Press Release: ABDO calls for action on discrimination and harassment

The Association of British Dispensing Opticians (ABDO) is calling for action to end discrimination and harassment in the optical industry in response to a survey of members.

The survey of ABDO members demonstrates that harassment and discrimination is present to an unacceptable level within the industry. ABDO’s key concerns include:

• 21 per cent of respondents did not know whether their company had discrimination or harassment policies and 12 per cent reported that their companies do not have such policies.
• 47 per cent of women who responded reported prejudice on grounds of gender sometimes, a lot of the time or almost all of the time.
• 32 per cent of respondents reported prejudice on grounds of age sometimes, a lot of the time or almost all of the time.
• 24 per cent of respondents reported prejudice on grounds of race sometimes, a lot of the time or almost all of the time.

ABDO President Jo Holmes FBDO says, “I am shocked and dismayed by the results of this survey. It is everyone’s duty to promote and practise equality, inclusion and to respect diversity. It shows that our members are on the receiving end of prejudiced behaviour at work, which is unacceptable. Whilst it is the case that some individuals may be unaware of their prejudice or are unconsciously biased, we must do our best to raise awareness and continue to support our members.

“What is worse is that many of those who completed the survey commented that they had not reported their concerns, either because they felt nothing would be done, or because they feared it might make things worse. We need to offer our support to all our colleagues who are experiencing this and very much make this a situation of the past.”

ABDO is calling on employers to:

• Highlight their policies on discrimination and harassment.
• Improve training for managers on handling complaints about discrimination and harassment.

ABDO has issued policy guidance which can be found here and offers support for both employers and employees on what to do in cases of harassment and/or discrimination.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

1. Media enquiries to Antonia Chitty achitty@abdo.org.uk
2. ABDO represents over 6000 qualified dispensing opticians in the UK
3. 388 ABDO members responded to this survey which was conducted during August 2020.
4. The full survey responses are available.