1. Mission
Darlington Mind is committed to championing inclusion for all, where necessary taking proactive steps to try to redress the balance for those who have suffered the effects of discrimination and inequality. We want to promote and be part of healthy and inclusive communities with the services we offer.
2. Vision
Equality and diversity are essential to Darlington Mind’s mission. Everyone within the organisation will seek to implement this priority in all our work. We respect everyone’s experience and seek to ensure that inclusion is at the heart of all our work. We are committed to promoting equal access to our services and consulting with others – staff, volunteers, clients, other people with experience of mental distress and those with knowledge of mental health services from all backgrounds and ethnic groups.
As an equal opportunities and equal access organisation we will provide and promote equality of opportunity in service delivery and employment regardless of the individual differences between people. We aspire to greater diversity in order to reflect the community we serve and to ensure that our policies, services and products truly reflect their needs.
When we experience mental distress, or have mental health problems to deal with, we may all potentially experience discrimination. Darlington Mind recognises that people cannot be put into single categories and that each individual may identify and define themselves in many different ways.As a commitment to greater diversity we recognise that our own structure and practices must be continually improved to ensure inclusion for all and Darlington Mind will continue to work proactively in challenging ourselves to recognise and address any bias
3. Responsibilities Employees & Volunteers
We recognise that within the Equality Act 2010 and there are legal responsibilities to avoid any form of discrimination. The policy is binding on all paid employees and volunteers including members of the Board of Trustees.The Board of Trustees is responsible for the content of this policy and will review it every three years or when changes are made to relevant legislation.
The CEO has overall responsibility for ensuring the culture and systems of the organisation facilitate implementation of the policy.
Managers are responsible for implementing this policy as part of their day-to-day work, including:o Applying employment policies and practices in a fair and equitable wayo Ensuring equality and diversity issues are addressed in performanceo Ensuring all staff act in accordance with the equality and diversity policy providing necessary support and directiono Effectively manage and deal promptly when investigating issues relating to potential discrimination
Employees and volunteers are responsible for implementing this policy as part of their day- to-day work, including:o Implementing the policy in their day-to-day work and their dealings with colleagues, volunteers and clientso Ensuring their behaviour is appropriate to the policy and that they treat people with respect and dignityo Not discriminating against other employees or clientso Notifying their line manager of any concerns with regard to the conduct of other employees, clients or third parties.
A condition of employment in the organisation and breaches of it will lead to disciplinary action.
A condition of being a volunteer in this organisation and breaches of it may lead to a volunteer being asked to leave.Clients and the general publicTo treat other clients, the general public, staff, volunteers and trustees with respect and dignity and not discriminate against them. Any service user or member of the general public who breaches this policy may be asked to leave or refused services by Darlington Mind.
4. Organisational recognition of the Public Sector Equality Duty 2010
We recognise the requirements of the Public Equality Duty, the need to:• eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation• advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not (different groups)• foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not (different groups)As a deliverer of publicly funded work or where Darlington Mind might be required to carry out a public function, we embrace the need to promote equality between groups.
5. Types of discrimination: definitions
DIRECT DISCRIMINATION: Direct discrimination occurs when someone is treated less favourably than another person because of a protected characteristic they have or are thought to have (see perception discrimination below), or because they associate with someone who has a protected characteristic (see discrimination by association below);
DISCRIMINATION BY ASSOCIATION: Applies to age, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation, disability, gender reassignment and sex. This is direct discrimination against someone because they associate with another person who possesses a protected characteristic.
PERCEPTION DISCRIMINATION: Applies to age, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation, disability, gender reassignment and sex. This is direct discrimination against an individual because others think they possess a particular protected characteristic. It applies even if the person does not actually possess that characteristic.
INDIRECT DISCRIMINATION: Applies to age, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, disability and gender reassignment. Indirect discrimination can occur when individual(s) have a condition, rule, policy or even a practice within the workplace that applies to everyone but particularly disadvantages people who share a protected characteristic.
HARASSMENT: Harassment is ‘unwanted conduct related to a relevant protected characteristic, which has the purpose or effect of violating an individual’s dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for that individual’.
Harassment applies to all protected characteristics except for pregnancy and maternity and marriage and civil partnership. Employees are able to complain of behaviour that they find offensive even if it is not directed at them and the complainant need not possess the relevant characteristic themselves.
Employees are also protected from harassment because of perception and association
HARASSMENT BY OTHERS: Applies to age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.
