White Young Green

Purpose/Introduction
The purpose of the Diversity Policy is to encourage an atmosphere in which all staff embrace the benefits of working in a diverse community and to provide a framework for the fair and equitable treatment of all employees, job applicants, customers, suppliers and visitors irrespective of their individual differences or any personal characteristics.

It forms the basis of respect for people across the business and supports the WYG values of "Caring" and Teamwork".

Definitions
See Appendix 1.

Legal Background
The relevant UK legislation affecting diversity and equal opportunities is listed in Appendix 2.

Scope
This policy relates to all aspects of employment, including individual standards of behaviour, the advertisement of jobs, recruitment and selection, training and development, appraisal, pay, promotion and leaving the Company. The principles apply equally to all dealings with customers, suppliers and visitors.

This policy applies to anyone on a WYG site and the sanctions will apply directly to all WYG employees.

Policy Statement
WYG is committed to the principle of valuing diversity. We recognise the benefits that can be secured through employing a diverse workforce and harnessing the individual talents of staff from different backgrounds and with different skills. These include:

• Tangible business benefits such as improved staff morale, absence levels, staff retention, customer satisfaction and profits.
• An improved Company image leading to a wider customer base and a wider pool of people to recruit from.
• The avoidance of costly legal proceedings caused by breaches of equality legislation.

We are committed to providing fair and equal treatment for all staff (including self employed and staff contract workers), customers, suppliers and visitors and all staff are expected to treat everyone with whom they come into contact with dignity and respect. Staff should be aware of the importance the Company attaches to this policy and that breaches will be classed as disciplinary offences and dealt with accordingly.

Responsibilities
All staff are expected to:

• Have read and understood the Diversity Policy and contacted their manager or HR if they have any questions.
• Treat all other employees and third parties with dignity and respect.
• Challenge inappropriate behaviour.

All managers are responsible for implementing this policy and for ensuring this policy is understood and complied with by staff in their area, dealing with breaches and complaints (whether reported or not) seriously, speedily, sensitively and confidentially and contributing ideas for the advancement of diversity principles within the organisation. They are also expected to set a high personal example.

The Human Resources Department is responsible for reviewing and monitoring the effectiveness of and providing advice on this policy, encouraging the adoption of its principles throughout the organisation and ensuring complaints are adequately investigated.

Implementing this Policy

Communicating this policy

In order to ensure the principles of this policy are embedded in everything we do, all existing staff will receive a copy of this policy and training regarding its interpretation. The policy will also be explained in all future inductions.

Below are some examples to illustrate how this policy impacts on all other work policies and practices. This list is not exhaustive as each situation must be considered on its merits.

General standards of behaviour

The Company expects staff to conduct themselves in a professional and considerate manner at all times. The Company will not tolerate behaviour such as:

• Physical violence
• Shouting or swearing
• Rudeness
• Isolating, ignoring or refusing to work with certain people
• Telling offensive jokes or name calling
• The display of offensive material such as pornography or sexist/racist cartoons
• Lewd gestures or remarks

It is no defence for staff to say they did not intend their behaviour to cause offence as it is for the person on the receiving end of the behaviour to decide what they consider to be offensive. It is the impact of the behaviour rather than the intent which is important.

Recruitment and selection

Individuals involved in the recruitment and selection of staff will ensure that:

• A carefully worded and objective job specification / description is produced for all vacancies, outlining essential skills, knowledge and competence required.
• Any skill test or psychometric test must be appropriately validated, free from unlawful bias and be administered by a properly qualified person.
• Applications from all sections of the community will be encouraged.
• Short-listing and selection will be based on objective criteria relevant to the job and decisions made by suitably trained staff, purely on the basis of merit. The reasons for all decisions will be recorded so that they can be monitored and analysed.
• Job applicants will be encouraged to complete the "Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form" which is completed at the point of interview and posted directly to WYG Resourcing in Leeds.

Training, Development and Promotion

The Company will ensure that irrespective of any personal characteristics:

• The training necessary to implement this diversity policy is provided.
• All employees are encouraged to achieve their full potential.
• Selection for all training, career development opportunities and job moves will be purely on the basis of merit.
• Appraisals of performance will be conducted objectively and on time.
• Selection for promotion will be purely on the basis of merit.

Complaints
If staff feel this policy has been breached they should try to speak to their manager in the first instance who will ensure all issues are investigated and dealt with appropriately.

Formal complaints about breaches of this policy can be made using the Company's grievance procedure, and complaints should be made via managers or the Human Resources Department as appropriate.

Discipline
Any staff member, who unlawfully discriminates, harasses or victimises another staff member on the grounds of sex, gender reassignment, marital status, race, ethnic origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, may be subject to action under the Company's Disciplinary Procedure in the absence of mitigating factors. Serious acts of discrimination, harassment or victimisation are deemed gross misconduct and may result in summary dismissal.

