Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy

1. Scope of Policy

This policy and the principles of non-discrimination and equality of opportunity apply to all employees, services users and volunteers. They cover job advertisements, recruitment and selection, training and development, opportunities for promotion, conditions of service, pay and benefits, conduct at work, disciplinary and grievance procedures and termination. It also applies to how staff and volunteers deal with clients and suppliers of Birch and anyone else dealt with in the course of business.

Diversity is about recognising that everyone is different, whilst respecting and valuing those differences and realising the business benefits of having a diverse workforce. We will take appropriate steps to accommodate the requirements of different religions, cultures and domestic responsibilities. We are committed to ensuring that training, development and progression opportunities are available to all employees.

Our employment policies and procedures are reviewed regularly to ensure fairness and good practice.

2. Legal Context

The Equality Act 2010 underpins this policy. It sets out ways in which it is unlawful to treat someone, including direct or indirect discrimination, harassment, victimisation and failing to make a reasonable adjustment for a disabled person.

The Act states that it is against the law to discriminate against anyone because of any of the following, nine protected characteristics:

age

being or becoming a transgender person

being married or in a civil partnership

being pregnant or on maternity leave

disability

race including colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin

religion, belief or lack of religion/belief

sex

sexual orientation

You are legally protected from discrimination by the Equality Act 2010: at work; in education; as a consumer; when using public services; when buying or renting property; and as a member or guest of a private club or association.

You are also protected from discrimination if:

you are associated with someone who has a protected characteristic, e.g. a family member or friend;

you have complained about discrimination or supported someone else’s claim.

3. Purpose of policy

The policy aims to create an environment in which individual differences and the contributions of all employees and volunteers are recognised and valued; and to ensure compliance with our legal obligations under the Equalities Act 2010.

All staff and volunteers have a duty to act in accordance with this policy, to treat colleagues with dignity at all times, and not to discriminate against or harass other people regardless of their status. Any form of discrimination may be unlawful and breaches this Equality and Diversity policy.

Discrimination will be treated as a disciplinary offence and dealt with under the disciplinary procedures.

Please note that this replaces previous policies. This policy does not form part of any employee's contract of employment. We reserve the rights to make reasonable adjustments to this policy.

4. Responsibility for this policy

age

being or becoming a transgender person

being married or in a civil partnership

being pregnant or on maternity leave

disability

race including colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin

religion, belief or lack of religion/belief

sex

sexual orientation

5. Forms of discrimination

Discrimination by or against a staff member or volunteer is generally prohibited unless there is a specific legal exemption. Discrimination may be direct or indirect and it may occur intentionally or unintentionally.

Direct discrimination occurs where someone is treated less favourably because of one or more of the protected characteristics set out above. For example, rejecting an applicant on the grounds of their race because they would not 'fit in' would be direct discrimination.

Indirect discrimination occurs where someone is disadvantaged by an unjustified provision, criterion or practice that also puts other people with the same protected characteristic at a particular disadvantage. For example, a requirement to work full time may put women at a particular disadvantage because they generally have greater childcare commitments than men. Such a requirement will need to be objectively justified.

Harassment or bullying related to any of the protected characteristics is prohibited. Harassment is unwanted conduct that has the purpose or effect of violating someone's dignity, or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for them.

Victimisation is the less favourable treatment of someone compared to their peers because they, in good faith, have complained (whether formally or otherwise) that someone has been bullying or harassing them or someone else, or supported someone to make a complaint or given evidence in relation to a complaint.

6. Personnel procedures

Recruitment, selection and promotion - Birch aims to ensure that no job or volunteering applicant suffers discrimination because of any of the protected characteristics above. Its recruitment procedures are reviewed regularly to ensure that individuals are treated on the basis of their relevant merits and abilities. Job selection criteria are regularly reviewed to ensure that they are relevant to and necessary for the job. Short listing and interviewing of applicants should be done by more than one person wherever possible.

Job advertisements should avoid stereotyping or using wording that may discourage groups with a particular protected characteristic from applying. We take steps to ensure that our vacancies are advertised to a diverse labour market.

Applicants should not be asked about health or disability before a job offer is made. There are limited exceptions which should be used only with a directors approval. For example:

questions necessary to establish if an applicant can perform an intrinsic part of the job (subject to any reasonable adjustments);

questions to establish if an applicant is fit to attend an assessment or any reasonable adjustments that may be needed at interview or assessment;

equal opportunities monitoring (which will not form part of the decision-making process).

