Equal Opportunities and Diversity Policy

Objective:

Osmond Group Limited (The Company) is an equal opportunities employer committed to promoting equality of opportunity in all aspects of employment, including recruitment, training and career development opportunities. All personnel, trainees and applicants for employment with The Company will be given equal opportunity regardless of their sex, marital or civil status, sexual orientation, colour, race, ethnic or national origins, religion or belief, age, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, disability or any other condition which cannot be shown to be relevant to performance. It is our shared responsibility to ensure that the principles of equality of opportunity govern all that we do as The Company, not only within the employment relationship but also extending to pre and post‐employment activities and our day‐to‐day interactions with customers, clients, suppliers, and contractors. This includes such activities as advertising, interviewing and selecting, training, appraising, promoting, providing references, and throughout the disciplinary and dismissal procedure.

Responsibilities:

Employer’s Responsibilities

The Company will fulfil its commitment to equal opportunity by:

Recognising its legal obligation under the Equality Act 2010 and all other associated legislation and appropriate case law.
Periodically reviewing its selection criteria and procedures to maintain a system where individuals are selected, promoted, and treated based on their relevant aptitudes, skills, and abilities.
Ensuring that all future policies and procedures regarding employment issues are developed in strict accordance with this policy.
Distributing and publicising this policy statement throughout The Company.
Providing facilities for employees who believe they have been unfairly treated to raise the matter through the grievance procedure.
Regarding any deliberate discriminatory action, including harassment, by any employee as a serious disciplinary offence.

Employee’s Responsibilities

It is the duty of all personnel to accept their personal responsibility in the practical application of this policy, but The Company recognises that specific responsibility falls upon management, supervision and individuals professionally involved in recruitment and training.

If personnel are aware of any other member of staff breaking these rules, they should report it immediately to their Manager. Failing to do this may be regarded as a disciplinary offence.

Manager’s Responsibilities

Whilst all employees must accept their personal responsibility for the successful application of this and all related policies, managers, supervisors, and individuals professionally employed in recruitment and training have specific responsibility to ensure that all activities fall within the scope and provision of this policy and that all personnel for whom they are responsible understand and comply with this and related policies.

Recruitment:

All staff responsible for recruitment and selection activities must ensure that careful consideration is given to the wording and appropriate placement of advertisements to encourage applications from a diverse range of applicants. All adverts must clearly communicate that The Company is an “Equal Opportunities Employer”.

Job descriptions and person specifications must accurately reflect the duties of the post and be free from unnecessary requirements. They must also form the basis for questioning at interviews.
All questions, tests and scoring criteria shall be applied consistently to all candidates and shall be free from bias or features that could disadvantage or indirectly discriminate.
All appointments shall be made purely based on suitability for the post.
To meet our duties under the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, all applicants for employment shall be asked to provide evidence of their eligibility to work in the UK.

Training and Development:

Training and development opportunities shall be made available to all staff and based on individual needs and job requirements.

All employees shall be encouraged and supported to take up training opportunities.

Promotion:

The decision to promote shall be based solely on an individual’s ability to meet the position's performance requirements and shall disregard any factors that cannot be shown to be relevant to performance.

Promotional opportunities shall be extended widely to encourage applications from all staff groups.

Bullying and Harassment:

Bullying or harassment is considered unwanted behaviour which is offensive and causes serious emotional or physical harm to the recipient. Bullying or harassment may take many forms and range from mild banter or sexual connotations to actual physical violence. The Company will not tolerate any acts of harassment or bullying. They are humiliating behaviours which are unacceptable within the working environment. Both The Company and the harasser may be held liable and be ordered to pay damages for such behaviour as it is unlawful.

Personnel must remember that everyone is different in their interpretation of “bullying” or “harassment”, and what may be acceptable to one person may not be acceptable to another. Bullying and harassment is defined by how the person feels and not by what the bully/harasser intended. Harassment and bullying can cause significant stress, fear and anxiety for the recipients and can manifest itself in high absence levels, low morale, poor performance, high turnover and illness.

