Equality and Diversity Policy and Code of Practice

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Equality, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Policy

Who is covered by this policy?

All staff, trustees and volunteers, job applicants, beneficiaries, subcontractors and anyone else who comes into contact with Ruby’s Fund (Ruby’s).

What is covered by this policy?

This policy sets out Ruby’s commitment to ensuring that anyone who comes into contact with it is treated with warmth, dignity and respect irrespective of who they are and what protected characteristics they may have.

This policy also outlines the proactive work Ruby’s does to ensure it is an anti-racist and anti-discriminatory organisation and to promote a positive working culture for everyone.

Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to ensure that all individuals who come into contact with Ruby’s are treated fairly and equally, and that Ruby’s provides a space free from all forms of harassment, bullying and discrimination.

Ruby’s will ensure that it is aware of situations where the organisation and individuals may exhibit bias and prejudice – both conscious and unconscious – and take steps to prevent and rectify this.

Trustees and staff will be engaged in the development and implementation of this policy to ensure that equality, equity, diversity, and inclusion (EEDI) are promoted through Ruby’s work internally and externally.

Key success criteria

This policy will be deemed successful if:

There is a positive culture throughout Ruby’s, where diversity, inclusion, compassion, and respect are core values and at the centre of all its activities.
Ruby’s eliminates all forms of conscious and unconscious discrimination in its practices and behaviours.
Ruby’s actively encourages positive action to overcome disadvantage and
Ruby’s ensures the highest possible standards are achieved in the delivery of its services to beneficiaries and in its employment
Ruby’s ensures EEDI are promoted through its work, both internally and
Everyone feels valued and given space to work to their full potential.

The policy

What staff must do

Ruby’s asks all its employees to demonstrate their commitment to this policy adhere to it.
Ruby’s expects every employee, volunteer and trustee to assist Ruby’s in meeting its commitments to provide equality of opportunity and a culture free from discrimination.
Every employee should treat others equally and with dignity and respect.
Each employee should know Ruby’s standards of behaviour, actively implement its values and be an exemplar of equality and fairness in everything Ruby’s does.
Ruby’s encourages staff to communicate the terminology that describes them, and others should respect and use that terminology (e.g. by using preferred pronouns – she/her, he/him, they/them and so on).
Employees and trustees should uphold the values of this policy when representing Ruby’s, for example at external events and on social media accounts.
Any breaches of this policy (including but not limited to acts of discrimination, harassment, bullying or victimisation) will be regarded as misconduct and will be subject to Ruby’s Disciplinary and Dismissal Procedure.

What Ruby’s will do

Ruby’s will provide training to all staff and trustees about this policy and Ruby’s commitment to being an inclusive, non-discriminatory organisation. Attendance at training sessions will be compulsory to those who are notified that they should attend.
Training, and suggested reading will be included as a part of induction process for new employees and new trustees.
All staff will be expected to read articles and books sent to them, as is usual at Ruby’s. Time can be taken out of the working day to read around the topics suggested.

Diversity monitoring

In usual circumstances, Ruby’s will keep up-to-date records of diversity within the organisation relating to protected characteristics.
This information will, of course, be collected with the permission of staff and the information will be held confidentially in accordance with GDPR.
The information provided will help inform how many employees and trustees have a particular protected characteristic, so that Ruby’s can take steps to ensure that they are not discriminated against nor is disciplinary action disproportionately taken against them and understand if there is a higher turnover of staff/trustees with protected characteristics or if there are barriers to progression of such staff.
As a minimum, Ruby’s will regularly monitor the declared ethnicity, gender, disability and age composition of the existing staff and job applicants and take any appropriate action to address issues that may be identified as a result of the monitoring process.
Under usual circumstances, Ruby’s will undertake a staff survey about general working principles and well-being to decipher how those working within the organisation feel Ruby’s is performing in relation to EEDI at least every three years.
Ruby’s board of trustees will review the information collected through the survey and other means (such as statistics in recruitment) to ensure that Ruby’s is meeting its obligation to promote equal opportunity and inclusion in its employment practice and services.

