Public sector workers risk suffering diversity ‘fatigue’ if they are told to mark too many awareness days and religious festivals, bosses have privately admitted.
A calendar prepared for staff at one quango included 225 Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) events covering everything from Nirvana Day commemorating the death of Buddha to ‘Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week’ in honour of people who do not feel romantic attraction.
As well as the ancient pagan harvest festival of Lughnasadh it also included American dates such as the anniversary of the killing of George Floyd by a policeman, which sparked Black Lives Matter protests, and the federal holiday of Juneteenth that marks the end of slavery.
But managers at The Pension Regulator were advised to prioritise just a handful of key events each month to keep employees interested.
An internal report obtained by the Daily Mail urges ‘the need to maximise impact, avoid oversaturation and EDI fatigue through a maximum of 2-3 key EDI events per month.’
At a meeting to discuss a review of the EDI calendar, one member backed the ‘less is more approach’.
The report went to say that the 2024 calendar would focus on a handful of topics including religion and belief.
Bosses aimed to ‘upskill people managers and colleagues’ on the most significant holy days for each of the main faiths.
Public sector workers risk suffering diversity ‘fatigue’ if they are told to mark too many awareness days and religious festivals (File image)
For Christians this was identified as ‘Christmas Day (25 December), and the report said there needed to be a ‘full communications package’ on it including a briefing ‘delivered a month in advance of the event to provide guidance on how People Managers can support colleagues and the practical issues people managers need to consider and respond to’.
An email by the pension regulator’s EDI lead told staff about internal events held the previous year including National Inclusion week, ‘where we discussed topics like the diversity pay-gap, cultural awareness and inclusivity, and challenging ‘anti-wokeness’.
It alerted employees to a ‘piers and queers history walk’ that would be taking place in Brighton, while a section on Holocaust Memorial Day began with a ‘trigger warning’.
William Yarwood, media campaign manager of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘Reassuringly, many public sector workers are as sick of having the woke agenda shoved down their throats as taxpayers are.
‘But a minority of pen-pushers employed into these pointless roles continue to make life difficult for their colleagues, with endless rules, regulations, reporting requirements as well as events to mark and training sessions to attend.
‘The pensions regulator clearly needs to take its own advice and dramatically cut down on the EDI agenda it seems addicted to pushing.’
A spokesman for The Pensions Regulator said: ‘Diversity drives better outcomes for savers, and we are committed to leading by example as a fair and inclusive employer.
‘We are also working closely with the pensions industry to share best practice and encourage inclusive governance and will publish our refreshed 2026-2029 EDI approach early next year.’
