Equal Opportunities Statement
Edozo is committed to promoting equal opportunities in employment. Employees and any job applicants will receive equal treatment regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marital or civil partner status, pregnancy or maternity, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation (Protected Characteristics).
About this policy
This policy sets out our approach to equal opportunities and the avoidance of discrimination at work. It applies to all aspects of employment with us, including recruitment, pay and conditions, training, appraisals, promotion, conduct at work, disciplinary and grievance procedures, and termination of employment. It covers all team members and applicants.
Discrimination
Edozo, its employees and contractors must not unlawfully discriminate against or harass other people including current and former employees, job applicants, clients, customers, suppliers and visitors. This applies in the workplace, outside the workplace, when dealing with customers, suppliers or other work-related contacts and on work-related trips or events including social events.
The following forms of discrimination are prohibited under this policy and are unlawful:
1. Direct discrimination: treating someone less favourably because of a Protected Characteristic. For example, rejecting a job applicant because of their religious views or because they might be gay.
2. Indirect discrimination: a provision, criterion or practice that applies to everyone but adversely affects people with a particular Protected Characteristic more than others, and is not justified.
3. Harassment: this includes sexual harassment and other unwanted conduct related to a Protected Characteristic, which has the purpose or effect of violating someone’s dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for them.
4. Victimisation: retaliation against someone who has complained or has supported someone else’s complaint about discrimination or harassment.
5. Disability discrimination: this 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.
Recruitment and Selection
Recruitment, promotion, and other selection exercises such as redundancy selection will be conducted on the basis of merit, against objective criteria that avoid discrimination. Advertisements should avoid stereotyping or using wording that may discourage particular groups from applying. Job applicants should not be asked questions which might suggest an intention to discriminate on grounds of a Protected Characteristic.
Job applicants should not be asked about health or disability before a job offer is made, except in the very limited circumstances allowed by law: for example, to check that the applicant could perform an intrinsic part of the job (taking account of any reasonable adjustments), or to see if any adjustments might be needed at interview because of a disability. Where necessary, job offers can be made conditional on a satisfactory medical check. Health or disability questions may be included in equal opportunities monitoring forms, which must not be used for selection or decision-making purposes.
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 be able to produce original documents (such as a passport) before employment starts, to satisfy current immigration legislation. The list of acceptable documents is available from UK Visas and Immigration.
Termination of employment
We will ensure that redundancy criteria and procedures are fair and objective and are not directly or indirectly discriminatory. We will also ensure that disciplinary procedures and penalties are applied without discrimination, whether they result in disciplinary warnings, dismissal or other disciplinary action.
Disabilities
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 us to discuss any reasonable adjustments that would help overcome or minimise the difficulty. They may wish to consult with you and your medical advisor about possible adjustments. If we consider a particular adjustment would not be reasonable we will explain our reasons and try to find an alternative solution where possible.
Part-time and fixed-term work
Part-time and fixed-term staff will be treated the same as comparable full-time or permanent staff and enjoy no less favourable terms and conditions (on a pro-rata basis where appropriate), unless different treatment is justified.
Breaches of this policy
We take a strict approach to breaches of this policy. Breaches will be dealt with in accordance with our Disciplinary Procedure. Serious cases of deliberate discrimination may amount to gross misconduct resulting in dismissal.
If you believe that you have suffered discrimination you should raise the matter with us and we shall deal with the matter under the appropriate policy. Complaints will be treated in confidence and investigated as appropriate.
There must be no victimisation or retaliation against team members who complain about discrimination. However, making a false allegation deliberately and in bad faith will be treated as misconduct and will be dealt with under our Disciplinary Procedure.