Diversity Policy
Gladwin Law fully supports diversity and is committed to promoting its benefits both within our company and in all of our business activities. We are committed to meeting the legislative requirements set out below and also aim to ensure that we create a culture and environment within our company which is supportive of all employees and which does not tolerate discrimination or bullying of any kind.
A summary of the current discrimination legislation follows:
Unlawful Discrimination
Legislation outlaws discrimination based on grounds of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation. From this point on these will be termed “Protected Groups”.
- Direct Discrimination occurs when one treats or seeks to treat a person from a protected category less favourably on grounds of their membership of the protected category. This includes direct discrimination in the selection of candidates, the terms and conditions offered to a client and the refusal to provide any services based on a client or candidate’s membership of a protected group.
- Indirect Discrimination occurs when an employer applies a provision, criterion or practice across all groups but which is such that the number of members of a protected group who are able to comply with it are unduly smaller than the number of persons from a non-protected group. Indirect discrimination may not be deemed unlawful If the requirement falls within the definition of a genuine occupational requirement, in which case we will request written confirmation of this.
- Harassment is unwanted conduct related to a relevant protected group that violates a person’s dignity or creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive working environment. This includes protection against third-party harassment (such as from a client or supplier) where the employer has failed to take reasonable practicable steps to prevent the harassment recurring more than twice, having been made aware of the original occurrences.
- Victimisation is when an employee is subjected to a detriment because they have made a complaint or supported a complaint about discrimination.
In addition to the types of general discrimination listed above, there are two further considerations which related specifically to discrimination on grounds of disability:
- Discrimination arising from disability is a type of disability discrimination introduced by the Equality Act 2010 and occurs when an employer treats an employee unfavourably because of something arising in consequence of the employee’s disability, and it cannot be justified in relation to the job.
- Duty to make reasonable adjustments is a specific form of indirect discrimination and occurs where an employer’s provision, criterion or practice puts a disabled person at a substantial disadvantage in comparison with persons who are not disabled. The employer has a duty to take reasonable steps to avoid the disadvantage, including changes to physical features and providing auxiliary aids.
Our Policies
We believe that employment decisions should be based entirely on the aptitude of the candidate, judged objectively on their merits, qualifications and abilities to perform the duties necessary for the vacancy in question.
We will not discriminate unlawfully when sourcing, interviewing or selecting which candidates to put forward for any vacancy and we will seek to ensure that the recruitment process does not indirectly discriminate against any member of a protected group.
We will avoid making assumptions about any potential employee, candidate or client based on their membership of a protected group.
We aim to assist our clients in meeting their diversity goals and will seek to maximise the mediums in which we source candidates in order to ensure that we offer as diverse a candidate base as is possible. Our advertising and literature will reflect our commitment to diversity.
Any allegation of discrimination whether internally or externally within the provision of our business, will be treated with the utmost seriousness and will be investigated and reported on by a Director following which appropriate measured will be taken.
We will decline to work with any client or candidate that indicates an intention to discriminate unlawfully.