Applicants should not be asked about past or current pregnancy or future intentions related to pregnancy or about matters concerning age, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation, or gender reassignment without the approval of a director, who should first consider whether such matters are relevant and may lawfully be taken into account.

We are required by law to ensure that all employees are entitled to work in the UK. Assumptions about immigration status should not be made based on appearance or apparent nationality. All prospective employees, regardless of nationality, must produce original documents such as a passport before employment starts, to satisfy current immigration legislation. The list of acceptable documents is available from the UK Border Agency.

These principles apply to internal promotion as well as external recruitment.

Monitoring - To ensure that this policy is operating effectively, and to identify groups that may be underrepresented or disadvantaged in our organisation, during recruitment we monitor applicants' ethnic origin, gender, disability, sexual orientation, religion and age as part of the recruitment procedure. Provision of this information is voluntary and it will not adversely affect an individual's chances of recruitment or any other decision related to their employment. The information is removed from applications before short-listing, and kept in an anonymous format solely for the purposes stated in this policy. Analysing these data helps us take reasonable steps to avoid discrimination and improve equality and diversity.

We also monitor equalities information for volunteers and some groups of service users (those where registration is required).

Staff training and promotion and conditions of service - Staff training needs will be identified through annual staff appraisals. All staff will be given appropriate access to training to enable them to progress within the organisation and all promotion decisions will be made as part of a transparent process on the basis of merit.

Our conditions of service, benefits and facilities are reviewed regularly to ensure that they are available to all staff who should have access to them and that there are no unlawful obstacles to accessing them.

Termination of employment - We will ensure that redundancy criteria and procedures are fair and objective and are not directly or indirectly discriminatory.

Disciplinary and other procedures - We will also ensure that disciplinary procedures and penalties are applied without discrimination, whether they result in disciplinary warnings, dismissal or other disciplinary action.

Disability discrimination - If you are disabled or become disabled, we encourage you to tell us about your condition so that we can support you as appropriate. If you experience difficulties at work because of your disability, you may wish to contact a director to discuss any reasonable adjustments that would help overcome or minimise the difficulty. A director may wish to consult with you and your medical adviser(s) about possible adjustments. The organisation has a duty to make reasonable adjustments to the workplace to overcome barriers experienced by disabled people. If we consider a particular adjustment would not be reasonable we will explain our reasons and try to find an alternative solution where possible. Consideration will be taken when arranging the time and venue of any meeting to ensure that they are as accessible as possible.

7. Public Sector Equality Duty and Service Delivery

In line with best practice, we actively seek to deliver on the Public Sector Equality Duty by seeking to:

eliminate unlawful discrimination;

advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not;

foster or encourage good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.

We achieve this by targeting our community services and activities towards disadvantaged and disengaged audiences. Where appropriate, we seek to:

remove or reduce disadvantages suffered by people, including if the challenge is a result of a protected characteristic;,meet the needs of people, including those with protected characteristics;,encourage disadvantaged and disengaged people, including those with protected characteristics, to participate in our community services, events and other activities.

Our monitoring and evaluation procedures support this policy, by demonstrating the people using our services, including their needs, backgrounds and requirements. Please see the Impact Framework for more information. This is supported by the three-year Strategy and annual Operational Plan which ensure that we work to our vision of inspiring and educating happy, healthy communities through green spaces, local food and each other.

8. Breaches of this policy

If you believe that you may have been discriminated against or harassed you are encouraged to raise the matter through our Grievance Procedure. If you are uncertain or need advice on how to proceed you should speak to a director.

Allegations regarding potential breaches of this policy will be treated in confidence and investigated in accordance with the relevant procedure. Staff who make such allegations in good faith will not be victimised or treated less favourably as a result. False allegations which are found to have been made in bad faith will, however, be dealt with under our Disciplinary Procedure.

Any member of staff who is found to have committed an act of discrimination or harassment will be subject to disciplinary action. Such behaviour may constitute gross misconduct and, as such, may result in summary dismissal. We take a strict approach to serious breaches of this policy.

This document sets out the policy. It is essential that all in the organisation fully understand the principle and operation of the policy and together accept responsibility for its overall effectiveness. It will be made available to all staff and volunteers.