Employers are potentially liable for harassment of their workforce by third parties, if the employer is aware that harassment has taken place and has not taken reasonable steps to prevent it happening again.
VICTIMISATION: Victimisation occurs when a member of the workforce is treated badly because they have made or supported a complaint or raised a grievance under the Equality Act; or because they are suspected of doing so. A member of the workforce is not protected from victimisation if they have maliciously made or supported an untrue complaint.
Reference: ACAS guidance Equality Act 2010See also ACAS Equality and Discrimination Understand the Basics July 2019
6. PROTECTED CHARACTERISTICS
Within the Equality Act 2010 reference is made to 'protected characteristics'. The nine protected characteristics are as follows:• Age• Disability• Gender Reassignment• Marriage and Civil Partnership• Pregnancy and Maternity• Race• Religion or belief• Sex• Sexual Orientation
We are committed to working with everyone who can help us achieve our missionDarlington Mind is opposed to any form of oppression and is committed to translating this into all aspects of its everyday activities using a variety of policies and procedures.
7. Employment and volunteering
As an important local charitable employer of staff and volunteers in the field of mental health in and around Darlington we are committed to developing a diverse workforce because we believe this best meets the needs of the people we aim to support and serve. We recognise that people work in different ways and bring different strengths to Darlington Mind.
Our organisation benefits from a workforce that brings a range of life experiences, cultural and community backgrounds and past professional lives. We affirm these differences and are committed to developing workplaces which respect individuals and value this diversity.
We will monitor the recruitment & selection of our employees and volunteers.Person and job specifications will be limited to those requirements that are necessary for the effective performance of the job. Candidates for employment or promotion will be assessed objectively against the requirements for the job, taking account of any reasonable adjustments that may be required for candidates with a disability. Disability and personal or home commitments will not form the basis of employment decisions except where necessary.
Darlington Mind will consider any possible indirectly discriminatory effect of its standard working practices, including the number of hours to be worked, the times at which these are to be worked and the place at which work is to be done, when considering requests for variations to these standard working practices and will refuse such requests only if the organisation considers it has good reasons, unrelated to any protected characteristic, for doing so. Darlington Mind will comply with its obligations in relation to statutory requests for contract variations. The organisation will also make reasonable adjustments to its standard working practices to overcome barriers caused by disability.
Darlington Mind will monitor the demographics of the existing workforce and of applicants for jobs (including promotion) and will consider and take any appropriate action to address any problems that may be identified as a result of the monitoring process.
The organisation cannot lawfully discriminate in the selection of employees for recruitment or promotion, but the organisation may use appropriate lawful methods, including lawful positive action, to address the under-representation of any group that the Organisation identifies as being under-represented in particular types of job.
For more information on the recruitment of ex-offenders, please see the DBS and Responding to Positive Disclosures policy.
8. Support & Training
Darlington Mind will proactively seek to provide supportive mechanisms, in terms of induction, training and personal support, to enable its entire staff to work on an equal level. A culturally competent organisation has the capacity to bring into its system many different behaviours, attitudes and policies to work effectively in cross-cultural settings to produce better outcomes for the people in supports.
We will enable employees, volunteers and trustees to develop skills and knowledge to reach their own potential and to be effective within the roles they perform. We are committed to a fair employment policy and to supporting managers in managing employee performance in relation to equality and diversity issues.
Specific emphasis will be placed on developing staff, volunteers, trustees and service users to develop their cultural knowledge and awareness around each of the 9 protected characteristics and beyond, including unconscious bias training, LGBTQIA+ awareness including sexual orientation and gender identities and cultural sensitivity training.
9. Demographic data
The use of demographic data for the local areas we provide services to help ensure that Darlington Mind is well-informed of the profile and needs of local people when recruiting the workforce, designing services to cater for a diverse population and delivering services to ensure they are inclusive, appropriate and effective.
10. Equality Impact Assessments
When designing, preparing or reviewing a new or existing policy, practice, service, function or service an Equality Impact Assessment will be undertaken to ensure that there is no unlawful discrimination against any protected characteristic and ensures that needs of different groups and individuals have been fully considered. A template is included at Appendix A
11. Further steps
Darlington Mind has a live Equality & Diversity Implementation plan which outlines further practical steps of how the organisation will improve diversity amongst clients, staff, volunteers and trustees with targets to continually measure effectiveness.Linked Policies:• Disciplinary Policy• Recruitment and Selection Policy• DBS and Responding to Positive Disclosures policy Grievance Policy