Monitoring and Review
This policy will be monitored periodically by the Company to judge its effectiveness and will be updated in accordance with changes in the law. In particular, the Company will monitor the ethnic and gender composition of the existing workforce and of applicants for jobs (including promotion), and the number of people with disabilities within these groups. If changes are shown to be required as a result of this monitoring, the Company will implement them.

Information provided by job applicants and employees for monitoring purposes will be used only for these purposes and will be dealt with in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998.

Appendix 1 - Definitions

It is important to understand the difference between the concepts of equality and diversity.

• Equality (or equal opportunities) is about protecting certain groups of staff against unfair treatment based on a particular personal characteristic. This protection is normally based on those groups covered by legislation, i.e. gender, race, age, disability, sexual orientation and religion or belief.
• Diversity is about recognising, valuing and using the differences which people have. There is no definitive list of what these differences are but a selection is contained in Appendix 3.

Age
We all have one and the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 protect workers, young and old, from discrimination on the grounds of their age.

Disability
A disabled person is described in the Disability Discrimination Act of 1995 as one who has a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his or her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.

Diversity
Diversity is about recognising, valuing and taking account of people's different backgrounds, knowledge, skills, and experiences, and encouraging and using those differences to create a productive and effective workforce.

Direct Discrimination
This occurs where a person is treated less favourably than another in comparable circumstances on a prohibited ground. An example of direct sex discrimination would be refusing to employ a woman because she was pregnant.

Ethnicity
A strict definition of an ethnic group is a group regarded as a distinct community by virtue of certain essential characteristics - a shared history which distinguishes it from other groups and a cultural tradition of its own. Sikhs and Gypsies are examples. However, it has come to have a broader meaning and the expression "ethnic monitoring" is used in reference to groups defined by colour, race or national origin as well.

Gender
The word 'gender' is often used in place of the word 'sex' in equality issues. 'Gender' does not appear in legislation (except for 'gender re-assignment' - see below) but 'sex discrimination' and 'gender discrimination' are generally interchangeable.

Gender Re-assignment
Gender reassignment is a process undertaken under medical supervision for the purpose of reassigning a person's sex by changing physiological or other characteristics of sex. The Sex Discrimination Act was extended in 1999 to make it unlawful to discriminate in employment on the grounds of any employee intending to, undergoing or having undergone gender reassignment.

Genuine Occupational Requirements
The Sex Discrimination Act and the Race Relations Act and the Religion or Belief Regulations and the Sexual Orientation Regulations allow for circumstances where a person's sex, racial group, religion or sexual orientation is a genuine requirement for a particular job.

Harassment
Behaviour which is unwelcome or unacceptable and which results in the creation of a stressful or intimidating environment for the victim amounts to harassment. It can consist of verbal abuse, racist jokes, insensitive comments, leering, unwanted/unacceptable physical contact, unwanted sexual advances, ridicule or isolation.

Indirect Discrimination
This occurs where a provision, criterion or practice is applied which is such that it would be to the detriment of a considerably larger proportion of the relevant group to which the individual belongs than to others, which is not objectively justifiable and which is to the individual's detriment. An example of indirect sex discrimination could be requiring everyone to work full time unless there is a good reason, unrelated to sex, as to why the particular job has to be done on a full-time basis, since requiring everyone to work full time will normally adversely affect a higher proportion of women than men.

Sexual Orientation
This is determined by whether a person is attracted to people of their own sex, the opposite sex or both sexes. Law also covers assumptions and perceptions of a person's sexuality.

Transsexual
See 'Gender Reassignment'.

Victimisation
If a person has made or is making an accusation of discrimination in good faith, it is unlawful to discriminate against them for having done so, or because they intend to do so or it is suspected that they intend to do so.

Appendix 2 - Legal Background

The relevant UK legislation affecting diversity and equal opportunities is contained in the following:

• Equal Pay Act 1970
• Employment Rights Act 1996
• Employment Relations Act 1999
• Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006
• Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003
• Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003
• Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974
• Race Relations Act 1976 & Amendment 2000
• Sex Discrimination Act 1975 (as amended by the Sex Discrimination Act 1986)
• Special Education Needs and Disability Act 2001
• Protection from Harassment Act 1997
• Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000
• Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992
• Disability Discrimination Act 1995
• Disability Discrimination Act (Amendment) Regulations 2003
• Sex Discrimination (Indirect Discrimination and Burden of Proof) Regulation 2001

Appendix 3 - Examples of Individual Differences

Diversity is about recognising, valuing and using the differences which people have. There is no definitive list of what these differences are, but some examples are shown in the following table: