Equality and Fairness Policy

Transcription

1 Equality and Fairness Policy Royal Mail Group is committed to ensuring that equality, diversity and fairness are at the heart of our values, policies and everyday practices of our employees. This policy outlines our principles and approach to promoting equality, diversity and fairness at all stages of employment. Main topic areas Overview Policy statement Guiding principles Types of discrimination and harassment Expectations Equality through all stages of employment Fairness and favouritism Bullying and harassment Disability What to do if you have a complaint or concern Getting help Contact your manager if you have any queries on this policy. Managers can obtain advice by: Calling the HR Services Advice Centre on Managers working for Parcelforce Worldwide should call / 5456 / 4747 For web access go to: group.com Review and monitoring Where to go for further information Forms Related documents VERSION 02 JANUARY 2018 Page 1 of 6

2 Equality and Fairness Policy Overview and scope Policy statement Guiding principles This policy applies to all individuals working for Royal Mail Group Ltd including employees, workers, and agency workers. The spirit of this policy should also be applied to all who deliver services on behalf of or come into contact with Royal Mail Group, including service providers and customers. Royal Mail Group Ltd will be referred to as Royal Mail Group. This policy is effective from 28 April This policy does not form part of contracts of employment and Royal Mail Group reserves the right to amend this policy or parts of it from time to time. This policy is supported by CWU and Unite. Royal Mail Group is committed to creating a work environment that is free from discrimination, victimisation, bullying and harassment, where all individuals are treated with dignity and respect. Royal Mail Group will not discriminate against employees on the grounds of the following protected characteristics covered by the Equality Act These are (in an alphabetical order): Age Disability Gender reassignment Marriage or civil partnership Pregnancy or maternity Race (including ethnic or national origin, nationality or colour) Religion or belief (including political opinion in Northern Ireland) Sex / gender Sexual orientation Royal Mail Group is committed to promoting fair participation and equality of opportunity for all our employees and job applicants. We aim to create an environment free from discrimination, victimisation or harassment in which all individuals are able to achieve their full potential. Our commitment Royal Mail Group is committed to: Fostering a workplace that promotes equality of opportunity for all and ensuring fair participation in employment Treating those who interact with our business with dignity and respect and ensuring fair access to our services Treating as irrelevant all factors which do not genuinely affect a person s ability to undertake a particular job Promoting awareness of what behaviours are acceptable and not acceptable Investigating breaches of this policy and taking action against anyone deemed to have acted against the spirit of this policy VERSION 02 JANUARY 2018 Page 2 of 6

3 Regularly reviewing aspects of this policy in order to make sure that it reflects and accounts for the most up to date legal regulations and is effective Taking lawful affirmative or positive action, where appropriate Forms of discrimination and harassment Forms of discrimination and harassment Discrimination can take any of the following forms and can be, intentional or unintentional. Direct discrimination occurs where someone is treated less favourably because of one or more of the protected characteristics. Indirect discrimination occurs where an unjustified provision, criterion or practice puts certain groups of people that share a protected characteristic at a disadvantage compared with others. Disability discrimination includes direct and indirect discrimination, any unjustified less favourable treatment because of the effects of a disability, and failure to make reasonable adjustments to alleviate disadvantages caused by a disability. Victimisation occurs when someone is subject to a detriment because they have made or are believed to have made or supported a discrimination related complaint. 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. Harassment may include bullying behaviour. Bullying is any intimidation or behaviour that undermines the competence, effectiveness, confidence or integrity of the person being bullied. When harassment relates to a protected characteristic it is a form of discrimination, but harassment can also be unrelated to a protected characteristic. Expectations Our expectations All individuals working for Royal Mail Group must: Adopt and follow the guiding principles of this policy Not discriminate in their day to day activities or encourage others to do so Not victimise, harass or intimidate other employees, customers or suppliers on the grounds of one or more of the protected characteristics, or their perception of a protected characteristic, or because of their association with another individual who has a protected characteristic Inform their manager if they become aware of any discriminatory practice Any employee who is found to have committed an act of discrimination, harassment or victimisation will be subject to disciplinary action. Such behaviour may constitute gross misconduct and may result in summary dismissal. Equality through all stages of employment It is our policy to promote equality of opportunity from first contact through to when an employee leaves the organisation. Special attention will be paid to the following areas: Provision of information on equality and fairness This policy is provided to new employees as part of their induction. VERSION 02 JANUARY 2018 Page 3 of 6

