The Policy
Essex County Care Limited is an equal opportunities employer. This means it is the Company’s policy that there should be no discrimination against or harassment of any employee or job applicant either directly or indirectly on the grounds of:
- Race, colour, nationality or national or ethnic origin (“race”);
- Sex or marital status;
- Disability (e.g., a long term mental and physical impairment);
- Sex change status;
- Sexual orientation;
- Religion or philosophical belief;
- Political belief;
- Trade union activity or
- Age
The Company’s policy is to:
- Eliminate as far as is reasonably possible, discrimination and harassment from the workplace;
- Encourage all its employees to take an active role against all forms of discrimination and harassment;
- Deter employees from participating in discriminatory behaviour or harassment;
- Demonstrate to all employees that they can rely upon the Company’s support in cases of discrimination or harassment at work
The Company is fully committed to providing a good and harmonious working environment that offers equal treatment and equal opportunities for all employees and where every employee is treated with respect and dignity. The Company’s aim is that remuneration, recruitment, promotion and retention should not be affected by irrelevant considerations and stereotyping.
The Company recognises that the provision of equal opportunities in the workplace is not only good management practice; it also makes sound business sense. The Company’s equal opportunities policy will help all employees develop their full potential and the talents and resources of the workforce will be fully utilised to maximise the efficiency of the organisation.
Whilst the Company recognises that the overall responsibility for the effective operation of this policy lies with the Managing Director, all employees, whatever their position with the Company, have some measure of responsibility for ensuring its effective implementation in their day to day activities and working relationships with colleagues.
Employees should ensure that:
- They are cooperative with any measures introduced to develop equal opportunities;
- They respect the sensitivities of others
- They refrain from taking discriminatory actions or decisions which are contrary to either the letter or spirit of this policy and, for employees of managerial status, that they ensure that those who report to them also comply with the policy
- They do not instruct, induce or attempt to induce or pressurise other employees to act in breach of this policy;
- Employees who make complaints of breaches of this policy are treated fairly and responsively both when the complaint is made and thereafter
Breaches of the Company’s equal opportunities policy and procedures and any unfair and unlawful discrimination will not be tolerated and will be dealt with under the recognised disciplinary procedures . In serious cases, this could lead to the dismissal of the relevant individual.
The policy shall also apply to employees of contractor s working at the Company’s premises.
General Application of the Policy in regard to Recruitment and Selection
The selection process is of crucial importance in this policy and must be carried out according to objective job related criteria which must be subject to regular review. The effectiveness of the policy will be determined to a great extent by this aspect of employment procedures.
The Company will endeavour, through appropriate training to ensure that employees making selection decisions will not discriminate whether consciously or unconsciously in making these decisions.
Training
Equal opportunities must be integrated into all training concerned with selection skills, staff assessment, counselling, staff development and the management or supervision of staff. The importance of equal opportunities in the field of customer care initiatives is also recognised. The Company’s policy will form part of the induction training of all staff.