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Answer:

There are certain documents that every organisation which is processing personal data will need. These documents support good practice in data protection, enable organisations to meet their legal requirements, and enable organisations to demonstrate how they are complying with the law. A checklist is provided at the bottom of this resource.

Privacy notice: A privacy notice is a legal requirement. It is a publicly facing document which outlines the ways in which an organisation collects, uses, and protects personal data. It gives individuals the information they need in order to be confident that their data is secure and to be able to access and exercise control over their personal data.

Data protection policy: This is an internally facing document which outlines the processes the organisation employs to ensure data is safe and that they comply with the law. It will document the lawful basis for data processing.

Consent: An organisation needs to document how it obtains consent from individuals and keep a record of that consent.

Roles and responsibilities: An organisation needs to document that it knows who is processing data and levels of responsibility such as if they have appointed a DPO.

Processing activities: Organisations processing special category data or large volumes will need to have a record of processing activities including categories of data processed, purposes of processing, legal bases for processing, data sharing arrangements, data retention periods and security measures.

Answer:

Equality, equity, diversity and inclusion (often shortened to EEDI) is the term used for policies and practices to ensure fair treatment and opportunity.   The terms around EEDI are used in slightly different ways depending on context, but when putting together a policy these definitions are helpful to consider:

Equality means ensuring that people have equal opportunities. Organisations should ensure that people are treated fairly and are not treated less favourably because of their protected characteristics.

Equity means ensuring people are not unfairly prevented from accessing resources or opportunities, and also that others do not benefit from unfair advantages. For example, an equitable approach to project planning would consider what changes might be needed to help people get equal outcomes from a project, service or process, and might mean - e.g. providing different opening hours, facilities or support for key groups of clients.

Diversity is about recognising and respecting differences. This can mean working with and including people with different protected characteristics, but can cover other factors like class background, nationality and working style. A diverse environment is one with a wide range of backgrounds, life experiences and mindsets.

Inclusion means creating an environment where everyone feels welcome and valued. An inclusive environment can only be created once issues of bias, prejudice and inequality are identified and actively challenged.

Answer:

In the UK, the primary legal obligations around equality, diversity, and inclusion are set out in the Equality Act 2010. This Act brings together elements of equalities law that were previously addressed by separate legislation. It prohibits discrimination based on nine protected characteristics:

  • Age.
  • Disability.
  • Gender reassignment.
  • Marriage and civil partnership.
  • Pregnancy and maternity.
  • Race.
  • Religion or belief.
  • Sex.
  • Sexual orientation.

The Act requires organisations, in their role as both employers and service providers, to treat everyone equally and take steps to prevent discrimination against any of these characteristics.  The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is responsible for upholding the Equality Act and investigating complaints of discrimination.

Answer:

People will have overlapping identities and may be at risk of experiencing discrimination under more than one of the nine characteristics and across different contexts. Taking an intersectional approach means considering situations where multiple forms of discrimination may compound inequalities and create unique barriers that might be overlooked if we assess each characteristic in isolation.

Exceptions for charities

Charities are not exempt from the Equality Act, but are allowed to restrict their services to people with a particular protected characteristic if it is included in their governing document, and either

  • it is objectively justified, or
  • it is done to prevent or compensate for disadvantage linked to the protected characteristic.

The Equality Act includes additional exemptions for all organisations, including occupational requirements that may allow you to limit roles to people with specific protected characteristics. It also allows certain forms of positive action to address underrepresentation and disadvantage.

Answer:

Organisations must follow equalities law, both as employers and as providers of services. Whilst there is no legal requirement to have an EEDI policy, laying out your organisational commitments, priorities and processes in a specific document is definitely good practice.

Discussing and agreeing your approach to EEDI helps show that you understand and are committed to following equalities law. Current and potential staff, volunteers, trustees and organisational members will want to know that you are compliant with the law, as will service users, partners and funders.

Having an EEDI policy shows that you have considered the ways in which issues around equality, equity, diversity and inclusion may apply to your particular client group and team, and lets people know what to do if they have experienced, witnessed, or are concerned about discrimination or unfair treatment in your organisation.

