On January 30, 2023, the Public Defender made a recommendation to Impexfarm LLC relating to the identification of discrimination on multiple grounds (gender and marital status).

According to the factual circumstances of the case, the manager of one of pharmacies located in the city of Poti was on maternity leave twice in a row. After the end of the leave, the employer refused to reinstate her in her job, because, due to the long leave, another person had already been employed. Instead, the employer offered the applicant a job in Kutaisi, in the pharmacy that has not yet opened. It should be noted that after the expiration of the second leave, the employer gave the applicant a leave without pay, and from March 5, 2022 until now, the applicant has, in fact, been without work and income.

According to the Public Defender's explanation, an employee has the right to return to the same job and enjoy the same working conditions after the end of maternity or adoption leave, and also to benefit from any improved working conditions that she would have been entitled to if she had not taken leave.

In addition, the Public Defender believes that the company's offer to send the resident of Poti to work in Kutaisi significantly worsens the employee's situation, as it takes more than 3 hours (limit set by law) to get to the workplace.

Accordingly, the Public Defender made a recommendation to Impexfarm LLC:

• to immediately stop the discriminatory treatment of the applicant and reinstate her in the same workplace and same position;
• to provide appropriate compensation for the involuntarily missed hours;
• not to allow discriminatory treatment on the basis of gender, pregnancy, marital status or other grounds in labour relations in the future and to ensure the implementation of equality policy in the company.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) and the Housing Ombudsman Service (HOS) have launched their aligned Complaint Handling Codes which will result in better services to the public and make good practice in complaint handling clearer for local authorities and landlords.

They are launched on the day the LGSCO celebrates 50 years of remedying injustice, with 8th February marking the start of the Local Government Act 1974, which created a Commission to investigate administrative actions of local authorities.

The Complaint Handling Codes are an update of the existing Housing Ombudsman Code and the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman’s Good Practice Guidance. They make good complaint handling easier for local authorities and landlords, while setting clear expectations for the public.

Both organisations consulted on a single Code in November 2023 which saw more than 150 councils, 250 landlords and 360 members of the public respond. In response to the consultation, and to recognise the different legal powers the organisations hold, they have produced two closely aligned Codes for complaint handling – one for council services outside of housing and one for landlords and housing authorities.

The Codes are based on unified principles and share many of the same approaches in key areas like response times. This approach follows that of the Scottish and Northern Irish Public Services Ombudsmen who have model procedures for different services under a set of unified principles.

Ms Amerdeep Somal, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said:

“The Complaint Handling Codes mark an important step in improving standards and helping to give complaints management the priority status it deserves as part of local service delivery.

“We appreciate the feedback from the consultation and have come to a position of two individual codes that have a unified approach but recognise the different contexts in which our Ombudsman schemes work.

“50 years and still innovating! The LGSCO has a rich history of holding public services to account and helping to make things better for people using them. But by setting out clear advice and guidance, for the first time, on having an effective complaints process, it proves we are not resting on our laurels.”

Richard Blakeway, Housing Ombudsman, said:

“Our statutory Code promotes a positive complaints culture across the social housing sector and ensures residents do not experience a postcode lottery in complaint handling.

“We welcome the positive engagement with the Code and its aims during our consultation, and it is crucial this is translated into action on the ground. It is essential for landlords prepare for the statutory Code and this includes a robust self-assessment being submitted to the Housing Ombudsman.

“Landlords should see the release of this Code as an opportunity to reflect on their complaint handling and to make improvements where necessary to deliver better services to residents.”

The update to the Housing Ombudsman’s Code will be statutory and apply from 1 April. The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman’s Code has today launched with information to support councils who want to be early adopters.

In 2024 LGSCO will invite a group of pilot local authorities to develop a good practice guide which will support councils to implement the Code. Councils should start to adopt the Code soon after this, if they haven’t already done so, and once it has incorporated learning from the local authority pilots, LGSCO will start considering use of the Code as part of its investigation processes.

Article date: 08 February 2024

Entidades defensoras de los derechos humanos denuncian una cierta relajación en el cumplimiento de esta obligación

La síndica defiende que la identificación es un sistema de garantía para los ciudadanos, pero también para la propia policía
 

Cuatro asociaciones de defensa de los derechos humanos (Amnistia Internacional, Som Defensores, Novact y Irídia) se han dirigido a la institución para exponer su preocupación ante un supuesto relajamiento de las obligaciones de identificación de los agentes de los Mossos d'Esquadra cuando llevan a cabo funciones de orden público.

En concreto, las asociaciones denuncian que, en al menos ocho ocasiones desde septiembre de 2023, en el transcurso de movilizaciones sociales, una parte importante de los agentes no iban correctamente identificados con su correspondiente número de operativo policial (NOP) en la parte posterior del chaleco.

La obligatoriedad de llevar el NOP en la parte posterior está vigente desde 2013, y se han ido haciendo avances significativos: en la actualidad se prevé que el código NOP debe ser visible en 360 grados, es decir, que debe estar situado en la parte delantera, trasera y en el lateral del uniforme.

La identificación visible de los miembros de los cuerpos policiales lleva tiempo defendiéndose desde la institución del Síndic de Greuges, ya que es un sistema de garantía tanto para la ciudadanía como para los agentes. En los casos en los que las funciones de orden público supongan tener que hacer uso de la fuerza, la identificación correcta de los agentes permite poder depurar responsabilidades en caso de mala praxis y no dejar causas impunes por falta de identificación. Asimismo, también puede ser una garantía para los propios agentes ante posibles denuncias falsas.

Para estudiar a fondo las denuncias de estas cuatro entidades, la síndica se ha dirigido a la Dirección General de la Policía y ha pedido información sobre los motivos por los que los agentes no iban correctamente identificados durante las movilizaciones sociales a las que se referían las entidades. También ha recordado la normativa aplicable y ha pedido que se adopten las medidas oportunas para respetarla.

Equality, non-discrimination and racism

Hate crime Racial and ethnic origin

When 15 February 2024

Where Online, Ireland

External event

FRA will present findings from its ‘Being Black in the EU - experiences of people of African descent’ report at an online event in Ireland. The event takes place on 15 February.

DOWNLOAD REPORT

The Research Club of the Irish Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth organised the event.