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JSM Engineering is committed to a policy of treating all its employees and job applicants equally, making every effort to eliminate discrimination, create equal opportunities and develop good working relationships between different people.

 

 

Equality is about ensuring everybody has an equal opportunity, and is not treated differently or discriminated against because of their characteristics. Diversity is about taking account of the differences between people and groups of people, and placing a positive value on those differences.

 

It is the policy of JSM Engineering to take all reasonable steps to employ and promote employees on the basis of their abilities and qualifications without regard to race, colour, ethnic origin, nationality, national origin, religion or belief, sexual orientation, age, marital status and/or disability. JSM will appoint, train, develop and promote on the basis of merit and ability alone.

 

Employees have a duty to co-operate with JSM to ensure that this policy is effective and to prevent discrimination. Action under JSM’s disciplinary procedure will be undertaken against any employee who is found to have committed an act of improper or unlawful discrimination. Serious breaches of the equality and diversity policy will be treated as potential gross misconduct and under JSM disciplinary procedure could render the employee liable to summary dismissal. Employees should also bear in mind that they can be held personally liable for any act of unlawful discrimination.

 

Employees should draw the attention of their manager to suspected discriminatory acts of practices. Employees must not victimise or retaliate against an employee who has provided information about such discrimination. Such behaviour will be treated as potential gross misconduct under JSM’s disciplinary procedure. Employees should support colleagues who suffer such treatment and are making a complaint.

 

Sources of recruitment

 

The recruitment process will be conducted in such a way as to result in the selection of the most suitable person for the job in respect of experience, abilities and qualifications. JSM is committed to applying its policy at all stages of recruitment and selection.

 

Recruitment publicity must positively encourage applications from all suitably qualified and experienced people. When advertising job vacancies, in order to attract applications from all sections of the community, JSM will, as far as reasonably practicable: -

 

1. Ensure advertisements are not confined to those areas or publications which would exclude or disproportionately reduce the numbers of applications

2. Avoid prescribing any unnecessary requirements which would exclude a higher proportion of a particular group or which would exclude disabled job applicants.

3. Avoid prescribing any requirements as to marital status.

4. Where vacancies may be filled by promotion or transfer, they will be published to all eligible employees in such a way that they do not restrict applications.

5. Ensure that the settings of age limits as a criterion of any specific job are justifiable.

 

Selection

 

The selection process will be carried out consistently for all jobs at all levels. JSM will ensure that this  policy is available to staff and in particular is given to all staff with responsibility for recruitment, selection and promotion.  The selection of new staff will be based on the job requirements and the individual’s suitability and ability to do, or to train for, the job in question. With disabled job applicants, JSM will have regard to its duty to make reasonable adjustments to work provisions, criteria or practices or to work premises in order to ensure that the disabled person is not placed at a substantial disadvantage in comparison with persons who are not disabled.

 

Selection tests

 

Selection tests which are used will be limited to questions relating to the particular job and/or career requirements. The tests will measure the individual’s actual or inherent ability to do or to train for the work or career. Thus, questions or exercises on matters which may be unfamiliar to racial minority applicants or applicants of a particular sex, sexual orientation or religion will not be included in the tests if they are unrelated to the requirements of the particular job. The tests which are used will be reviewed from time to time in order to ensure that they remain relevant and free from any unjustifiable bias, either in content or in scoring mechanism.

 

Applications and interviewing

 

All applications will be processed in the same way. The staff responsible for short-listing, interviewing and selecting candidates will be clearly informed of the selection criteria and of the need for their consistent application.

 

Wherever possible, all applications will be interviewed by at least two people. All questions that are put to the applicants will relate to the requirements of the job.

 

If it is necessary to assess whether personal circumstances will affect the performance of the job (for example, if the job involves unsociable hours or extensive travel), this will be discussed objectively, without detailed questions based on assumptions about race, religion, national origin, sex, age, disability, sexual orientation, marital status, children and domestic obligations.

 

Training, transfer and promotion

 

JSM will take such measures as may be necessary to ensure the proper training, supervision and instruction for all line managers in order to familiarise them with JSM’s policy on equal opportunities, and in order to help them identify discriminatory acts or practices and to ensure that they promote equal opportunity within the departments for which they are responsible.

 

All persons responsible for selecting new employees, employees for training, or for transfer to other jobs, will be instructed not to discriminate on gender, racial or religious grounds and on the grounds of the employee’s disability, age, marital status or sexual orientation.

 

Where a promotional system is in operation, the assessment criteria will be examined to ensure that they are not discriminatory. The promotional system will be checked from time to time in order to assess how it is working in practice. When a group of workers predominantly of one race, religion, sex or sexual

 

orientation or a worker with a disability appears to be excluded from access to promotion, transfer and training and to other benefits, the promotion system will be reviewed to ensure there is no unlawful discrimination.

 

Where general ability and personal quality are the main requirements for promotion to a post, care will be taken to consider favourable candidates of all races, religions, sexual orientations and both sexes with different career patterns and general experience.

 

Terms of employment, benefits, facilities and services

 

All terms of employment, benefits, facilities and services will be reviewed from time to time, in order to ensure that there is no unlawful discrimination on the grounds of race, colour, ethnic origin, national origin, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, age, marital status or disability.

 

Equal pay

 

JSM is committed to equal pay in employment. We believe our employees should receive equal pay for like work, work rated as equivalent or work of equal value. In order to achieve this, JSM will endeavour to maintain a pay system that is transparent, free from bias and based on objective criteria.

 

Grievances and complaints

 

All allegations of discrimination will be dealt with seriously, confidentially and speedily. JSM will not ignore or treat lightly grievances or complaints about discrimination from members of a particular sex, sexual orientation, religion or racial group or from disabled employees. Such complaints should be raised promptly under the terms of JSM’s grievance procedure.

 

Monitoring

 

JSM will regularly monitor the effects of selection decisions and personnel practices and procedures in order to assess whether equal opportunity is being achieved. This will also involve considering any possible indirectly discriminatory effects of its working practices.

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