Equality and Diversity in Employment

NON-PROTECTED sportscotland Human Resources Toolkit Equality & Diversity in Employment

1.1 sportscotland is committed to promoting equality and diversity in employment. sportscotland recognises the unique contribution each employee can make and aims to promote a climate of respect for all, requiring all employees to treat each other with fairness, dignity and respect.

1.2 sportscotland is opposed to any form of discrimination against job applicants or employees on the grounds of gender or gender reassignment, disability, age, ethnic or national origin, marital status, religion or belief, sexual orientation, trade union activity, responsibility for dependents or other relevant factors.

1.3 The Equality and Diversity in Employment Policy supports sportscotland’s wider equality agenda through encouraging the development of a more diverse workforce, where employees understand and promote equality, and where equality is mainstreamed into every aspect of our work.

1.4 sportscotland is committed to ensuring that all employment policies and practices are non-discriminatory in line with relevant employment legislation and best practice.

1.5 Any employee who believes that they have been discriminated against on the basis of their equality status should follow sportscotland’s Grievance Policy.

2.0 Scope of Policy

2.1 The policy applies to all sportscotland employees including contractors and agency workers.

3.0 Guidelines / Procedure

Recruitment and Selection

3.1 All employment-related decisions will be fair and transparent, based solely on merit and ability to meet the requirements of the job. This applies to external recruitment, internal selection and promotion, performance appraisal and training.

3.2 All personnel involved in the recruitment and selection processes will have appropriate training in diversity and legislative awareness.

3.3 Wherever suitably qualified persons are available, there will be at least one member of each gender on the selection committee. All members of the selection committee will be aware of this policy and advice will be available in furtherance of its principles.

3.4 In the case of disabled applicants who identify themselves at the application stage, appropriate interview arrangements (such as accessible interview rooms or the assistance of a sign language interpreter) will be offered to enable such candidates to compete on an equal basis.

sportscotland HR Toolkit – Equality & Diversity in Employment Policy August 2012 – Version 0.2 Increasing and Promoting Diversity

3.5 sportscotland will develop and implement a strategy to increase the diversity of the organisation. The strategy will be based on organisational equality audit data and best practice. Actions will be monitored and reviewed as part of the Equality Act 2010 Specific Duties and the Human Resources team’s annual business plan.

3.6 Data on the equality profile of sportscotland and the diversity of job applicants will be captured on a regular basis.

3.7 An annual report will be provided to management on the equality profile of employees and job applicants. This will be benchmarked against available workforce metrics and identify any development areas.

3.8 Employees will be provided with appropriate training and development opportunities to ensure they have the knowledge and skills to combat discrimination and promote equality and diversity.

Managing Diversity

3.9 All employees will be supported to achieve their full potential and all employees that self identify as having additional support needs will have an annual review to assess and review support measures.

3.10 Employees requiring adjustments to their working pattern for cultural and religious observance should discuss their requirements with their line manager in the first instance. sportscotland aims to offer flexible working patterns to all employees within operational need and line managers should exercise flexibility in accommodating such requests.

3.11 Managers will be supported and helped to develop an understanding of managing diversity through appropriate training interventions, policy guidance and toolkits.

3.12 Levels of satisfaction with sportscotland’s work to manage diversity in the workplace will be measured through standard tools used to assess the climate in sportscotland (e.g. staff survey, 360° feedback mechanism).

3.13 Where adverse impact is identified through the monitoring process sportscotland will investigate and take corrective action to mitigate the impact.

Discrimination Complaints

3.14 Job applicants who feel they have been subject to unfair discrimination can make a complaint under sportscotland’s Grievance Policy.

3.15 An employee who feels they have been subject to unfair discrimination can raise the issue informally with their line manager, or formally under the terms of sportscotland’s Grievance Policy.

Roles and Responsibilities

3.16 The Chief Executive has overall responsibility for ensuring that equality and diversity in employment is managed appropriately in accordance with this agreed policy.