4 Recruitment and selection All recruitment and selection activities will be conducted objectively and free from bias. All applicants will be treated fairly and candidates will be assessed on merit and the skills required for the role. Learning and development Access to learning and development opportunities will be provided on the basis of objective, non-discriminatory, job related criteria that are communicated in advance and are fairly appraised. Working arrangements Royal Mail Group will consider a range of options to support employees to adapt their working life according to their individual circumstances. Promotion and career progression Employees will be given opportunities for career progression within Royal Mail Group based on job related competencies, qualifications, abilities and experience that are communicated in advance and are fairly appraised. Reward and benefits Pay, benefits and other remuneration within Royal Mail Group will be based on non-discriminatory and fair criteria. Fairness and favouritism Disability and reasonable adjustments Royal Mail Group s policy is to provide opportunities based on an individual s performance, skills and development needs in a fair and transparent manner. Favouritism at work refers to granting opportunities solely based on factors such as personal or family relationships, or offering an undue advantage to someone who does not necessarily merit that treatment. Favouritism in this form will not be tolerated at Royal Mail Group. Managers should be aware of the criteria they are using, and be prepared to justify decisions relating to recruitment, promotions and organisational hierarchy. For further information please see the Conflicts of Interest Policy. Royal Mail Group is committed to making reasonable adjustments for disabled employees where they are likely to be placed at a substantial disadvantage compared to non-disabled employees by a feature of their workplace or a provision criteria or practice applied by Royal Mail Group. Employees who consider themselves disabled or who become disabled are encouraged to tell Royal Mail Group about their condition so that we can support them as appropriate. We will examine the individual situation and determine what support is reasonable for each case. Royal Mail Group attaches importance to meeting the needs of disabled customers and service providers where reasonably practicable. Disability helpline Help and guidance regarding reasonable adjustments can be sought from The Disability Helpline, including funding which may be available through Access to Work. The Disability Helpline can also be contacted for information concerning the Royal Mail Group process for obtaining equipment, software and furniture, to arrange a sign language interpreter, or to request Large Print or Braille documents. VERSION 02 JANUARY 2018 Page 4 of 6

5 Health & Wellbeing What to do if you have a complaint or concern Review and monitoring For more information Forms Contact details: , or disability.helpline@royalmail.com First Class Support First Class Support is your confidential and independent helpline - a place to turn to if you have any problems. The service is free and is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Contact details: There is a wealth of health and wellbeing information and support tools available at: Don t keep it to yourself It is in everyone s interest for employees to raise concerns they have about their treatment or the treatment of others at work. Concerns should ideally be raised with their manager first. In addition: 1. Where the concern is in relation to bullying and harassment refer to the Stop Bullying and Harassment Policy or use the Bullying and Harassment helpline for support and advice Employees who have other complaints related to treatment at work should refer to the Grievance Policy 3. Where concerns relate to other serious malpractice in the organisation, refer to the Speak Up (Whistleblowing) Policy or use call the Speak Up (Whistleblowing) helpline for confidential support and advice Treatment of complaints Complaints regarding potential breaches of this policy will be investigated in accordance with the relevant policy as outlined above. In appropriate cases, Royal Mail Group will take formal action under the Conduct Policy, up to and including summary dismissal, if it is found that this policy has been breached. This policy strictly prohibits: Retaliation against someone who reports a concern in good faith Deliberately false or fictitious complaints which do not have a foundation Breaches of the above could lead to formal action under the Conduct Policy up to and including summary dismissal. We will monitor job applicants, as well as the general composition of the workforce as required by the law. The Getting help box on the front page of this policy tells you where to find further information. Guidance is also available on the Policy and Information Site on PSP (HR pages of the intranet for non-psp users). In the event of any inconsistency between this policy and the supporting documentation the terms of this policy take precedence. The following form can be found on the Policy and Information site on PSP: Harassment Form (H1 Form) VERSION 02 JANUARY 2018 Page 5 of 6

6 Related documents You may find it useful to read the following documents (located on the Policy and Information site on PSP or HR pages on the intranet for non-psp users) in conjunction with this policy: Stop Bullying and Harassment Policy and Guide Grievance Policy and Guide Speak Up (Whistleblowing) Policy VERSION 02 JANUARY 2018 Page 6 of 6