Human Resources Equality and Diversity Policy

The Strettons Mayfair Trust (SMT) is committed to promoting equality and diversity in all its activities, to promote inclusive processes, practices and culture. This policy applies to all conduct in the workplace and also to conduct outside of the workplace that is related to your work (e.g. at meetings, social events and social interactions with colleagues) or which may impact on SMT’s reputation (e.g. the expression of views on social media, contrary to the commitments expressed in this policy, that could be linked to SMT).

Our aim is that our workforce:

  • Will strive to work to eliminate any unlawful or unfair discrimination including direct or indirect discrimination, discrimination by association, discrimination linked to a perceived characteristic, harassment and bullying.
  • Will remain proactive in taking steps to ensure inclusion and engagement for all the people who work for and with us.
  • Will continue to strive towards a culture that is diverse and inclusive that recognises and develops the potential of all staff, volunteers and service users.
  • Will recognise the benefits and opportunities of having a diverse community of staff and volunteers who value one another and realising their individual responsibilities they can make to achieve The Trusts vision ‘run by the community for the community’.

This includes promoting equality and diversity for all irrespective of their:

  • age
  • disability
  • gender reassignment
  • marriage and civil partnership
  • pregnancy and maternity
  • race
  • religion or belief
  • sex
  • sexual orientation

Under the Equality Act (2010) these are known as “protected characteristics”.

Principles:

  • The Trust’s vision is to be recognised as an exemplar of excellence in community service. Equality, diversity and inclusion are at the heart of realising this vision. Our approach to equality and diversity is based on the following principles:
  • Fairness: We will work in a way which promotes equality and diversity and which does not discriminate against any of our staff, service users or volunteers.
  • Respect: We will work in partnership with staff, service users and volunteers to encourage a culture where everyone receives respect and can voice their diverse needs, knowing that they will be heard
  • Honesty: We will work to ensure that our practices are transparent and open to scrutiny.
  • Providing opportunity: We will work towards a culture where all service users, staff and volunteers have the opportunity to reach their full potential.
  • Expertise and excellence: We will work to high standards to ensure that the diverse needs of service users are recognised and met.

Achieving our vision: taking action and getting results:

We aim to achieve this by:

  • Treating all those within the Trust (e.g. volunteers, staff, trustees and community) as individuals with their own particular abilities, beliefs, challenges, attitudes, background and  experiences;
  • Training and development;
  • Promoting equality in the workplace;
  • Creating an ethos which promotes equality, develops  understanding and challenges myths, stereotypes, misconceptions and prejudices;
  • Promoting mutual respect and valuing others’ similarities and differences and Facing equality issues openly;
  • Striving to identify and remove all practices, procedures and customs which  are discriminatory and replace them with practices which are fair to all and Monitoring and reviewing all of the above to seek to secure continuous Improvement (reviewed annually)

This statement of Equal Opportunities requires a commitment from every Trustee, staff member, volunteer and service user of the Strettons Mayfair Trust.

All Trust practice will seek to ensure that:

Age:

  • SMT recognises the value of a diverse age group and promotes behaviour that does not discriminate against volunteers, staff,trustees and community who are (or are not) a certain age or in a certain age group.

Disability:

  • All volunteers, staff and trustees will be encouraged to have an awareness and understanding of the specific individual needs of staff and volunteers with disabilities and will provide appropriate support and access.

Gender reassignment:

  • All volunteers, staff, trustees and service users have equal access to activities, opportunities and services offered at SMT as appropriate;
  • All volunteers, staff, trustees and service users are encouraged to be aware that gender stereotyping may influence their expectations and attitudes.
  • The protected characteristic “gender reassignment” does not change a person’s sex (The Equality Act says that you must not be directly discriminated against because: you have the protected characteristic of gender reassignment. A wide range of people identify as trans. However, you are not protected under the Equality Act unless you have proposed, started or completed a process to change your sex).

Marriage and Civil partnership:

  • We encourage volunteers, staff, trustees and service users not to discriminate against anyone because they are married or in a civil partnership.

Pregnancy and Maternity:

  • At SMT we accept it is unlawful to treat someone unfavourably because they are pregnant, have a pregnancy-related illness, have recently given birth, are breastfeeding, or are taking or seeking to take maternity leave.

Race:

  • We promote non discriminatory behaviour against race, be it of colour, nationality, ethnic origin or national origin.

Religion/or Belief:

  • We acknowledge that volunteers, staff,trustees and members of the community may come from diverse backgrounds, and we seek to promote an ethos of tolerance based on understanding of and respect for the beliefs and practices of others.

