Equal Opportunities Policy

General

Total Recruitment is committed to a policy of equal opportunities for all employees, workers and applicants and shall adhere to such a policy at all times and will review on an on-going basis on all aspects of recruitment to avoid unlawful or undesirable discrimination. Total Recruitment will treat everyone equally irrespective of sex, sexual orientation, marital status, age, disability, race, colour, ethnic or national origin, religion, political beliefs or membership or non-membership of a Trade Union and places an obligation upon all staff to respect and act in accordance with the policy.

Total Recruitment is committed to providing training for its entire staff in equal opportunities practice.

Total Recruitment shall not discriminate unlawfully when deciding which candidate/temporary worker is submitted for a vacancy or assignment, or in any terms of employment or terms of engagement for temporary workers.

Total Recruitment will ensure that each candidate is assessed only in accordance with the candidate’s merits, qualification and ability to perform the relevant duties required by the particular vacancy

Key principles

It is everyone’s responsibility to ensure that employees are treated with fairness and respect at all times.
The company will promote employment policies that will ensure employees receive treatment that is fair and equitable and consistent with their aptitudes, potential, behaviour, skills and abilities. These should be the only measures by which employees should be judged.
We all have a duty to make it work, but none more so than managers and supervisors at all levels within the company.
Breaches of the policy will not be tolerated, and serious cases will be dealt with under the disciplinary procedures.
The company will monitor the policy and wherever necessary will take positive action if it is not considered to be fully effective.

Why we need a policy

As a company we need to ensure we make the most effective use of our human resources. We can only do this if our procedures are fair and equitable and remain so. Our aim must be to respect the rights of individuals, to provide a quality working life/environment and not to accept any form of unfair treatment.

The consequences of unfair discrimination, most importantly, can have a devastating effect on the individual, whether it is through lost opportunities or through harassment or bullying. It is also a loss to the company and may have costly implications through legal action.

Equal opportunity is also a safety issue. It is difficult for anyone who feels under undue pressure, or who is worried over fair treatment to concentrate and work effectively. Not only may it lead to accidents, but also to increased sickness absence or absenteeism, and this will impact on the quality of our service and customer satisfaction.

This policy is not merely a statement of intent but is backed by the necessary measures and procedures to give it force so that it can achieve its purpose.

Responsibility at a Senior Level

Andrew Meadwell is the person with the responsibility for the effective implementation of this policy.

Everyone has a responsibility

Every employee has a duty to ensure they conduct themselves in a way that does not discriminate unfairly against any other employee. This policy insists that we treat everyone equally, and that in our behaviour we show respect to everyone we come across.

Managers and supervisors at all levels, however, carry a special responsibility. They may recognise that unfair treatment is taking place, or have this brought to their attention. In either case they have a responsibility to ensure that swift and appropriate action is taken.

It should be remembered that being unaware is not necessarily enough to avoid the company being held responsible; we have to take active steps to ensure that unfair discrimination does not happen.

It is important that as a company we have in place effective systems to prevent unfair discrimination, and essential to these is to ensure that any causes which arise are dealt with promptly and appropriate follow up action is taken.

In addition, managing and taking decisions which affect other employee’s places managers and supervisors under an obligation to set a good example and ensure that their own comments, decisions and actions do not condone, contribute to, cause or in themselves constitute unfair discrimination. The failure of any manager or supervisor to carry out their responsibilities in implementing the Equal Opportunities Policy could result in disciplinary action and possibly carry a legal liability.

Therefore, all managers and supervisors should fully understand the Policy and their responsibilities in relation to it.

Implementing the Equal Opportunities Policy

There are a number of actions all managers and supervisors can take in implementing this policy, and through these actions, create a non-discriminatory approach to work as the standard throughout the company:

Ensure employees, and job applicants, are treated in a non-discriminatory way. In our recruitment procedure, we ask managers to ensure that job specifications are not written in a way that could exclude any particular group of employees, and to apply non-discriminatory judgements.
Challenge any behaviour that could be interpreted as unfair discrimination.
Encourage all employees to maximise their potential, and their contribution to the company.
Ensure those who work with you understand the performance that is expected of them in the workplace, the standards they are expected to achieve, and the behaviour that is expected of them towards other employees and customers.
Ensure all operating systems and procedures do not discriminate unfairly against individuals or groups, directly or indirectly.

You can help to achieve this by:

Setting a good example in everything you do or say.
Listening to and respecting other employees, and not casually dismissing their concerns or problems.
Discouraging discriminatory words, actions, speculation or rumours.
Taking note of employees’ attitudes and actions towards each other and stopping inappropriate behaviours.
Encouraging the company values, particularly open and honest communication between yourself and those who work with you.
Constantly reminding yourself, and others, of the importance of this policy so that as a company we will continue to strive to eliminate unfair discrimination in all its forms.

