This Policy should be read in conjunction with Employment Procedure Manual and Staff Handbook, which can be accessed through the HR & IT group and in the Hospice Library.
Springhill Hospice is committed to equal opportunities in employment, volunteer recruitment and access to services. We encourage a working environment in which diversity is recognised, valued and encouraged; appreciating the multi-cultural and diverse nature of the UK workforce and society in general. We are committed to principles of fairness and mutual respect in which the concept of individual responsibility is accepted by all. It is therefore the responsibility of all employees to ensure they observe and adhere to this policy at all times. Any breach is viewed seriously and will lead to investigation and potentially disciplinary action; which may include dismissal in instances of gross misconduct.
We recognise that discrimination in the workplace in any form is unacceptable and in most cases unlawful. We have therefore adopted this policy to ensure that all job applicants and employees along with those who use our services are treated fairly and without favour or prejudice. We are committed to applying this throughout all areas of employment; recruitment and selection, training, development, benefits, rewards, promotion, dealing with grievances and in our treatment of disciplinary issues.
Our policy is implemented in accordance with the Equality Act 2010 and all other appropriate statutory requirements and has been compiled after consideration of all available guidance and relevant Codes of Practice. However, we recognise that equality of opportunity is best achieved by day to day commitment throughout the organisation; with support and training where necessary.
The selection methods we use for recruitment will be related to the requirements of the job and we do not seek irrelevant qualifications. Applicants for employment are short-listed/selected solely on the basis of their assessed capability. Department of Health Guidance “Code of practice for the international recruitment of healthcare professionals” will be consulted when recruitment involves individuals from countries abroad.
We will ensure that no job applicant or employee receives less favourable treatment on the grounds of their protected characteristics:-
Each and every employee is a stakeholder in the success of this policy. We expect every employee to make a positive contribution towards creating an environment of equal opportunity throughout the organisation by observing this policy at all times. In particular, employees have individual responsibility to adopt the following:
Discrimination is not just directly treating one person less favourably than another. It can be discrimination that takes place against someone who associates with a person with a protected characteristic. It can be discrimination against someone believed to possess a protected characteristic (even though they don’t). It can also be discrimination where something particularly disadvantages people who share a protected characteristic more than others.
It is fundamental to your employment that you treat and are treated by other employees and those who use, or are otherwise associated with our organisation, considerately and with respect.
Our grievance procedure is available to any individual who believes that they have been discriminated against and we recommend such individuals to pursue the matter through this channel.
In situations where you do not feel that the grievance procedure is the most appropriate channel to raise your concerns, you may alternatively consider using our Raising concerns about Poor Practice (Whistle Blowing) Policy.
Springhill will review this statement annually to monitor its effectiveness.
This policy should be read in conjunction with the Information Management and Security Policy
In accordance with our policy on equal opportunities in employment, we provide equal opportunities to all job applicants and employees. We do not discriminate either directly or indirectly because of sex, race, age, disability, religion or belief, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marital or civil partnership status, pregnancy and maternity. Information provided by job applicants and you for monitoring will be used only for this purpose. The data will be dealt with in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulations, where it cannot be anonymised or where there is a risk that the information can be identified to a particular person.
We have implemented a procedure of monitoring all job applications and would be grateful if you would answer the questions below. All questions are optional. You are not obliged to answer any of these questions but the more information you supply, the more effective our monitoring will be.
None of the information provided below will be seen by those directly involved in the appointment. The form below will be detached from your application form, stored separately and used only to provide statistics for monitoring purposes. If a number of potential answers are given please circle the most appropriate option.
