Definition
Higham Hill Maktab will make every effort to ensure that all Employee are treated with courtesy, dignity and respect irrespective of gender, race, religion, nationality, colour, disability, age or marital status.
Our aim is to eliminate all bias and unlawful discrimination in relation to job applicants, Employee, our business partners and members of the public.
This is supported by the Maktab Values.
Scope
This policy is integral with our Values, in particular:
Openness
• Sharing honestly what we know, both good and bad
• Being straightforward, communicating with honesty, listening to each other, building Maktab with our customers and suppliers
Collaboration
• Working as one
• Working together to deliver the best outcome for our customers, respecting the capabilities of everyone involved.
Mutual dependency
• We stand together
• Respecting each other’s needs and being reliable and supportive. Looking out for each other and working with customers and suppliers to share risks and rewards.
The scope of this policy and its associated ways of working goes beyond immediate colleagues and encompasses:
• All existing Employee
• All potential Employee
• Sub-contractors
• Workers
• Partners
• The self-employed
Everyone has a role to play and is responsible for challenging questionable behavior and practice which is not in line with our values and culture.
Objectives
• To have a workforce that represents and responds to the diversity of our customers and society in general.
• To improve safety and quality provided by a balanced and productive workforce.
• To reduce staff turnover, absenteeism and sickness levels.
• To provide a fair working environment in which discrimination will not be tolerated.
• To create a working environment free from discrimination, harassment, victimisation and bullying.
• To work towards finding ways for underrepresented groups to fully realise their potential within Higham Hill Muslim Community Maktab and take reasonable steps to help such groups.
• To ensure that all Employee are aware of the Equal Opportunities and Diversity Policy and provided with any necessary ongoing training to enable them to meet their responsibilities under it.
• Higham Hill Maktab recognises the merits of developing a workforce that incorporates the many diverse skills and backgrounds available from within the total population and accordingly, will strive to become an organisation that recognises, values and understands diversity and provides its Employee with genuine opportunities to improve and reach their full potential.
• To ensure that all applicants are treated fairly during recruitment processes and in accordance with relevant legislation and Codes of Practice.
• To regularly review procedures and selection criteria for promotion to ensure that individuals are selected and treated according to their relevant individual abilities and merits.
Principles
It is unacceptable for any a, employee, worker, supplier or member of the public to be discriminated against, either directly or indirectly, on such grounds as race, colour, ethnic or national origin, gender, marital status, pregnancy, age, disability, part-time or fixed term status, responsibility for children or dependents, religious or political beliefs, trade union membership or irrelevant criminal convictions (throughout this policy referred to as “all grounds for discrimination”).
Higham Hill Muslim Community Maktab takes any breach of this policy seriously, and a breach could lead to formal disciplinary action being taken, which in some cases could lead to dismissal in accordance with the Disciplinary and Dismissal Policy.
By addressing these issues Higham Hill Muslim Community Maktab adheres and complies with all relevant legislation.
DEFINITIONS
Protected characteristics
Equality legislation offers protection to people with ‘protected characteristics’, which are:
• Age
• Disability
• Gender
• Pregnancy and maternity
• Race
• Religion or belief
Direct discrimination
• Making decisions about whether someone should be offered, or not offered, a job because of gender, race, etc.
• Treating colleagues or customers differently because of their gender, race, etc.
Indirect discrimination
• Where a policy applies to everyone but has a disproportionate impact on people with a protected characteristic. For example:
• Setting height restrictions which indirectly discriminate against women or certain ethnic groups.
• Introducing a ‘no headwear’ policy for all Employee. The policy, although applied to all Employee, disadvantages Muslim Employee who wear turbans for religious reasons.
Perceptive discrimination
• Discrimination against a person because the discriminator thinks the person possesses a characteristic on which discrimination is based, even if they do not in fact do so
Victimisation or Retaliation
Victimisation is treating a person less favorably than others in circumstances where the person has, in good faith, made a complaint, acted as a witness to a complaint or initiated proceedings connected with a complaint of discrimination. Victimisation is also in itself a form of unlawful discrimination.
Higham Hill Maktab will take all reasonable steps to ensure that Employee are protected against victimisation or retaliation for bringing a complaint on any aspect covered by this policy and it is unlawful and a disciplinary offence to victimise or retaliate against an employee for bringing a complaint in accordance with the policy.
Harassment
Harassment is unwanted conduct related to a relevant protected characteristic, which has the purpose or effect of violating an individual’s dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for that individual.
Employee can complain of harassment even if they don’t personally possess the protected characteristic or the harassment is not directed at them. This definition also covers harassment by a third party who is not a Higham Hill Muslim Community Maktab employee.
Higham Hill Maktab will take all reasonable steps to ensure that Employee are protected against harassment; it is unlawful and a disciplinary offence to harass an employee.