Our commitment as a service provider:
- We aim to provide services to which all clients are entitled regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation, offending past, caring responsibilities or social class.
- We will make sure that our services are delivered equally and meet the diverse needs of our service users and clients by assessing and meeting the diverse needs of our clients.
- This policy is fully supported by senior management and has been agreed with employee representatives.
- This policy will be monitored and reviewed annually.
- We have clear procedures that enable our clients, candidates for jobs and employees to raise a grievance or make a complaint if they feel they have been unfairly treated.
- Breaches of our equality and diversity policy will be regarded as misconduct and could lead to disciplinary proceedings.
Policy Statements
Age
We will:
- Ensure that people of all ages are treated with respect and dignity.
- Ensure that people of working age are given equal access to our employment, training, development and promotion opportunities.
- Challenge discriminatory assumptions about younger and older people.
Disability
We will:
- Provide any reasonable adjustments to ensure disabled people have access to our services and employment opportunities.
- Challenge discriminatory assumptions about disabled people.
- Seek to continue to improve access to information by ensuring availability of loop systems, braille facilities, alternative formatting and sign language interpretation.
Race
We will:
- Challenge racism wherever it occurs.
- Respond swiftly and sensitively to racists incidents.
- Actively promote race equality in the company.
Gender
We will:
- Challenge discriminatory assumptions about women and men.
- Take positive action to redress the negative effects of discrimination against women and men.
- Offer equal access for women and men to representation, services, employment, training and pay and encourage other organisations to do the same.
- Provide support to prevent discrimination against transsexual people who have or who are about to undergo gender reassignment.
Sexual Orientation
We will:
- Ensure that we take account of the needs of lesbians, gay men and bisexuals.
- Promote positive images of lesbians, gay men and bisexuals.
Religion or Belief
We will:
- Ensure that patients’ religion or beliefs and related observances are respected and accommodated wherever possible.
- Respect people’s beliefs where the expression of those beliefs does not impinge on the legitimate rights of others.