Understanding the Policy

Managers and supervisors must ensure they fully understand this policy, and make the policy work effectively through their actions, and being able to explain it to those for whom they are responsible. Where training is arranged you must make yourself available and ensure the attendance of others where training is planned.

Getting advice

If you need advice or support in relation to any aspect of the Equal Opportunities policy you should approach either your Line Manager or the General Manager for Training, Quality and Customer Service. The Training, Quality and Customer Service department will provide additional documents and training to support Managers and Supervisors in the operation of this key policy.

Dealing with Complaints

A manager receiving a complaint from an individual or group relating to a breach of this policy on the grounds of victimisation, discrimination or harassment has a duty to treat the complaint seriously and is responsible for ensuring that it is dealt with promptly and correctly through the company’s Grievance Procedure.

The following steps are to be applied:

When a complaint is made the manager is responsible for:

Accepting the complaint.
Treating it seriously and confidentially.
Carrying out the necessary investigations and ensuring these are carried out quickly and correctly.
Communicating the results of the investigations to those who made the complaint, and if appropriate to those against whom the complaint was made.

When a complaint proves to be founded:

In this situation the manager is responsible for taking the necessary action to stop the unfair discrimination or treatment from continuing or being repeated.
If the complaint is of a serious nature, the manager should invoke the Disciplinary Procedure immediately.
If the manager is satisfied that whilst a breach of this policy did take place, it was not serious or intentional then he/she may choose to take remedial action and discuss the breach direct with those guilty of it.
The manager must impress upon those concerned the seriousness with which breaches of this policy are taken, the effect this had on others, and warn them of the consequences of any repetition.

When a complaint proves to be unfounded:

The manager still has a responsibility to advise the individual or group of the result of the investigations and why the matter was found not to be a breach of this policy.
Where an individual or group makes a complaint, which is proven to be malicious, they should be dealt with under the Disciplinary Procedure.

Invoking the Disciplinary Procedure

The full range of disciplinary sanctions is available for breaches of the Equal Opportunities Policy, from verbal warnings to summary dismissal for the most serious breaches.
Both employees making complaints and those against whom disciplinary action is taken have the right to progress their grievance/appeal further under the Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures. Timescales are set out for dealing with grievances or disciplinary matters in these procedures.

What the company will do

There is a commitment from the top of the organisation, which managers and supervisors have a duty to translate into action.
Equal Opportunities should remain an active agenda item for discussion between management and employees.
Where appropriate, the Training, Quality and Customer Service Department will produce briefing statements to assist in this process.
In addition, the Training, Quality and Customer Service Department will continue to monitor, policies, practices and procedures to ensure they are, and remain, in line with this policy.
Communication policies will ensure Equal Opportunities remains prominent on the Company’s agenda.
The Training, Quality and Customer Service Department will be responsible for regular monitoring of the Policy. Positive action will be taken to introducing measures if it appears this policy is not fully effective. These may be aimed at the recruitment stage, induction phase, or by further training and development of employees at appropriate levels.
The Training, Quality and Customer Service Department will also monitor the number of job applicants received as well as the number of jobs that are provided to members of different ethnic groups via the internal audit and Right to Work in the UK programmes.
Total Recruitment will seek advice from the CRE, Racial Equality Council or the Race Employment Advisory Service to ensure that our equal opportunities policy remains both effective and compliant with current legislation.

What Managers and Supervisors can do?

Ensure that you set an example, in your comments, discussions and actions.

When recruiting ensures the job requirements are not discriminatory and all available recruitment avenues must be used i.e. advertisements, Job Centres, community centres etc. You must be objective and not include a requirement or condition which precludes one sex, racial group or someone who is disabled from being able to compete for the vacancy. If in doubt, seek advice from the Training, Quality and Customer Service Department.
There are situations where there is a Genuine Occupational Qualification (GOQ) which may preclude one sex, or racial group or disabled person from applying – ego waiters in a Chinese restaurant, where only single sex accommodation is available in a particular location, where a couple are required for the job etc. Where necessary the company will make reasonable adjustments to the workplace and to working arrangements where current conditions are disadvantageous to disabled applicants or employees who become disabled. This is a complex area and if you feel you are in this situation, you must seek advice from the Training, Quality and Customer Service Department.
When interviewing you must not ask a question of one sex or racial group that you would not ask of the other sex or another racial group.
Equal care must also be taken over selection for promotion, transfer, training or other benefits, as the same criteria will apply as for initial recruitment. This policy means the same criteria for training; development and promotion will be used and will be purely on the basis of merit and ability.
You should retain notes from interviews in support of the selection or rejection of candidates, at the recruitment stage, or thereafter when considering employees for promotion etc.

What all employees can do?

Ensure you understand the driving force behind this policy and the genuine reasons for it.
Ensure that through words or deeds you do not knowingly, or unintentionally, discriminate against another employee, or customer.
Discourage discriminatory comments from others.
Report any incidents of discriminatory or unfair treatment to which you, or your work group are exposed.