Equality & Diversity Policy

Equality & Diversity Policy 2010

Definitions

Equality is creating an even platform to enable everyone to access the same opportunities and is backed by legislation to prevent discrimination based on prejudices against any group.

Diversity is understanding and valuing the differences in people and believing that harnessing these differences will create a productive working environment and an enriching life experience where talents are fully utilised and organisational goals are met.

The Policy

Valuing diversity means valuing the qualities that different people bring to their jobs, to the resolution of problems and to the development of business opportunities - rather than judging people’s ideas by the extent to which they conform to our existing values or personal preference.

Managing diversity means recognising that our staff, volunteers and those who use our services are from differing cultural, ethnic, racial and gender backgrounds and have different religions or beliefs, nationalities, sexual orientations, gender identities, ages, physical and mental abilities etc.

In practice this means that we are committed to:

• Giving all staff and volunteers the chance to achieve their full potential by striving to eliminate unfairness, discrimination, victimisation, harassment and bullying at work.

• Dealing with staff and volunteers solely on the basis of merit and without prejudice, thus ensuring fair, reasonable and dignified treatment for all in:
  • recruitment
  • performance management/appraisal
  • access to training
  • career development
  • job allocation
  • promotion
  • grievance and disciplinary matters

• Providing support and encouragement to all staff and volunteers to enable them to give of their best, but with special consideration for members of staff and volunteers with particular needs such as those with domestic responsibilities or with disabilities.

• Treating staff employed by others (including agency staff and outside contractors) in a professional manner and making sure they are not harassed, bullied or discriminated against.

The Aim of our Policy

• To ensure all staff and volunteers are afforded equality of opportunity.
• To provide a fair structure of Policies and Procedures including Recruitment and Selection, Training, Disciplinary Policy and Procedures and Harassment.
• To ensure all employees have equality of access to promotion and equal pay.
• To attract a diverse workforce and utilise the skills, knowledge and abilities available.
• To create a positive image as an employer and service provider.
• Increase performance and efficiency, and prevent disciplinary and grievance cases.
• Zero tolerance of breaches of our Equality and Diversity Policy. All instances of alleged misbehaviour will be investigated under our Disciplinary Policy and Procedures.
• To recognise the diversity of the residents of, and visitors to, Wales and their diverse backgrounds, culture and needs and ensure that services are delivered appropriately to maximise participation by all.
• Endeavour to remove any barriers to access the services we provide

What Journeys will do

Journeys will uphold equality and diversity:

• In employment, by developing policies which ensure that no job applicant, employee, volunteer or trainee is unfairly discriminated against on the basis of their gender, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, age, physical or mental capabilities, marital status, gender identity, sexual orientation, social background, or organisation role;

• In service delivery, by providing appropriate, sensitive and impartial services and being accessible to all;

• By fostering a co-operative working environment which is free from harassment or victimisation and which promotes good relations among staff to create the conditions for the full development of their potential

Specific Actions and Commitments

Gender

Journeys will take action to promote gender equality.

• We will continue to work to ensure fair representation of women and men in our staff and service users.
• We will ensure that women are fully represented in all parts of the organisation at all levels.
• We will ensure our policies and procedures address gender issues and where appropriate take positive action. We will ensure that we do not apply any direct or indirect discrimination to our clients or staff on the basis of gender and marriage.
• To tackle unequal pay between men and women, Journeys will ensure that it has a transparent and non-discriminatory pay system.

Sexual Orientation

Journeys is committed to creating a safe working environment for all its staff, volunteers and service users with due regard to their sexual orientation.

We want Journeys to be a place where people who are lesbian, gay and bisexual among our staff, volunteers and visitors feel it is safe and comfortable to be open about their sexual orientation. We will challenge negative views and if necessary, provide training so that there is a better understanding of the issue amongst our staff.

Disabled People

We have adopted the social model of disability as a fundamental principle and recognise that people are not disabled by their impairments but the way in which they are discriminated against by society.

The social model says that:

• Disability is caused by society’s failure to adapt itself to the different ways in which people accomplish activities
• Society in general (and the non-disabled majority in particular) bears the responsibility for disabling those people who are prevented from accomplishing activities in their own ways
• Disability can be best overcome by society learning to adapt to the variety of its citizens
• In the social model, disability is seen as the extra problems that people with impairments face because society is not geared up to take account of their needs.

Journeys will:

• Increase awareness in the organisation about the needs of staff, users and visitors with disabilities.
• Work to ensure our practices do not restrict use of our services or the contribution people with disabilities can make to our work.
• Make regular assessments of the accessibility of our sites and will actively seek opportunities to improve access to our premises’ and services for people who have disabilities.
• We also recognise that disabilities may not always be visible and equally respect the wider needs of this group including individuals with mental health or debilitating conditions.

Race and Ethnicity

Journeys employs and serves people from diverse racial and ethnic Groups. We will implement positive action initiatives to assist staff to access and enhance their career development opportunities, both within and outside Journeys.

We will:

• Increase awareness in the organisation about race issues.

Religion and Belief

Journeys is committed to creating a safe working environment for all its staff, volunteers and service users with due regard to their religions or beliefs.

We want Journeys to be a place where all staff, volunteers and clients who adhere to different religions or beliefs feel it is safe and comfortable to be open about their religion or belief. We will challenge negative views and practices and provide training so that there is a better understanding of the issues amongst our staff.

Age

Journeys will continue to employ and serve people of all age groups and will ensure its policies do not adversely affect staff or services users because of their age.

We will ensure that we do not unfairly discriminate in the employment of staff and volunteers or the provision of services on grounds of age.

Procurement

Journeys will strive to ensure that the purchase of goods, services and facilities is undertaken in line with our equality and diversity commitments. We want to engage with a diverse range of suppliers and ensure that businesses from diverse communities have an equal opportunity of competing for our contracts. We will endeavour wherever practicable to purchase from agencies or companies who share our values on equality of opportunity and diversity.

Training

Journeys endeavours to provide in depth training for its entire staff and volunteers on all Equality and Diversity Issues.

 In Practice

Every member of staff has an individual responsibility to ensure this policy is actively implemented. This should be reflected in the development of individual work programmes which take account of the needs of all potential users of services. It should also be reflected in individuals’ performance and conduct.

This policy will be circulated to all Journeys' employees, volunteers, and will be made available on our web site.

Journeys actively encourages individual members of staff or volunteers who feel that they have in any way suffered from, been disadvantaged by, been discriminated against unlawfully, or has been subjected to harassment to report these incidents to the Executive Committee.  In the same way, members of staff who witness an act of discrimination or harassment against a fellow employee, volunteer and/or visitor should report this.

Any employee found to have acted in a discriminatory way in relation to colleagues, volunteers or visitors to Journeys will be dealt with in accordance with Journeys' disciplinary procedure.

Who is covered by this commitment to diversity and equality of opportunity?

All staff, volunteers, all visitors and all outside contractors are covered by this commitment and have a right to fair, reasonable and considerate treatment at all times.

In implementing this policy, Journeys will ensure that it meets all the necessary legal requirements and strive to set standards of good practice that others will follow.