If properly implemented and regularly reviewed, your EEDI policy can be one of the elements that helps to make your organisation a safe, accessible, positive space for everyone.

Key terms to understand from the Equality Act 2010

Direct discrimination: Treating someone less favourably than another due to a protected characteristic.

Indirect discrimination: Applying a policy or practice that appears neutral but disadvantages people with a protected characteristic. 

Positive action: Taking steps to encourage applications or participation from underrepresented groups, as long as it doesn’t involve discriminating against others. 

Duty to make reasonable adjustments: Employers and service providers must make reasonable changes to accommodate disabled employees, clients and members of the public.

Reasonable adjustments can be for physical or mental health conditions. The duty to make adjustments is owed to all disabled employees and all disabled people who want to access your services. It applies regardless of whether the organisation is aware that someone is disabled.

The legal duty is ‘anticipatory’, which means you must think in advance (and on an ongoing basis) about what disabled people with a range of impairments might reasonably need, such as people who have a visual impairment, a hearing impairment, a mobility impairment, or a learning disability.

Victimisation: Taking action against someone because they have raised a complaint about discrimination. 

Answer:

Your board is ultimately responsible for setting the direction and overarching strategic commitments to equalities, diversity and inclusion in your organisation. Creating a safe and inclusive environment for service users, volunteers, staff and other visitors will require involvement and commitment from everyone. Every organisation is different and will have different concerns, biases or priorities that need discussion and action as part of your EEDI policy. Creating and/or updating your policy should be a collaborative process. Take time to talk to the people you work with, do research, and understand any equalities data you may have collected. Think about who you want to reach with your work, as well as what sort of environment you want to create for staff and volunteers.

Equalities, diversity and inclusion will affect many areas of your work, so you should make sure that your EEDI policy links to other policies and procedures. Examples of these are Recruitment, Data Protection, Bullying and Harassment and/or Code of Conduct.

As well as these policy commitments, consider how your organisation and its leadership will

  • Model inclusive behaviours.
  • Actively challenge discrimination and injustice.
  • Ensure there are resources and commitments in place to support effective action.
  • Establish and use effective processes for addressing discrimination.
  • Make an action plan including what steps will be taken to make sure the policy is put into everyday practice.
  • Communicate your organisation’s approach to EEDI and the steps you are taking to make sure your workplace and service are accessible and welcoming to all.
  • Commit to building an equitable organisational culture.
Answer:
  • Generally speaking, every organisation that employs staff must take out Employers Liability Insurance. The Charity Commission gives details of the insurance that charitable organisations must have: Charities and insurance - GOV. UK.
  • As an employer you must provide a workplace pension scheme. The Charity Commission gives this guidance: Set up and manage a workplace pension scheme: Employers and eligible staff - GOV.UK. For further information see the Pensions Regulator: New employers / The Pensions Regulator.
  • If your organisation works with children or vulnerable adults you must safeguard them.
  • You must comply with health and safety legislation (the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999) and protect your employees and others from harm. The Health and Safety Executive provides detailed guidance and risk assessment templates: Managing risks and risk assessment at work – Overview -HSE.
  • If your employees use computer screens daily for more than an hour you must do a workstation assessment. The Health and Safety Executive has a template which you can use: Display screen equipment (DSE) workstation checklist. You must also provide an eye test for regular computer users and glasses if an employee needs them only for that use.
  • Every employee must have a contract before they start, which sets out the main terms of their employment. This can be verbal but it’s good practice to put something in writing – you could use the template that ACAS provides: Templates for written statements | ACAS.
Answer:

Before you employ someone you will need to:

  • Have the right written policies which set out how any employees will be treated, protected and how you expect them to behave. The key ones are grievance, disciplinary, capability, safeguarding and code of conduct. There are a number of free templates available such as a code of conduct template from Charity Excellence: Charity Staff and Volunteer Code of Conduct Template and this grievance policy template from ACAS: Example grievance procedure / Acas. NCVO members can access their sample disciplinary procedure here: Sample disciplinary procedure | NCVO.
  • You should also consider writing policies on recruitment and equality, equity, diversity and inclusion.
  • Think about what it is you want the new person to do. Write a job description and person specification which sets out the duties of the role and the kind of skills and experience you are looking for. ACAS has a template which you can use to start: Job description templates / Acas. Include only the skills and experience which are necessary for the role so that you open it up to as many candidates as possible. Try to avoid gendered language and jargon. You can use an online tool to help with this: Gender Decoder: find subtle bias in job ads. Talk about your organisation, the work it does and why it’s a good place to work. As well as salary, say if there are any other benefits such as flexible working.
  • Consider and explain the working arrangements for the job, including how many hours per week the person will need to work, their holiday entitlement, duration of the contract, and any expectations around home working and evening/ weekend work.
  • Decide how much you are going to pay and what the hours will be. There is a legal minimum wage and many organisations choose to use London Living Wage as a minimum. Look at Tower Hamlets CVS and Volunteer Centre Tower Hamlets websites to see what similar organisations are paying. You can also look at the annual salary surveys from recruiters such as Harris Hill and Charity Job. You should try to build realistic pay into your funding applications – it is important that people are paid fairly according to their skills and experience.
  • Identify what kind of employment is appropriate. There are several different kinds of status, including employee, worker or self-employed. There are rules around each of these – you can’t simply choose. This can be complicated, and there are more details here: Employment status and employment rights - GOV.UK. If you are unsure ACAS can give telephone advice through their helpline: Tel: 0300 123 1100 (Monday – Friday, 8.00am - 6.00pm). You can also use the government’s online tool, to help you decide the person’s employment status for tax purposes.
  • Make sure you have the right systems in place to be able to calculate and pay people’s wages, contribute to their pension, and make and pay the appropriate monthly tax and national insurance deductions.
Answer:

It can be useful to have a recruitment policy which sets out how you will recruit. It’s an important area to get right, both to ensure that you are not discriminating against anyone and to make sure that you get the right person for the job. There is a lot of information about how to make your recruitment as inclusive as possible. CIPD offers guidance here: Inclusive recruitment: Guide for employers / CIPD.

Write an advert for the role. Try to give an honest idea of what it involves and what kind of skills and experience you are looking for. It’s best to include the kind of employment you are offering, the length of the contract and the salary. NCVO gives guidance on this: Designing the role / NCVO.

Set a deadline that will allow people enough time to submit high quality applications. One month usually gives enough time.

Decide how you want people to apply. Some organisations ask applicants to fill in a form, whilst others ask for a CV and cover letter.

It is common to ask applicants to submit some equalities information about themselves at the same time as providing their application. Any personal details should only be used to help you assess the reach of your application process, should be kept separately to the applications, and should not feature in your decision making process.

Then you need to get the word out

  • Tower Hamlets CVS has a jobs page advertising a wide range of jobs and opportunities in voluntary and community groups in Tower Hamlets. It is free for members (and membership is free).
  • Volunteer Centre Tower Hamlets has a page which advertises volunteer management roles and volunteer opportunities in Tower Hamlets.
  • Voluntary and community groups can advertise their vacancies for free on the council’s jobs portal. You can do that by emailing employers@towerhamlets.gov.uk.
  • Charity Job offers adverts which can reach a wider audience than Tower Hamlets (although you have to pay for them) and are particularly useful if there is a role that you are finding it hard to fill.
Answer:
  • Once the deadline has passed and all applications are received, read through all of them and narrow them down to a shortlist of those you want to interview.
  • Shortlisting and interviewing are usually done by a panel of people from your organisation, which can include some managers and some trustees. Having the same group of people look at the applications means they will all get the same consideration. Having diverse perspectives and experiences on the panel can help to balance out personal biases that sometimes happen when the work is done by just one person.
  • Shortlisting should assess how well an applicant’s application meets the person specification and/or is a good fit for the job description. It can help to use a scoring process to help with this.
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