Gujarat Association of Barnsley
C/O 14 Locksley Gardens, Birdwell, Barnsley, S70 5SU
Chair: H.K. Patel Mob: 07778652321Email:
Equality,DiversityandHumanRightsPolicy
2013-2014
Introduction and Purpose
This policy document clearly sets out Gujarat Association of Barnsley’s approach to equality, diversity and human rights, and how this impact on all those we work with.
This policy will:
•Provide organisational definitions for equality, diversity and human rights
•Explain the purpose and scope of the policy
Set out the legal duties of our organisation and our commitment to meet the requirements of the public sector equality duties
• Outline the responsibilities and expectations oforganisation from its leadership, team members, volunteers and strategic partners
• The implementation ofway of complaining if anyone who is affected by the activities of our organisation feels that we are in breach of this policy.
people who work with this
this policy will be explained as well as providing a clear
Scope
This policy applies to all the organisation’s activities, decision-making and function. The following parties in particular will be required to understand and abide by this
policy:
•Committee members, members
• Volunteers
• Contractors and partners
Definitions
Equality is based on a principle of ensuring equal access to services and opportunities. Promoting equality does not mean treating everyone the same, it means ensuring that services and opportunities are accessible based on an understanding of people’s needs.
Diversity is a principle of recognising and valuing the differences of individuals. To Gujarat Association of Barnsley this means creating a culture and providing an environment wherepeople feel valued, can contribute and are encouraged to share and develop their talents.
Human Rights are the basic rights that people are entitled to. These are broadly captured by the FREDA principles:
Fairness Respect
Equality Dignity
Autonomy
Legal duties
Our legal duties as an employer and service provider are set out in the Equality Act 2010. The Equality Act protects people from discrimination on the grounds of their protected characteristics. There are nine protected characteristics: age, disability, race, sex, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, religion or belief, marriage or civilPartnership and pregnancy and maternity.
Unlawful conduct under the Equality Act 2010 includes:
Direct Discrimination: Treating someone less favourably because of a protected characteristic than another would be treated in comparable circumstances where thetreatment cannot be objectively justified.
Indirect Discrimination: Applying a provision, criterion or practice, which disadvantages people who share a protected characteristic unjustifiably ordisproportionately.
Discrimination arising from disability: Treating someone less favourably due to something arising from their disability.
Harassment: Unwanted conduct that violates people's dignity or creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment.
Victimisation: Treating people less favourably because they have made a complaint or intend to make a complaint about discrimination or harassment or have givenevidence or intend to give evidence relating to a complaint about discrimination or harassment.
In addition Gujarat Association of Barnsley will work towards meeting the general public sector duties set out in section 149 of the Equality Act 2010. These are:
•To eliminate discrimination
• To foster good relationships between different groups of people who share protected characteristics
To promote equality of opportunity
The organisation will also consider and uphold the duties required by the Human Rights Act 1998 where this applies to any of our functions or activities and those whoare affected by them.
In addition we take note of the provisions against hate crime outlined in the Criminal Justice Act 2003. A hate crime is “Any hate incident, which constitutes a criminaloffence, perceived by the victim or any other person, as being motivated by prejudice or hate.”
Responsibilities
Committee members, members and volunteers are responsible for ensuring that all the functions and activities meet the requirements of this policy and therefore our legalrequirements under the Equality Act 2010 and the Human Rights 1998. The directors will also ensure that they have thenecessary skills to meet these requirements through continuous development in equality, diversity and human rights skills.
Committee members, members and volunteers have a role in promoting equality, eliminating discrimination and fostering good relationships between different groups on behalf of Gujarat Association of Barnsley. Each member of Gujarat Association of Barnsley must understand and agree to abide by the requirements of this policy. Gujarat Association of Barnsley makes a commitment to its staff toensure they have access to training to ensure they have the skills to meet these requirements. Equality, diversity and human rights will also be a key element in committee members, members and volunteers will be asked to provide evidence of how they have promoted equality and developed their skills.
Volunteers:
We value our volunteers and will develop their skills in equality, diversity and human rights in a flexible way. However, we also expect our volunteers to complywith the requirements of this policy in their dealings with our committee members and with members of the public when they are carrying out activities on behalf of Gujarat Association of Barnsley.
Contractors and partners:
We expect our partners and sub-contractors to uphold the principles of this policy when delivering activities on behalf of Gujarat Association of Barnsley.
Conduct: we expect all committee members, members, volunteers, contractors and partners to uphold a standard of conduct which is in line with the principles outlined in this policy.
In particular, we expect people to treat each other with respect and dignity and to value each other’s diversity. Bullying, harassment or victimisation will not be toleratedand will be dealt with in an appropriate and proportionate way with zero tolerance for any conduct that leads to hate crime.
Implementation
This policy will be implemented by:
• Ensuring committee members, members and volunteers have access to and understand the principles of this policy.
• Being published on our website and made available in different formats ensuring that any events we deliver meet appropriate accessibility standards.
Ensuring that our communication material are accessible and made available in a range of formats as far as this is reasonably possible.
FeedbackandComplaints
If you would like to give us feedback or make a complaint please contact us at
Gujarat Association of Barnsley 01226-745737.
Mobile: 07778652321