The following is a list of examples of bullying and harassment, but it is by no means exhaustive:

Physical abuse (pushing, shaking or blocking someone’s way)
Shouting and swearing at an individual, making threats Personal insults and name‐calling
Spreading malicious rumours
Punishments given for no apparent reason
Persistent criticism and belittling of individuals
Excessive close supervision with unreasonable fault‐finding or excessive workloads Setting unrealistic targets on purpose, setting people up to fail
Removing responsibility and allocating menial tasks Freezing people out
Racial Abuse
Displays of sexually offensive material (e.g. pin‐ups)
Requests and insistence on sexual favours, actual sexual violence Threat of dismissal, loss of promotion for refusal of sexual favours Unnecessary physical contact
Insensitive jokes or pranks or lewd comments
Deliberate exclusion from conversations or teamwork

Procedure for Dealing with Bullying and Harassment – Voicing your Concerns:

Any employee who feels they have been harassed or bullied should report the matter to either their Manager or a Manager of appropriate seniority. Subject to the outcome of that discussion, a disciplinary investigation may then take place.

No employee should ever be made to feel that they have to tolerate unacceptable behaviour from another employee or Manager. Every instance of harassment or bullying reported will be dealt with in the strictest confidence and in a wholly professional manner. Anyone who is a victim of minor sexual or racial harassment is advised to make it clear to the bully or harasser that they consider the behaviour unacceptable and request that they immediately stop the offensive behaviour. Anyone wishing to discuss any form of harassment or bullying directed towards them may either approach their Manager informally or formally through the grievance procedure or directly approach any member of the senior management team.

Allegations of harassment or bullying are very serious. An employee who brings a complaint of harassment or bullying will not suffer any victimisation for having done so, but if their complaint proves to be untrue and made in bad faith, then disciplinary action may be taken.

Minor Acts of Harassment or Bullying – Informal Approach:

If the employee feels able to deal with the issue themselves, they should approach the individual concerned and make it clear that their actions are unacceptable. If an employee makes it clear that the actions of another employee are not acceptable, then any further actions of that nature may be considered to be an act of harassment or bullying.

Serious Acts of Harassment or Bullying:

In addition, any serious act of harassment or bullying, where the culprit should reasonably be aware that their actions are unacceptable, will result in disciplinary action being taken. This could result in their summary dismissal from The Company.

If the informal approach has not been successful or the harassment or bullying is sufficiently serious, then the formal grievance procedure should be instigated by writing down the details of the bullying or harassment in the form of a complaint and handing it to your Manager.

Harassment or Bullying by a Third Party:

If the bullying or harassment is by a third party, such as a customer or supplier, the employee may choose whether to take the informal approach in the first instance to see if a direct request to stop will resolve the problem. If this does not work, or if the employee feels uncomfortable speaking to the third party, they should raise their concerns directly with their Manager, who will take every reasonable step to prevent it from happening again.

Confidentiality:

Please be aware that, whilst confidentiality will be maintained as far as possible, in some circumstances, The Company may have a duty of care to investigate and take action, even when the employee concerned would prefer that no action be taken.

Raising Concerns:

Any employee who has concerns about the effectiveness of these policies or has reason to believe that another employee has not adhered to or acted within the spirit of these policies should raise their concerns with their immediate Supervisor or Line Manager. Issues of a more serious nature, or those which cannot be satisfactorily resolved in this way, should be formally raised in accordance with The Company grievance procedure. The Company assures all staff that any matters raised will be dealt with in a confidential manner and as sensitively as possible.

It is everyone’s duty to ensure that these policies are followed at all times, and any employee found to have deliberately failed to report any known incidents of behaviour that breach these policies may be subject to disciplinary action.

Penalties:

It is every employee’s duty to ensure that the way in which they conduct their work and their working relationships comply fully with the letter of these policies. Any employee found to have failed in this duty will be subject to disciplinary action, which may result in dismissal depending on the seriousness of the circumstances.

Monitoring:

This policy will be regularly reviewed, and changes will be made as and when necessary. As a minimum standard, it will be reviewed in full on an annual basis. Where appropriate, all managers will also receive training, and information will be issued to be passed on to staff.

The Managing Director has overall responsibility for reviewing the operation and effectiveness of this policy on a regular basis.

Equal Opportunities Policy Statement:

The Company's policy is to support the principle of equal opportunity in employment without reservation.

All personnel, trainees and applicants for employment with The Company will be given equal opportunity regardless of their sex, marital or civil status, sexual orientation, colour, race, ethnic or national origins, religion or belief, age, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, disability or any other condition which cannot be shown to be relevant to performance.

It is our declared belief that ensuring that all available skills and human resources are considered when employment opportunities arise serves the best interests of the company, its personnel, and the larger community. We are therefore committed, within the framework of the law and wherever practicable, to achieving and maintaining a workforce that broadly reflects the community in which we work.

Each individual will be treated equally and fairly. All decisions concerning recruitment, selection, training, promotion and career management will be based solely on objective, job‐specific criteria.