# Whirl the World - Equal Opportunities

The Company is an Equal Opportunities employer.

The aim of this policy is to ensure that no job applicant or employee receives less favorable treatment on the grounds of gender, race, disability, color, nationality, ethnic or national origin, marital status, sexuality, responsibility for dependants, religion or belief, trade union activity and age.

Selection criteria and procedures will be kept under review to ensure that individuals are selected, promoted and treated on the basis of their relevant merits and abilities. All employees will be given equality of opportunity within the company’s service and will be encouraged to progress within the organization. To ensure that direct or indirect discrimination is not occurring, recruitment and other employment decisions will be regularly monitored in conjunction with records of job applicants and existing employees. The company is committed to an ongoing programme of action to make this policy fully effective.

## Policy and Procedure

Equal opportunity is about good employment practices and efficient use of our most valuable asset, our employees. Every manager and employee has personal responsibility for the implementation of the policy. Any instance of doubt about the application of the policy, or other questions, should be addressed to Human Resources, as should any requests for special training.

The company will not discriminate on grounds of sex, marital status, ethnic origin, color, nationality, disability or other grounds of discrimination not prohibited by legislation.

The policy applies to the advertisement of jobs, recruitment and appointment to them, training, conditions of work, pay and to every other aspect of employment. The policy also applies equally to the treatment of our customers/clients. Staff involved in recruitment in particular should request training if they have any doubt about the application of this policy.

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Item | Policy / Procedure
Attracting applicants | The aim of the company is to recruit employees on a fair and non-discriminatory basis. In order to achieve this: A multi-level list has been used here to provide round bullets at the top level and square bullets for items that need to be indented. Recruiting only by word of mouth will not be practised by the company because this may restrict applications from groups who may be under-represented in the workforce. When advertising the company will: Seek to use a wide range of organizations and / or publications to advertise its vacancies with the aim of attracting interest from a wider community. Ensure that the wording of job adverts does not place unfair restrictions or requirements on a particular group or groups. Employees should also note that the imposition of a condition or requirement which has an adverse impact on someone, because his or her sex, race or marital status is more likely to be affected by it, will be unlawful unless it can be justified on grounds of business need. By way of example, a height requirement of 5’ 10” will eliminate some men but proportionately more women and so be unlawful. In all such situations Human Resources should be consulted. Include in all advertisements a statement on Equal Opportunities and where necessary encourage applications from under-represented groups for jobs with the company.
Selection | The aim of the company is to select employees on a fair and non-discriminatory basis. In order to achieve this: The suitability of each applicant/candidate will be measured against the requirements for the job. The use of selection tests will be regularly examined to ensure that they are related to job requirements and are not unlawfully discriminatory.
Promotion | The aim of the company is to promote employees on a fair and non-discriminatory basis. In order to achieve this: The promotion criteria will relate specifically to the individual’s ability and aptitude to do the job. The company will periodically review the promotion procedure.
Transfer | The aim of the company is to (where necessary) transfer employees on a fair and non-discriminatory basis. In order to achieve this: The company will not automatically transfer employees who complain of discrimination. The company will periodically review its criteria for transferring employees.
Training | All persons responsible for recruitment, selection, promotion and transfer of staff will receive training in equal opportunities. Training will achieve two objectives: Enable employees to recognise the company’s and their own legal obligations under legislation. Develop the necessary skills to translate the equal opportunities in employment policy into practice. The company will also ensure that all its employees have equal access to training and development opportunities.
Dismissal (including redundancy) and other detriment | The aim of the company is to ensure that it does not unlawfully or unfairly discriminate in dismissal, redundancy or other detriment to an employee. In order to achieve this the company will continually examine its procedure and criteria to ensure that they do not directly or indirectly discriminate against a particular group or groups.
Discipline | Any employee who harasses any other employee on the grounds of race, sex or disability will be subject to the organization's disciplinary procedure. In serious cases, such behavior will be deemed to constitute gross misconduct and, as such, will result in summary dismissal in the absence of mitigating circumstances.
Monitoring and positive action | The composition of the workforce and of job applicants will be monitored on a regular basis. Should inequalities become apparent, positive action will be taken to redress the imbalance.
Grievance | Any member of staff may use the grievance procedure to complain about discriminatory conduct. If the matter relates to sexual or racial harassment or harassment on the basis of disability then the grievance may be raised directly with Human Resources. The company is concerned to ensure that staff feel able to raise such grievances and no individual will be penalized for raising such a grievance unless it is untrue and made in bad faith.