SMARTER WORK PRACTICES GET EQUALITY BACKING

EQUALITY North East has pledged its support to the pioneering Work Wise North East campaign which supports the adoption of new smarter working across the region.
The Gateshead based organisation, which aims to remove the barriers to equality in employment, has signed up to be a strategic partner of Work Wise North East, as it believes smarter working practices can increase opportunities for disadvantaged groups.
Liz Reay, chief executive of Equality North East said: "Our organisation aims to remove the barriers to equality in employment.  Current working practices such as the nine-to-five culture are archaic and can prevent people, taking up and staying in employment. 
Flexible working practices can increase opportunities for a many different groups in the community and should be available to anyone struggling to achieve a work-life balance.  Society must catch up with the reality of modern life and we are at Equality North East, are fully committed to promoting smarter working practices - for the benefit of all."
Liz added: "We must bring working practices into the twenty first century as they discriminate against those who have a family, who have aged relatives or who have a disability.
More employers should be encouraged to allow their employees to participate in smarter working practices such as allowing staff to stagger their commute and working from home.   A number of employers are already carrying out flexible working practices and we recognise their achievements through the North East Equality Awards.
Also, our own staff at Equality North East have opportunities to work flexibly and have the technology including laptops so they can work from home.
We believe that Work Wise North East is a fantastic campaign as it opens up a world of opportunities for employers and employees outside of the nine to five existence.  It is an important initiative as it encourages employers not to shy away from employing people just because they are not always able to fit in with standard working practices.
Disability shouldn't be a barrier to work - the barrier is more often inflexibility on the part of some employers to work around a person's individual circumstances.
We need to use many different approaches to increase opportunities for all.  We also recognise that if we are to achieve equality, we need a shared regional approach and this means working with partners such as Work Wise North East to achieve this."
Simon Roberson, chairman of Work Wise North East and regional manager of BT said "It's great to have Equality North East on board - they work with many employers and organisations in the region including SME's and have a wealth of knowledge and expertise which we are hoping to tap into to meet the challenges of the Work Wise campaign.
Work Wise North East aims to consign nine-to-five, five-days-a-week working to history and the promotion of smarter working practices, are important steps in creating 21st century work places that are inclusive to people from all backgrounds and abilities.
We would urge all organisations to sign the Work Wise concordat via the Work Wise web site (www.workwisuk.org) over the coming months to demonstrate their commitment to revolutionising the workplace, to make our region a better place for all employees. 

The public, private and voluntary sectors all agree that the benefits of smarter working are enormous. Apart from the positive implications on employees' work-life balance and travelling time, the improvements in productivity will help the North East meet the competitive challenges presented by the emerging economies, such as India and China.

 Ultimately, we want smarter working practices to be the norm, not the exception and the more organisations we can sign up to Work Wise the better, as this will help to carry the messages to employers of all shapes and sizes."
Equality North East joins other leading organisations who are all pulling together to bring about a work style revolution inn the North East    These include One North East, Government Office, North East Chamber of Commerce, Onyx Group, BT, EEF Northern, Workplace Travel Planning Company, TUC, Association of North East Councils and Dickinson Dees. and RBLI.

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Notes to editors:

• Work Wise UK is being organised by the IT Forum Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation.
• Work Wise North East is a five year programme to promote the wider adoption of smarter working practices, such as flexible working including compressed working hours and nine day fortnights, working from home, mobile and remote working.
• Further information about Work Wise North East can be found on the website www.workwiseuk.org/northeast
• The Equality North East Awards are open to all regional organisations. The deadline for applications is 27th July.  Visit the Equality North East web site for further details www.equality-ne.co.uk or call the office on 0191 495 6262 for further information.

Media Contact: Sheila Chapman, Sheila Chapman PR tel 07732  827     486 or email scpr@btopenworld.com