Practical Governance: Moving Forward On Diversity, Equality And Inclusion (Video)

• Published date: 11 May 2023
• Subject Matter: Corporate/Commercial Law, Employment and HR, Discrimination, Disability & Sexual Harassment, Retirement, Superannuation & Pensions, Employee Benefits & Compensation, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
• Law Firm: Gowling WLG
• Author: Ms Joanne Tibbott and Vivienne Reeve

Scheme Sessions Vol1.2023

This session considers diversity, equality and inclusion (DE&I) from the perspective of trustees' own internal governance and interactions with scheme members. We look at the breadth of DE&I areas that should be considered as well as some practical steps that trustee boards can take to move forward in this area (e.g. training, DE&I mapping, objective-setting), all set in the context of the Pension Regulator's own Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy.

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Transcript

Joanne Tibbot: Okay. So thank you everyone for joining us this morning. I am a partner in the Pensions Team at Gowling and I am going to be chairing the session today. There is just a few housekeeping notes before we begin that I just wanted to mention. We are going to be recording today's session. It will be uploaded to our website and also circulated to you via email. So if there is any colleagues that you would like to pass it on after, you are very welcome to do so.

There is a Q&A function at the bottom of your screen. We really encourage questions. We want this to be as interactive as possible and we will try to address as many questions as possible throughout the session. If we do not manage to answer all of them we will do our best to come back to you separately with answers on any queries that you have raised. And finally, the session length we put it in the diary for an hour or so. We are aiming to finish slightly earlier than that so hopefully you can go and enjoy your lunch in the sunshine outside but roughly speaking we are probably expected to be done by around quarter to one.

So in terms of what we are covering today. We are focusing on ED&I and pension schemes and I think it is an area that most of us are becoming increasingly familiar with but I still think it is an area where we could all do more and something that I have never forgotten as a junior lawyer is when I went to a trustee meeting, this is several years ago now, I was asked by one of the trustees there if I was bag carrier and note taker and it might have been said in a bit of a tongue in cheek way but it is really something that has stuck with me because I was actually there to deliver the advice, I had prepared the advice, but there was an assumption that the partner I was with would be there to fulfil that role and I think it is really heartening to see that the pensions industry has moved on a lot since then and today what we want to explore is what ED&I means in a pensions context and what trustee boards can and should be doing particularly in light of the regulators recent guidance in this area which was issued at the end of March this year.

We want to really focus on what the benefits are having in integrated approach to ED&I for schemes and most importantly, how having an approach like that can really lead to better outcomes for members. So benefiting not just the trustee board in terms of how it is operating but members more generally. And to help me tackle this really interesting topic I have got two great speakers that I would like to introduce who both are playing their part in driving this area forwards.

So firstly you can see to the side of your screen Nadeem Ladha who is a trustee director at Vadeet. So Nadeem is a really experienced trustee, twenty years of advisory experience and focusing really on strategy planning and end game implementation for schemes. Interestingly he also was the founder of Diversity and Pensions which was created back in 2019 with the aim of really promoting diversity in senior decision making roles within the Pensions Industry and really focusing on how we get that dialogue going so a really fantastic initiative.

Our second guest speaker is Vivienne Reeve, Vivienne is a fantastic colleague of mine who is a senior lawyer in our Employment and Equalities Team. So she advises on the whole employment lifecycle including investigations, complex grievances, and also has an extremely busy tribunal litigation practice. Vivienne specialises in equalities law and she is also the co-chair of Enable which is our firm's so Gowling's disability, health, wellbeing and menopause network.

So some really fantastic guests. We are going to share their practical experiences with you today.

So in terms of how the session is covered. If you could just please move to the next slide. Thank you. So I am going to cover Pensions and ED&I and having a bit of a look at where we are now, where the regulator is in its thinking and then we are going to move a Q&A discussion with Nadeem and Vivienne where we are going to answer some of the interesting questions that hopefully you have submitted to the Q&A function and also some other discussions around what it actually really means in a pensions context.

So, just turning to the next slide, please. So ED&I - What do we actually mean. So TPR in its guidance that it issued at the end of March 2023 included a definition of ED&I which I have set out on the slide and when I was reading this definition I tried to pick out what I thought were the key terms in there which I have highlighted in red on the slide and I think the real emphasis here is that we all have something different to bring and actually having a board that is made up of people with different experiences, skillsets were everyone is heard can really actually benefit the board as a whole and ultimately our scheme members.

The regulator is focusing on making sure the people with protected characteristics are protected and treated in a fair way and as some of you might be aware protected characteristics are characteristics under the Equality Act 2010 which are protected from discrimination so these include things such as age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion and belief, sex and sexual orientation. As you can see by the last words highlighted red in that definition the regulator is actually encouraging trustee boards to think a bit more widely than that and it is looking at the PLSA actual definition that it adopted in its simple guide to diversity and inclusion back in 20 and 20. So looking at the socioeconomic background of individuals and also ensuring that you have a neuro-diverse board. So really focusing on the skillset that individuals have as well, really to have that diversity of thought and experience. So I have included on the right a diagram which I think is a really helpful illustration of even where we treat people, sorry, just back to the previous slide, sorry, thank you. Where even if we treat everyone equally the outcome might not be fair or the same and I think when I looked at this diagram it really made me stop and think about how once we might be treating people equally in some cases you do need to go further and consider whether there is anything additional we actually need to do to create a level playing field. So when we are thinking about ED&I that is something really important that we just need to bear in mind.

So just turning to the next slide please. So pensions and ED&I and the pensions regulator - What is the regulator's vision. So back in 2022 the regulator published its ED&I policy and the regulator said that it wanted to build a workplace pension system that works for everyone. Its long term aspiration is the governing body is to represent today's society to make inclusive decisions that deliver good and fair outcomes for all savers and the ultimate goal being as I have just said that having a diverse pensions governing body made up of people with various life experiences, characteristics background will lead to better decision making with the ultimate aim of improving savers outcomes. And as a public body interestingly the regulator has recognised that its on its own ED&I journey and that it as an employer needs to do more to become a more diverse and inclusive organisation and with that in mind the regulator set out its three strategic aims which are included on the slides. Apologies if that is a bit small. I will just go through them.

So the first one is to be a fair diverse and inclusive employer.

The second one is to build a collective understanding of why pension inequalities occur and within their regulatory remit to work in partnership with others to seek to reduce them.

And the third one is to promote high standards of equality, diversity and inclusion among the regulated community.

So back in 2021 the regulator actually set up an ED&I industry working group to build on actually the practical things it could do to implement its strategic aims and one of the first deliverables in its action plan was to actually issue the guidance that was issued at the end of March 2023 and I am going to have a really brief look at that now for you.

So just moving onto the next slide please. So as I said at the end of March the regulator published two lots of guidance one focusing on governing bodies and what we mean by governing bodies is trustee boards of all pension schemes and the other focusing on what an employer's role in that process actually is.

So I am going to look at the employer guidance first and this really focuses on ED&I, on trustee boards and how employers can help that through recruitment processes and also ensuring that employees have sufficient time to carry out their roles as trustees. And the guidance covers a variety of issues and I am just going to give some of the key highlights. So it covers the selection of trustees and it really encourages employers to promote trusteeship as an opportunity to add value to personal and career development for employees. Obviously the employer can only really influence and select employer nominated directors but I think there can still be a role in helping employees who might be putting themselves forward for the member nominated role understand that is a really valued role. It also make the point that employers need to consider carefully their legal obligations under the...