Offploy's Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Statement

Offploy is an equal opportunities employer and is committed to the implementation of employment practices which will ensure that no potential or colleague is treated less favourably on the grounds of age, sex, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marital or civil partnership status, pregnancy or maternity, military background or current reservist status, ethnicity, disability, religion or belief, or previous criminal offences (unless for a regulated role).

Offploy recognises that its colleagues give the organisation its competitive edge in the services candidates receive. This edge comes from each person’s individual skills, lived experience and commitment to their role. We believe it is important to have a team of people with diverse talents

and lived experience who can both understand and support our ever-increasing range of candidates and commissioners.

Equality Act 2010

Equality, diversity and inclusion are core to our business and we will ensure that this is reflected in all our values, cultures, policies, practices and services. Under the Equality Act 2010, Offploy is committed to not discriminate against any individual who has the below legally protected characteristics:

1. Age

2. Disability

3. Gender reassignment

4. Marriage and civil partnerships

5. Pregnancy and maternity

6. Race

7. Religion or belief

8. Sex

9. Sexual orientation

EDI is everyone's responsibility

A commitment to this policy is required from all colleagues, managers and others with whom we may work: contractors, consultants and suppliers. Offploy also expects the same commitment from its candidates and will promote this policy in all its dealings with them.

All Offploy, colleagues have a personal responsibility under the policy. For the purpose of this policy the term colleague applies to both paid and unpaid colleagues carrying out work on behalf of Offploy. All colleagues regardless of their personal, cultural or religious beliefs are required to adhere to this policy. This is a condition of service and failure to do so will lead to disciplinary action in line with the Disciplinary Policy & Procedures.

In conjunction with the above statements, Offploy also aims to ensure learners on our educational courses achieve valuable qualifications and skills which enable them to secure and retain employment, further education or training, develop a career, become economically independent adults, and contribute effectively to community and society.

Promoting the aims of the EDI agenda

This mission will be achieved by creating a culture of inclusivity and providing greater access for the wider community. The Offploy equality and diversity agenda has the full support of the board of directors, and leadership teams, who take a lead in promoting the aims of:

• Monitoring how well learners and tutors are protected from harassment, bullying and discrimination, including those based with employers and at other sites external to the provider

• Preparing learners for a successful life in modern Britain. The Government, when referring to the UK, refer to core or “British Values” that are important for learners and tutors to demonstrate. Offploy promotes these values in every area of its delivery

• Preparing learners who have special educational needs and/or disabilities to become more independent in their everyday life

• Ensuring that equality objectives are monitored and progress made against targets

Offploy ensures compliance with the Prevent Duty 2015 taking care that the strategy and focus of this upholds the Equality Act and Public Sector Equality Duty. The Prevent Strategy aims to protect learners and build their resilience against all forms of discrimination, hate crime and extremism. As part of their learner journey (induction, taught sessions, assessments), learners are supported to develop their critical thinking skills.

If tutors or any Offploy colleague has a concern regarding the safety and welfare of its learners or colleagues, they will follow the company safeguarding procedures outlined in the Safeguarding Policy.

DWP Disability Confident

In pursuit of this policy, Offploy has been awarded Level 2 Disability Confident certification and is working towards being a Disability Confident Leader.

We will:

• Actively attract and recruit disabled people to fill opportunities by working with organisations such as MENCAP and MIND

• Provide an inclusive recruitment process

• Where they meet the minimum job criteria, offer interviews to disabled people

• Be flexible when assessing potential colleagues so disabled people can demonstrate their ability to do the job required

• Make reasonable adjustments to our working conditions

• Encourage our partners to become Disability Confident (evidence of doing this?)

• Ensure that disability awareness training is undertaken

• Promote a culture of Disability Confidence

• Support colleagues to manage their disabilities or other health conditions

• Ensure that there are no barriers to development and progression

• Ensure managers are aware of how they can support staff who are sick or absent from work

• Value, listen to and respond to feedback from disabled staff and review the Disability Confident Self Assessment regularly

As an organisation, we have already committed to a number of steps including:

• Engaging with the DWP and local disabled organisations

• Providing an environment which is inclusive and accessible for all colleagues

• Providing mentoring, coaching, buddying and other support structures to colleagues

• including disability awareness training

• Guiding staff to information and advice on health conditions including mental health; and identifying good practice.

