UCE Birmingham is involved in an interesting project. Here is a summary:

The ‘Adjust the Balance’ (ATB) project is an EQUAL Round 2 ESF project under Theme F (Adaptability in the Workplace). The overall aim of the Development Partnership is the effective implementation of a regional Work-Life Balance (WLB) strategy which informs and influences national and international policy and practice, resulting in a positive impact on the promotion of inclusive working practices and adaptability of companies in the West Midlands. The transnational partners are from Barcelona, Italy and Slovakia, from which good working practices will be transferred.

ATB will broaden the WLB agenda to include a focus on a range of related issues such as gender, ethnicity, disability, social class and age. If successful, the target groups will benefit after the end of the DP activities through changes made to policies that directly affect them. This will create a more inclusive agenda for WLB.

The UCE project aims to explore and focus on the WLB policies, strategies and practices that are currently in place and need to be offered to South Asian employees. UCE will investigate WLB issues within the context of gender and social class; emphasize equal opportunities in working practices – eliminating discrimination arising from cultural, community and extended family commitments; and test out the effectiveness of managing diversity initiatives/practices in relation to target groups.

The target group will specifically be the subgroups in the South Asian community (i.e. Sikh, Hindu and Muslim and Bengali women and men) as they are one of the largest ethnic minority groups living and working in the West Midlands region. The sectors that will be targeted will be public organizations (local authorities), and the private sector - professional services and the media industry (large and small/medium sized organizations).

UCE will work with the delivery partners (DP) to contribute towards DTI’s (Department of Trade and Industry) strategic objectives to:

• Support business to adopt new/further WLB best practice measures
• To generate research with South Asian employers and employees and
• Disseminate research findings locally, nationally and internationally