Equality and diversity policy employment summary

Dudley Council's equality and diversity policy aims to ensure that no job applicant or employee receives less favourable treatment on any grounds which cannot be shown to be justified. This includes race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or beliefs, gender, marital status, responsibility for children or other dependants, disability, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, age, trade union or political activities, social class, where a person lives and spent convictions. This applies to recruitment and selection, training, promotion, transfers, pay and employee benefits, employee grievances and discipline and all terms and conditions of employment.

The council aims to:

ensure that its employment policies and procedures do not discriminate intentionally or unintentionally against any group or individual on any unjustifiable grounds
make the profile of its workforce at all levels as representative of the borough’s population as possible
monitor its employment processes by age group, disability, gender, racial group and religion or belief and take action to address any inequalities that are apparent
promote a culture of fairness and respect in all its employment policies, procedures and practices
provide appropriate training for employees on equality and diversity issues
make use of the Race Relations 1976, Sex Discrimination Act 1975, and Disability Discrimination Act 1995, and subsequent legislation, which allow for initiatives to encourage under-represented groups to apply for posts or access specific training where appropriate
review its pay structures to ensure all employees are rewarded fairly
protect its employees from harassment and investigate all claims of harassment that are made

respond to the particular needs of employees, including those relating to religion or culture

Any employee who feels that they may have a complaint under this policy should raise the matter through the council's grievance procedure. Job applicants who feel that they may have grounds for complaint should refer to the ‘fair deal for job applicants’ and contact the assistant director for HR and citizenship, directorate of law, property and HR.

This summary contains extracts from the Council’s Equality and Diversity Policy (March 2007)