 4 types of complaints which must be investigated formally
The formal investigation must be conducted with reference to these complaints-
1. Sexual Harassment
2. Racial Vilification

3. Bullying
4. Complaints of violence
Question18. The HR manager asks you to investigate a sexual harassment claim
which has occurred yesterday in the catering department. In brief, outline the
steps you should take to address this complaint in a professional manner. What
are the options in case of satisfactory or non-satisfactory outcomes?
Steps for investigating the sexual harassment claim that occurred in the catering department
involves the following-
1. Firstly I will familiarise with the procedures, policies, governing legislation and personal
records concerning the type of complaint. Then planning will be done for the investigation.
2. I will talk with the employee who is making complain and will assure his or her safety from
retaliation.
3. Conduct the interview in a private area with the complainant where there is no occurrence of
eavesdropping. Ensuring for the confidentiality to the complainant.
4. I will ask for the incident’s witness
5. Strict actions will be taken so that this cation does not occur in the future again.
6. Notes will be taken of the conversation in the document regarding the situation, time, dates,
and witness that seems relevant.
7. The defendant will be interviewed then, and the same questions will be asked to him.
8. All the facts will be reviewed, and accordingly, the recommendations will be made.
The matter will be dropped and closed if the complainant is satisfied with the outcome. But if the
outcomes are non-satisfactory, then the matter will be preceded to the next stage. Use of
arbitration and conciliation can be made, and if it is not successful, then proceedings will be
made to the court of law or tribunal (HEATHFIELD, 2018).

Assessment2
1. Go to the website https://www.humanrights.gov.au/our-work/legal/legislation
and identify the purpose of the following Acts – what is covered, who does this
apply to and what is the relevance in a workplace?
 Age Discrimination Act- the Age Discrimination Act, 2004 helps in ensuring
Australians to be treated favourably by age in different public life areas including
education, employment, goods, and services provision and administration of
Commonwealth programs and laws. The act also provides for the exemption in
the different areas including migration, social security tax, taxation,
superannuation, state laws, Commonwealth laws, and some health programs.
The law applies to all the types of employees including the private sector,
employment and recruitment agencies, commission and contract based work,
and commonwealth and state government. It is important for all the organizations
to have policies, rules, and programs in their workplace for preventing the
harassment and discrimination of mature and young age workers.
 Disability Discrimination Act, 1992- This act mainly aim at eliminating
discrimination against disabilities’ people, promoting principle’s community
acceptance that the disabled people have the same fundamental rights as the
other members for the community have, and ensuring that as far as practicable
that disabled people have same rights to equality as the other community people
have.
The law applies to a person who possesses more than one disability or who has
partial or total disability covering the following areas including sensory, learning
disability, physical, neurological, psychiatrist, and physical disfigurement. There
must be laws relating to preventing disability discrimination so that all the
employees are treated equally and disabled employees do not have the feeling of
being partial behaved (Australia government, 2019).
 Racial Discrimination Act, 1975- Equality is promoted by this law so that
people across Australia get fair treatment by colour, national, ethnic origin, race
or decent in different public life’s areas. The act provides discrimination against
many areas like education, accessing public areas, accommodation, and
employment.

Different situations such as refused employment denied from the training
opportunities, harassed, dismissed, and given less favourable terms of
employment are covered in this act.
The act has its relevance at the workplace as if applied strictly then no
domination of an employee can be made.
 Sex Discrimination Act, 1984- equality is promoted among women and men,
elimination of discrimination by pregnancy, marital status, sex, family
respondents, and elimination of sexual harassment at workplace in educational
institutions, in accommodation provision, Commonwealth program’s delivery.
 Australian Human Rights Commission Act, 1986- it established equal
opportunities commission and human rights and gave it function to –
o Convention and declaration of the rights of the child
o Declaration on the rights of persons who are mentally Retarded
o Declaration on the rights of disabled persons (Australia government,
2019)

2. Current projects that have been implemented as part of the national strategies
for each of the following acts can be found in the relevant areas of
www.humanrights.gov.au. Review these current projects and analyze the key
factors and campaigns which would be beneficial and could be adapted for
managing a diverse workplace. Which potential benefits for a workplace can you
find in each of these projects?
Age Discrimination Act and Disability Discrimination Act-
A new major project was announced by the Australian Human rights commission on Willing to
Work: National Inquiry into Employment Discrimination Against Older Australians and
Australians with Disability, 2016. As per this project, the inquiry was made and it was found that
many Australians are out of work due to the myths, assumptions, and stereotypes associated
with their disability and age. It results in leading off the discriminatory behaviors during
recruitment at the workplace and even at the time of promotion, training, retirements. For
managing the age and disability discrimination at the workplace following factors and campaigns
can be adopted-
o Adoption of age management policies
o Campaigns, where the older workers can represent their talent and skills and new
workers, can gain knowledge from them
o Reducing age-related labour cost
o The campaign of age-specific advertisement aiming particularly at older applicants
Potential benefits which can be provided by this project include-
o The organisation will gain extra skills and experience by recruiting older workers.
o The benefit is obtained by the organisation from the cost containment when investing in
health and skills promotion for an ageing workforce.
o Expensive skill loss can be avoided by retaining the older workers and market share
may get an increase.
o Age diversity capitalisation can increase work motivation and intergenerational solidarity.
o Resolving bottleneck of labour markets
o Solve problems of poor labour supply (Australia government, 2019)