Understanding Recruitment Group is committed to supporting the principle of equal opportunities, and opposes all forms of unlawful or unfair discrimination on the grounds of any Protected Characteristic (PC) including sex; race (including colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin); religion or belief; age; disability; marital status and civil partnership; sexual orientation; gender reassignment; pregnancy and maternity.

This policy covers vacancy advertising, recruitment and selection, training, promotion and conditions of service and is compliant with the following legislation:

•  The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.
•  The Local Government Act 1988 and 1999.
•  Special Educational Needs & Disabilities Act (SENDA) 2001.
•  Racial & Religious Hatred Act 2006.
•  The Work & Families Act 2006.
•  Equality Act 2010.

Understanding Recruitment’s aim is to create an environment that encourages and values diversity within its workforce and builds on the differences individuals bring, enabling the Company’s continued success. We aim to draw upon the widest possible range of views and experiences in order to meet the changing needs of our staff, clients, partners, candidates, contractors and temporary workers.

We seek to promote diversity and to respond to the needs of all individuals in a fair and equitable manner, whilst observing our commitment and responsibility to current legislation.

To achieve this, we will:

•  Fulfil our social responsibility towards our employees, contractors, temporary workers and the communities in which we operate.
•  Recognise all of our legal obligations with particular reference to those acts and directives detailed previously.
•  Make all opportunities (including advertising, interview and selection processes, promotion and training) as accessible as possible to under-represented groups.
•  Conduct monitoring and to ensure processes are fair, equitable and accessible and to identify any significant under-representation.
•  Endeavour to attain a workforce that is representative of the communities from which it is drawn to secure the widest possible pool of talent.
•  Recruit, train and promote the best person for the job and to make full use of the talents and resources of all our employees.
•  Create a working environment free from unlawful discrimination, victimisation and harassment in which all employees, clients, partners, candidates, contractors and temporary workers are treated with dignity and respect.
•  Periodically review our selection criteria and procedures to ensure that they remain compliant and maintain a system that ensures fairness.
•  Distribute and continuously publicise our full Equality & Diversity Policy and procedures throughout the company to employees and to clients, partners, visitors, candidates, contractors and temporary workers.
•  Provide the facilities and opportunity for anyone who believes that they have been treated inequitably within the scope of our policy to raise the matter through the appropriate grievance or complaints procedure.
•  Log all reported instances of harassment and take action to mitigate and minimise harassment and victimisation wherever possible.
•  Ensure that employees understand that breaches of this policy will not be tolerated and may lead to disciplinary proceedings.

Steps we have taken so far:

•  Clear and objective promotion criteria for all levels based on skills and performance, making progression objective and achievable for all employees.
•  Revised internal interview processes introducing skill and competency-based interviews to remove unconscious bias throughout the interview process.
•  Partnered with Women in Recruitment
•  Introduced a mentoring programme for all employees to join to develop the skills of any employee
•  Educated internal staff on unconscious bias and equality law.
•  Signed up to Disability Confident Scheme

Monitoring and Review

Our policy will be reviewed regularly and may be altered from time to time in light of legislative changes or other prevailing circumstances.