Policies and procedures

Ruby’s reviews all its policies and procedures on a rolling basis, with special attention being given to issues affecting EEDI and using the Equality Impact Assessment Guidance and Template (see ukri.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/nerc-110221-Funding-Opp-PreparingForFutureCleanAir-EIA.pdf).
Policies at Ruby’s are not static and can and will be amended as required to suit changing situations. Under regular circumstances, Ruby’s will seek feedback from staff on significant amendments to existing policies and/or on newly drafted policies where a gap is identified.

Recruitment

Ruby’s will not discriminate in the selection of staff for recruitment or promotion. See Recruitment and Selection Policy.
Ruby’s may use suitable lawful methods (including, where appropriate, positive action) to attract candidates of any identified under-represented group in particular types and levels of vacancy.
Ruby’s will identify institutional barriers to the attraction, retention and progression that may face those with protected characteristics before advertising any roles externally. This means that Ruby’s will run job descriptions, person specifications, adverts and so on past a number of people in the organisation to ensure it is not being unconsciously discriminatory.

Policy monitoring and updates

The EEDI Board Working Group will continue to strategically review this policy in relation to all other work at Ruby’s.
The Leadership Team will discuss progress against the policy regularly and take action if needed.
The EEDI actions plan can be found on TEAMS.
Under usual circumstances, Ruby’s will undertake a gender pay gap and diversity pay gap analysis every 3

The technical bits

Definitions

This policy refers to equality, equity, diversity and inclusion (EEDI). A definition of each of these words can be found below to help staff understand what Ruby’s means by these terms.

Equality in the workplace means equal job opportunities and fairness for employees and job applicants. This means equal opportunities to join project groups, access to training, development, involvement in consultations, opportunities to act in absence and so on.
Equity refers to providing various levels of support and assistance, depending on specific needs or abilities, in order to achieve real equality.
Diversity is the range of people at Ruby’s. For example, this might mean people of different ages, religions and ethnicities, people with disabilities and people of specific gender or with no gender identity. It also means valuing those differences such as people’s background, education, where they are from, what languages they speak, their accent and their personal experiences.
Inclusion in the workplace means everyone feels valued at work. It lets all employees feel safe to come up with different ideas, raise issues and express their views. Ruby’s encourages staff to do things in different ways. Ruby’s will take into account your personal circumstances, beliefs and values along with any conditions that need to be accounted for to make you feel included and welcome.

What is meant by ‘protected characteristics’?

The term ‘protected characteristics’ used in this policy refers to those outlined in the Equality Act 2010, namely: race, sex, marital or civil partnership status, maternity and pregnancy, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender reassignment and religion or belief. Although not within the Equality Act 2010, Ruby’s also considers socio-economic status and health conditions that are not currently captured by the act to hold the same considerations within this policy.

Ruby’s is committed to going beyond the legal minimum regarding EEDI and strives to be an example of best practice.

Current equality legislation and associated codes of practice have been taken into account within this policy.

What type of bias are we talking about?

Ruby’s wants to ensure that it is overcoming the normative nature of its worldview (which means a view that is widely held and rarely questioned) by avoiding being an organisation that is unconsciously and unintentionally ethnocentric (which means you evaluate other cultures according to the standards and customs of your own culture), androcentric (which means you are focused on men and centred around their needs above others), heteronormative (which means your worldview promotes being heterosexual as the preferred sexuality) and ableist (which means you discriminate people with disabilities based on the belief that those without disabilities are somehow superior).

This means that Ruby’s doesn’t want to do anything that may negatively impact people of particular ethnicity, those with disabilities, individuals of a certain gender or sexuality, those from a specific socio-economic or educational background, those for whom English is their second language and so on. Ruby’s will ensure that it actively seeks to employ people from a range of backgrounds and experiences, that working groups and project teams are a mix of departments and people and that it is as diverse and representative of the people it serves as it can possibly be.

Contact Lead is Alison Parr Policy reviewed: 14th March 2024. Policy review date: March 2025.