MAELOR VOLUNTARY SERVICE
EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES POLICY
A) Statement of Policy.
MVS recognises that discrimination is unacceptable and although Equal
Opportunity has always been a feature of our empolyment/volunteer
practices and procedures, MVS recognises the need to have formal Equal
Opportunities Policy. Staff breaching this policy will be subject to
disciplinary procedures and, if appropriate, dismissal. Volunteers will be
offered further education regarding our polices and procedures or be asked
to resign from the Trust.
1. The aim of the policy is to ensure that no job applicant, volunteer, staff
member or trustee will be discriminated on the grounds of race, colour,
ethnic or national origin, religious belief, sex, marital status, sexual
orientation, gender reassignment, age or disability.
2. A copy of this policy will be made available for all trustees, staff and
volunteers and made known to all who apply for positions with MVS.
3. The policy will be implemented in accordance with appropriate
statutory requirements and full account will be taken of all available
guidance and in particular any relevant Codes of Practice.
4. MVS will remain a neutral working environment in which no
employee, trustee or volunteer feels under threat or intimidated.
B) Recruitment and Selection.
The recruitment and selection process is considereed to be crucial to the
success of an equal opportunities policy.
1. MVS endeavours to ensure that trustees and employees are sufficiently
educated to ensure that decisions in these areas will not discriminate
against individuals or groups either consciously or unconsciously.
2. Promotion and advancement of staff will be made on merit and all
decisions realting to these issues will be in line with the spirit and letter
of this policy.
3. Jobs discriptions, where used, will be revised, if necessary, to ensure
that they follow the requirements of the MVS equal opportunities
policy. Job requirements will be reflected accurately in any personal
specification.
4. MVS will adopt a consistent, non-discriminatory approach to the
advertising of vacancies.
5. MVS will not confine recruitment of trustees, staff or volunteers to any
medium that will provide advantage to any particular group or
individuals.
6. All applicants for positions within MVS will receive fair treatment and
will be considerd solely on their ability to perform the role or position.
7. All trustees or employees involved in the recruitment process will
periodically review their selection criteria to ensure that roles or jobs
are strictly criteria based and do not unlawfully discriminate or are
unethical in their devising.
8. Shortlisting for paid positions will be be caried out by more than one
person and in general by at least 3 members of the staffing group of the
trustees of MVS.
9. Interview questions for both staff and volunteers will be related only to
the position and non-discriminatory.
10. MVS will not disqualify any applicant due to personal inability to
complete an application form unassisted unless this is a valid test of
standard of communication or language relevant to the safe or effective
performance of the position.
C) Training and Promotion.
1.Senior staff and trustees will receive training in the application of this
policy to ensure that they are aware of its contents and provisions. A copy
of the policy will be available to all trustees, staff and volunteers.
2.All promotion will be in line with this policy.
D) Monitoring.
1. MVS will maintain and review employment records of all employees
in order to monitor the progress of the policy.
2. Monitoring may involve: The collection of and classification of information
regarding the race ( in terms of ethnic/national
origin) and sex of all trustees, staff and volunteers.
 The examination by ethnic/ national origin and sex
of the distribution of employees and volunteers
and the success rate of applicants for roles and
positions.
 The recording of recruiment, training and
promotional records of employees, the decisions
reached and the reasons for those decisions.
3. The results of any monitoring procedures will be reviewed at regular
intervals to assess the effectiveness of the implementation of the policy.
Consideration will be given, if neccesary, to adjusting the policy to afford
greater equality of opportunity to all applicants and staff.