Sexual Orientation:

  • At SMT we promote non discriminatory behaviour  towards people who: are heterosexual, gay, lesbian or bisexual or someone who thinks they have a particular sexual orientation (this is known as discrimination by perception).

 Vulnerable groups:

  • We encourage all volunteers, staff, trustees and service users to have equal access to activities, opportunities and services offered at SMT as appropriate and associated staff are encouraged to be aware of how vulnerability may influence their expectations and attitudes and should therefore adjust their behaviour  accordingly.

Key actions in promoting equality

The ethos of SMT:

  • This policy reflects the ethos of the SMT and is linked to all policies.
  • Steps are taken to try and ensure that everyone associated with the Trust is kept informed about this equality policy and abides by it. The policies and procedures are regularly reviewed at defined intervals.

Trustees and community partnership:

The Trustees try to ensure that:

  • All the community are welcome and respected in SMT
  • SMT encourage all community members to apply to become Trustees
  • Trustees play an active role in the life of SMT in order to fulfil their monitoring duties.
  • SMT seeks to support all Trustees in performing their role, for  example, through induction procedures for new Trustees and robust training.

Staff behaviour:

  • The SMT procedures for managing behaviour and disciplining staff are fair and applied equally to all staff.

Racism and racial harassment:

  • There are established policies and procedures for dealing with and recording incidents (please see Accidents and Incidents Policy) of harassment.

Staff recruitment and career development:

  • Applications from all are welcomed at all levels in SMT, however, the recruitment and selection process ensures that discrimination is not taking place when new appointments or promotions are being considered.
  • Proactive steps are taken to identify, support and provide opportunities for the professional development of staff.

Equal Opportunities Employer:

The SMT should ensure that in recruitment procedures any advertisements, short listing and interview procedures are without any hint of direct or indirect discrimination. In staff appointments the best candidate will be appointed based upon strict professional criteria as laid down in the job description. During employment it would be unlawful to discriminate in the way opportunities for promotion, transfer or training were offered. It is also unlawful to discriminate in dismissals, particularly in redundancy dismissals.

SMT is committed to providing equal opportunities in recruitment, employment and the workplace and to avoiding unlawful discrimination in all related practices.

Roles and responsibilities:

Every Trustee, staff member and volunteer is responsible for upholding and promoting Equality and promoting dignity and respect for all.

The Chief Officer will demonstrate through personal leadership the importance of this policy ensuring that all staff are aware of the policy and understand their roles and responsibilities in relation to it.

The Chief Officer will monitor the impact of this policy.

Employed staff will be issued with this policy by the SMT who appointed them and will familiarise themselves with it so they know what their responsibility is to ensure that the policy is implemented.

Volunteers will be made aware of how the policy applies to them, through the induction process. They will learn to treat each other with respect and report incidents of discrimination.

Awareness of Policy:

The community should know that SMT has an equality and diversity policy and is committed to equality of opportunity for all users. The Trustees actively promote and implement equal opportunities. The Trustees agree that transparency in dealing with staff issues will allow colleagues to feel comfortable with the outcomes.

 Everyone has a personal responsibilty for the application of this Policy. As part of the staff and volunteer induction process they are expected to read and familiarise themselves with this policy and ensure that it is properly observed and fully complied with. Trustees and staff may also be personally liable for any acts of discrimination prohibited by this policy that they commit, meaning they can be sued by the victim.

Training:

Our commitment includes training managers and all staff and volunteers about their rights and responsibilities under the equality and diversity policy. Responsibilities include trustees, staff and volunteers conducting themselves to help the organisation provide equal opportunities in employment, and prevent bullying, harassment, victimisation and unlawful discrimination.

All trustees, staff and volunteers should understand they, as well as their employer , can be held liable for acts of bullying, harassment, victimisation and unlawful discrimination, in the course of their employment, against fellow staff, volunteers, clients and the public.

Monitoring:

SMT monitors the make-up of the staff and volunteers by yearly surveys, regarding information such as age, sex, ethnic background, sexual orientation, religion or belief, and disability in encouraging equality, diversity and inclusion, and in meeting the aims and commitments set out in the equality and diversity policy.

The monitoring includes assessing how the equality and diversity policy, and any supporting action plan, are working in practice, reviewing them annually, and considering and taking actions to address any issues.

When does this apply:

This policy applies to all conduct in the workplace and also to conduct outside of the workplace that is related to your work (e.g. at meetings, social events and social interactions with colleagues and volunteers) or which may impact on SMT reputation (e.g. the expression of views on social media, contrary to the commitments expressed in this policy, that could be linked to SMT.