Dublin Community & Voluntary Sector Site

The Community & Voluntary Sector Site aims to identify and establish the means by which changes and improvements in recruitment and work practices can be introduced within / amongst the community and voluntary sector organisations. This will result in improved access within this sector by traditionally excluded groups, retention of existing employees through on-the-job training and upskilling and progression through clearly defined career opportunities, awareness of potential barriers that may exist and may impede equality and diversity in these practices in the sector.

The Site is identifying good practice, and documenting it, within the sector for HR processes and progression routes. It is also reviewing how different organisations in this diverse sector interact with government departments and asking if a model of good practice can be identified in this regard. Finally, it is attempting to compare, in a systematic way, remuneration for workers in the sector with that of equivalent workers in the public sector.

This will involve examining existing practices and perceived barriers to equality in employment, (including access, recruitment, skills appraisal and employee selection), and career development (including progression, in-work training, lifelong learning, and peer support) via a survey being overseen by the site. It will also involve proposing codes of inclusive practice in access & progression for the community & voluntary sector. The Site is also carrying out an audit on current pay and conditions in the sector and comparing these to those in the public sector; and working with the National College of Ireland to incorporate learning arising into an existing training module for organisations from the community & voluntary sector.

Partners Involved
Partners involved in this site include:

• Exchange House Travellers Service
• Focus Ireland
• Co-operation Fingal
• Integrating Ireland
• Forum of People with Disabilities
• KWCD Partnership
• National College of Ireland
• Ballymun Job Centre
• The Linkage Programme
• Fingal Community Forum
• SIPTU
• Dublin Inner City Partnership
• Southside Partnership
• Rural Dublin LEADER Company
• FÁS
• IMPACT
• ICTU
• South Inner City Community Development Association (SICCDA)
• Merchant’s Quay Ireland

Desired Outputs
The Community & Voluntary Sector Site hope to have:

• Identified models of good practice on access and progression into the voluntary and community sector in Ireland;
• Produced codes of practice in relation to the above, including feeding into the development of a module on a National College of Ireland (NCI) course aimed at organisations in the community and voluntary sector;
• Delivered workshops with managers and voluntary management committees in relation to good practice in access & progression through the NCI course;
• Carried out a comparative audit which defines community and voluntary sector employment conditions and salaries in comparison to equivalent workers in the public sector;
• Reviewed the different relationships which exist between community and voluntary organisations and government departments and identified good practice in this regard;
• Liaised with the Community “Pillar” / Community Platform of the social partnership agreement and held meetings with Government Departments to discuss the above issues.

Achievements to Date
As of June 2004, the Community & Voluntary Sector Site had:

• Carried out two pieces of research which were published in 2004 (see Publications). A summary report of the two pieces of research has also been published. These reports gave the Project an insight into the day-to-day HR practices in Community & Voluntary organisations, the various funding and accountability mechanisms in operation and how these impact on the organisations.
• Lobbied various agencies to secure the implementation of the recommendations emerging from the research (e.g. SIPTU, ATGWU, IMPACT, Community Pillar, White Paper Unit of the Dept. of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, etc.), and mainstreaming the findings.
• Highlighted the issues facing the Community & Voluntary Sector by working with the National College of Ireland (NCI) to integrate a training module on the issues of HR and equality and diversity into their existing training course on ÔManagement in the Community and Voluntary SectorÕ. Members of the local site worked with NCI and the lecturer, Leonard Kaye, to develop the module. Two training sessions were delivered in NCI in June 2004. An evaluation of the sessions is currently being carried out by NCI.
• Held a seminar on 14th June 2004 in Croke Park which brought together representatives of the Community and Voluntary Sector with representatives of the main two Unions for the sector i.e. SIPTU and IMPACT. Fifty people attended this event and debated the issues. In addition, there was an input by a representative of the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action (NICVA) about similar issues around pay and conditions in the Sector in Northern Ireland.
• Held discussions with FAS regarding the focus and content of the Excellence Through People Award, with a view to the Equal at Work Project contributing to the revision of this Award. A submission was made and this was followed by a representative of the Project meeting with the Director of the Excellence Through People Award. Through both these mediums, recommendations were made based on the work of the Project. The new draft Award, recently published, reflects many of the issues which Equal at Work had highlighted as potential and necessary changes to the content and focus of the Award.
• Assisted in the development of the equality and diversity awareness training tool, ÔStrengthening your BusinessÕ, through participating in the Equality & Diversity Inter-Site Working Group (see Publications or Promoting Equality & Diversity within the Workplace)

For further information on the work of this Site, contact Anna Gunning, Site Co-ordinator at: 01 – 454 6488