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Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy

Statement of Intent

Squash Wales has a desire and a duty to provide services fairly and without discrimination and is fully committed to the principles of equality of access and opportunity. Squash Wales and its affiliated clubs, has a duty to ensure that no participant, volunteer, job applicant or employee receives less favourable treatment on the grounds of age, gender, ethnic origin, disability, race, colour, parental or marital status, nationality, religious belief or sexual preference or to be disadvantaged by conditions or requirements that cannot be shown to be relevant to the requirements of the activity.

Purpose

Squash Wales wishes to ensure that all parts of the community have the opportunity to participate in the sport of squash and it will endeavour to eliminate all forms of discrimination, harassment or other unfair treatment to its employees, members, clubs, counties and volunteers.

Legal Responsibilities

The law requires Squash Wales not to discriminate against its employees, members and volunteers and it recognises its legal obligations under the following legislation:
The Equality Act 2010

The Equal Pay Act 1970
The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974
The Children Act 1998
Disability Rights Commissions Act 1999
Human Rights Act 2000
Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003 Employment Equality (Religion and Belief) Regulations 2003
Gender recognitions act 2015
Squash Wales also recognises that it may have future obligations arising from later amendments to the above acts/regulations.

Commitment to Equality

Squash Wales will:

Devise and implement an equality plan that will both eliminate and safeguard against discrimination and harassment within the sport of squash.
Educate and guide its employees, members, clubs, counties and volunteers on the adoption and implementation of its equality plan.
On a regular basis, promote, monitor, review and evaluate its progress in the achievement of the aims and objectives contained with the equality plan.
Monitor, evaluate and review its policy, practices, procedures and operational systems and keep all relevant parties informed.
Encourage and support the personal development of its employees and to assist their progress within the organisation.
Support its clubs, members and volunteers in their own development, encouraging them to play an active role in the work of the Association.
Take positive action or devise initiatives, to target specific sectors of the community that may be underrepresented within its participants, employees, membership, volunteer or representative bodies.

Squash Wales regards discrimination as gross misconduct and any employee, member or volunteer who discriminates against any other person will have the appropriate action taken against them. Any such complaint will be directed in writing to the Squash Wales Operations Manager.

Discrimination, harassment and victimisation

Discrimination can take the following forms:

Direct Discrimination. This means treating someone less favourably than you would treat others in the same circumstances.
Indirect Discrimination. This occurs when a job requirement or condition is applied equally to all, which has a disproportionate and detrimental affect on one sector of society, because fewer from that sector can comply with it and the requirements cannot be justified in relation to the job.
When decisions are made about an individual, the only personal characteristics taken into account will be those which, as well as being consistent with relevant legislation, are necessary to the proper performance of the work involved.
Harassment is described as inappropriate actions, behaviour, comments or physical contact that is objectionable or causes offence to the recipient. It may be directed towards people because of their gender, appearance, race, colour, ethnic origin, nationality, age, sexual preference, religious belief, a disability or some other characteristic. Squash Wales is committed to ensuring that its employees, members, participants and volunteers are able to conduct their activities free from harassment or intimidation.
Victimisation is defined as when someone is treated less favourably than others because he or she has taken action against Squash Wales under one of the relevant Acts/Regulations (as previously outlined) or provided information about discrimination, harassment or inappropriate behaviour.

Squash Wales regards discrimination, harassment or victimisation, as described above, as serious misconduct and any employee, volunteer or member who discriminates against, harasses or victimises any other person will be liable to appropriate disciplinary action.

Responsibility, implementation and communication

The following responsibilities will apply:

The Board is responsible for ensuring that this Equality Diversity and Inclusion Policy is followed and to deal with any actual or potential breaches.
The Operations Manager has the overall responsibility for the implementation of the Equality Diversity and Inclusion Policy Equality.
All employees, volunteers and members have responsibilities to respect, act in accordance with and thereby support and promote the policy and, where appropriate, individual work programmes will be amended to include equality related tasks.

The new/amended policy will be implemented immediately following Board agreement and, at a corporate level, will result in the following:

A copy of this document will be available to all staff (both permanent and contract), members and volunteers of Squash Wales.
Squash Wales will take measures to ensure that is employment practices are non- discriminatory.
No job applicant will be placed at a disadvantage by requirements or conditions which are not necessary to the performance of the job or which constitute unfair discrimination.
Ensure that consultants and advisers used by Squash Wales can demonstrate their commitment to the principles and practice of equality and that they abide by this policy.

The new/revised policy will be communicated in the following ways:

It will be part of the staff handbook and reference will be made to it in any codes of conduct.
It will be covered in all staff and volunteer induction training.
All members will be made aware of the policy’s existence when they join and a summary of any revisions will be published on the website.
At time of review, a mechanism will be put in place to allow all staff, members and volunteers to be part of the process.

Monitoring and Evaluation

An equality action plan, created to ensure the intent of the policy is delivered, will be reviewed by the Operations Manager and the Board member with the responsibility for its implementation, on an annual basis and will be made available to the membership via the Squash Wales website.

As part of the overall business delivery plan, the equality action plan will also be reviewed by the Board of Directors on an annual basis.

Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures

To safeguard individual rights under the policy, an employee, volunteer or member who believes he/she has suffered inequitable treatment within the scope of the policy may raise the matter through the appropriate grievance procedure.

Appropriate disciplinary action will be taken against any employee, volunteer or member who violates Squash Wales’s Equality Diversity and Inclusion Policy.

An individual may raise any grievance and no employee, volunteer or member will be penalised for doing so unless it is untrue and not made in good faith.

As with all grievance procedures, the final point of appeal relating to this policy.