Wereham Village Hall Management Committee – Equal Opportunities Policy (Revised July 2016 – next review July 2018)

Policy Statement

Wereham Village Hall Management Committee recognises that everyone has a contribution to make to our society and a right to equal treatment so that no one should experience discrimination. The Committee aims to ensure that no job applicant, committee member, volunteer, organisation or individual to whom we provide services, will be discriminated against by any of its members by reason of gender, sexuality, religion, age, disability or ethnicity or on any unfair grounds whatsoever. The Committee aims to foster awareness of prejudices in all who work for and with the Village Hall Management Committee, and we aim to encourage the removal of such prejudices. We also aim to ensure that committee members, volunteers and staff working with individuals and with organisations for which the Wereham Village Hall Management Committee provides services do not suffer discrimination, and where this occurs, the Wereham Village Hall Management Committee commits itself to taking positive action against such discrimination. Wereham Village Hall Management Committee is committed to:

• addressing positively opportunities for full participation within the organisations, clubs and events it oversees;
• adopting an effective system to monitor its practice with regard to ensuring equality of opportunity
• promoting good practice with regard to equality of opportunity for organisations and individuals involved in the work of the Wereham Village Hall Management Committee.

In particular the Wereham Village Hall Management Committee will:

• work to ensure that all its services are provided in a way which promotes awareness of the rights and needs of people from minority groups and enables all people to have access to those services
•  work to ensure that all Wereham Village Hall Management Committee terms and conditions of employment and volunteering reflect a range of needs and interests which will be inclusive of everyone, so that no member of the public may experience a disadvantage through contact with the Committee, its activities or services.

It is the policy of the Wereham Village Hall Management Committee is to ensure that no person receives less favourable consideration than others in the selection and appointment of staff or in the recruitment of volunteers.

Recruitment and promotion practices

The Wereham Village Hall Management Committee will ensure equality of opportunity for all job applicants and Volunteers; it will ensure that:

• application forms are continually reviewed to ensure structure and content are not open to discrimination and are inclusive to all;
• when recruiting, the Management Committee will develop personnel specifications which recognises the importance only of relevant experience or qualifications
• acceptance of the Management Committee’s Equal Opportunities Policy is a condition of employment.

Service provision

The Wereham Village Hall Management Committee will take positive action to ensure its services to, and contacts with, other groups and individuals reflect this Equal Opportunities Policy. This will be effected by:

• consulting with groups and individuals with special requirements to identify how the Management Committee’s services may be improved to meet their needs
• ensuring that all individuals who represent the Management Committee are aware of, understand and operate this Equal Opportunities Policy.

Employer’s responsibilities

The Wereham Village Hall Management Committee:

• is responsible for the implementation and monitoring of this Equal Opportunities Policy
• will ensure that all individuals within the Village Hall Charity, whether paid or unpaid, clearly understand and practise the principles contained in this Policy

It shall be the responsibility of the Management Committee’s Secretary to keep the Committee fully up to date with developments or difficulties relating to the implementation of this Policy.  Any individual, employee or committee member having concerns relating to the implementation of this policy must contact the Secretary or, if the Secretary is unavailable, the Chair.

Employee’s / Users responsibilities

All employees of the Wereham Village Hall Management Committee and users of its services:

• will be required to co-operate in the implementation of measures introduced by the Committee to ensure and promote equal opportunities
• will neither practice any form of discrimination nor use discriminatory language
• will draw to the attention of the Committee any suspected acts of discrimination