Colleague Training

All colleagues receive training on the Equality Act 2010 and the company’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policy during their induction as a new starter to Offploy. Colleagues then receive annual refreshers of this training and are given the opportunity to offer their views on our current policy. These views will be considered in the policy’s annual review.

As with all new team members we will issue them with an optional and confidential equality and diversity monitoring form. The purpose of this form is to:

• Help Offploy understand the diverse spread of our colleagues. However, this will not inform future hiring decisions.

• Help us support the individual with any cultural or religious needs. This will be in the form of reasonable adjustments such as observing religious holidays or office etiquette.

It is the responsibility of colleagues to monitor and address any issues surrounding equality and diversity. Please refer to the reporting section of this policy to find the appropriate procedures for addressing and reporting issues of this nature.

Reporting discrimination

Should a colleague feel their diversity is being discriminated against either within Offploy or by any of our associates (suppliers, commissioners etc) this should be immediately reported to their line manager. If the colleague does not feel the line manager has dealt with their complaint sufficiently or the line manager is acting in a discriminatory way the colleague member should refer to the Whistleblowing Policy and follow the formal procedure.

Our commitment as a service and training provider:

• Build and deliver services, facilities and resources that are accessible, relevant and of use to every individual in the communities in which we work

• Better understand who our service users are so that we are able to provide appropriate services which are accessible to all people within the communities which we serve

• Be mindful that people are different and that when and how we help and advise our customers will be different

• To provide clear, meaningful information about Offploy’s services in ways that are accessible and meet the diverse needs of our communities

• To work with partners in consulting with all sections of the community on service needs and provision

• To monitor allocation of and to evaluate services to ensure they do not discriminate or exclude individuals or people from different groups

• To actively consult with different individuals and communities to ensure that services which are provided are responsive and reflect the diversity of need

Our commitment as an employer:

• Inspire a culture within Offploy in which all colleagues are respected and valued and opinions promoted and supported, to eliminate all forms of discrimination and ensure adherence to legislation and appropriate codes of practice

• Foster working environments where all people are able to give their best and are free from discrimination, intimidation, harassment or bullying

• Provide an environment where colleagues feel welcome and where their dignity is maintained and respected at all times

• To have a workforce reflecting the communities which we work in with people from the different groups represented at all levels in the organisational structure

• Ensure that colleagues understand how valuing diversity can improve their ability to deliver better quality services and so reduce inequality

• Provide fair access to learning and development opportunities encouraging and supporting colleagues in fulfilling their full potential

• Develop an effective communication strategy that actively involves and communicates our policies to all colleagues

• Provide support to any colleagues who may experience any form of discrimination whilst at work and take appropriate action

• Regularly review our policies to ensure they are fair and reflect best practice

It is important that all Offploy colleagues take ownership of our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion strategy and bring this policy to life. For this policy to be implemented effectively colleague should:

• Acknowledge the impact that discrimination and harassment can have on people due to individual perceptions and preconceived views

• Be aware of the equality and diversity dimension in the services that they are providing

• Be able to confidently challenge discrimination, harassment, prejudice and inappropriate behaviour.

Colleague training

In order to ensure all team members have a clear understanding of the policy and can raise any questions in confidence we will continue to:

• Deliver an equality and diversity brief throughout their induction

• Question colleagues if they feel comfortable about Offploy’s current equality and diversity policy in their professional development meetings - noting any changes they would like to see or challenges they may have

• Provide annual training and a recap at our Communication Days

Our commitment to progress the EDI agenda

Offploy Senior Leadership will work to raise the profile of the importance of diversity and ensure that all Offploy processes and activities are as inclusive as they can be. They will focus on the key areas of:

1. Driving Awareness and Education - Increase awareness and understanding of how inclusive strategies can and do add value for our clients, learners, candidates and colleagues.

2. Attraction, Development and Retention - Maximise our ability to deliver excellent customer service through a more inclusive approach to attraction and retention.

3. Policy Development - Ensure our policy review takes into account external and internal drivers on diversity.

4. Measurement - Enhance our ability to understand and track progress in this area.