3.17 Line Managers are responsible for: sportscotland HR Toolkit – Equality & Diversity in Employment Policy August 2012 – Version 0.2  ensuring team members are aware of the policy  ensuring employment decisions are based on job related, objective criteria  referring any bullying or harassment complaints to HR and investigating fully.

3.18 Employees have a responsibility to comply with the policy and to:

 be accountable for their own behaviour and conduct at work and when representing sportscotland  treat colleagues and partners with dignity and respect at all times  work with their manager to address any issues which may arise.

3.19 HR will monitor the implementation of this policy and will provide advice on the application of this policy to managers and employees.

Further information

3.20 This document should be read in conjunction with sportscotland’s:

 Equal Pay Policy  Grievance Policy  Discipline Policy  Recruitment and Selection Policy

4.0 Compliance

4.1 Immediate action will be taken against any employee, contractor, or agency worker who does not comply with this policy.

4.2 In line with sportscotland’s Discipline Policy, disciplinary action may be taken against any employee, contractor or agency worker who is found to have breached this policy. A serious breach of this policy will be treated as gross misconduct.

4.3 Employees who are alleged to have committed an act of discrimination may be liable to disciplinary action in accordance with sportscotland’s Discipline Policy.

4.4 Employees who commit an act of unjustified or unlawful discrimination, or allow discrimination to occur without taking appropriate action, may also be liable to a civil claim being brought against them by the victim.

sportscotland HR Toolkit – Equality & Diversity in Employment Policy August 2012 – Version 0.2 5.1 Appendix 1 - Relevant definitions

1 Harassment is defined as any unwanted behavior that has the effect of violating dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment. This includes jokes or banter and extends to work related environments such as work social events. Harassment can take many forms and occur for a variety of reasons. It can be persistent behaviour over a period of time, but a one-off act, providing it is serious, may also amount to harassment. Examples of harassment include:

 unwanted physical contact  jokes, banter, offensive language, gossip, slander  posters, graffiti, obscene gestures  isolation or non-cooperation and exclusion from social activities  intrusion by pestering, spying and stalking  failure to safeguard confidential information.

2 Bullying is defined as the abuse of power or position which results in persistent, vindictive, cruel or humiliating attempts to undermine, criticise, condemn or to hurt or humiliate an individual or group of employees.

3 Victimisation is defined as unfavourable treatment specifically as a result of an individual making a claim or complaint of discrimination or harassment.

Protected characteristics as defined from the Equality Act 2010:

4 Age is: a reference to a person who has a particular protected characteristic is a reference to a person of a particular age group; a reference to persons who share a protected characteristic is a reference to persons of the same age group.

5 Disability is defined as a physical or mental impairment, and the impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on a person’s ability to carry out normal day- to-day activities.

6 Gender Reassignment. A person has the protected characteristic of gender reassignment if the person is proposing to undergo, is undergoing or has undergone a process (or part of a process) for the purpose of reassigning the person's sex by changing physiological or other attributes of sex.

7 Marriage and Civil Partnership. A person has the protected characteristic of marriage and civil partnership if the person is married or is a civil partner..

8 Race refers to a group of people defined by their race. This includes colour, nationality and ethnic or national groups.

sportscotland HR Toolkit – Equality & Diversity in Employment Policy August 2012 – Version 0.2 9 Religion or Belief. Religion means any religion and a reference to religion includes a reference to a lack of religion. Belief means any religious or philosophical belief and a reference to belief includes a reference to a lack of belief.

10 Sex is:

a reference to a person who has a particular protected characteristic is a reference to a man or to a woman;

a reference to persons who share a protected characteristic is a reference to persons of the same sex.

11 Sexual Orientation means a person's sexual orientation towards:

persons of the same sex,

persons of the opposite sex, or

persons of either sex.

sportscotland HR Toolkit – Equality & Diversity in Employment Policy August 2012 – Version 0.2