Equal Opportunities Employment Policy

Revised 18 September 2014

​

General

​

The objectives of this Equal Opportunities Employment Policy (EOEP) are to:

• ensure that the company/etc has access to the widest labour market and secures the best employees for its needs;

• ensure that no applicant or employee receives less favourable treatment, and that, wherever possible, they are given the help they need to attain their full potential to the benefit of the company, its clients and themselves;

• achieve an ability-based workforce which tends to be representative of the working population mix in the relevant labour markets.

All aspects of this Policy are subject to any requirements and restrictions imposed by relevant legislation.

​

Vacancy advertising of specific vacancies

​

Advertisements for specific vacancies will be placed on the DSC website.  In addition:

• advertisements for graduate/specialist positions may be placed with appropriate technical journals and (for positions which may be filled by new/recent graduates) the careers services of universities with relevant departments;

• advertisements for non-technical positions may be placed with local newspapers, job centres and schools/sixth-form colleges.

All vacancy advertisements will include an appropriate short statement on equal opportunity. 

​

General advertising of employment opportunities

​

General advertising of opportunities with the firm (i.e. seeking recruits in general, rather than advertising a specific vacancy) will be placed on the DSC website.

All such advertising will include an appropriate short statement on equal opportunity.

​

Selection and recruitment: specific vacancies

​

Selection criteria (job description and employee specification) will be kept under review to ensure that they are justifiable on non-discriminatory grounds as being essential for the effective performance of the job.

Wherever possible, more than one person must be involved in the selection interview and recruitment process, and all should have received briefing in equal opportunities.

Care will be taken that women, minorities and disabled persons are at least proportionately  involved in the shortlisting and interviewing processes.

Reasons for selection and rejection of applicants for vacancies must be recorded.

​

Response to other employment enquiries

​

“Other employment enquiries” means applications in response to general advertising of employment opportunities, and wholly speculative applications which are (or appear to be) unrelated to any DSC advertising.  These require “yes/no” responses rather than the selection between multiple candidates which should arise when advertising a specific vacancy.

The criteria applied in responding to such enquiries will be defined and kept under review to ensure that they are justifiable on non-discriminatory grounds as being essential for the effective performance of the job.  

Wherever possible, more than one person must be involved in the application of these criteria, and all should have received briefing in equal opportunities.

Care will be taken that women, minorities and disabled persons are at least proportionately involved in the assessment processes.

Reasons for acceptance or rejection of such applicants must be recorded.  The company reserves the right to ignore enquiries or speculative applications submitted by agencies or that are not specific to the company and its work.    

​

Positive action - training, promotion and conditions of service

​

Persons from under-represented groups will be encouraged to apply for training and promotion opportunities within the firm. Special training may be provided for such groups to prepare them to compete on genuinely equal terms for such opportunities. However, all appointments will be strictly on merit.

Wherever possible, efforts will be made to identify and remove unnecessary/unjustifiable barriers and provide appropriate facilities and conditions of service to meet the special needs of disadvantaged and/or under-represented groups.

​

Personnel records

​

In order to ensure the effective operation of the equal opportunity policy (and for no other purpose) a record may be kept of the gender, racial origins and disability (if any) of

• employees

• job applicants (if they choose to provide this information)

• individuals to whom the firm provides support, eg unpaid work experience, or financial and/or practical assistance in training and/or research, which may influence their prospects of employment with the firm.

Where necessary, employees will be able to check/correct their own record of these details. Otherwise, access to this information will be strictly restricted.

Such records will be analysed regularly, and follow-up action taken as appropriate.  The company will have regard to the statistical significance of any conclusions that might be drawn from such analysis.

 

Compliance

​

The cooperation of all employees is essential for the success of this policy. However, ultimate responsibility for achieving the policy's objectives, and for ensuring compliance with the relevant Acts of Parliament as well as the various Codes of Practice, lies with the principal.  Behaviour or actions against the spirit of this policy and/or the laws on which this policy is based will be considered serious disciplinary matters.  This applies in particular to any victimization, discrimination or harassment related to the ethnic origin, religious belief, gender, sexuality, disability, marital status, age, race of any person that an employee has occasion to deal with in the course of his or her employment.  Such actions may, in serious cases, lead to dismissal.