Book our services online and get 5% off! Click here!
FastKlean is aware of and complies with legislation including the Equal Pay Act 1970, The Race Relations Act 1976 and Amendment 2000, Disability Discrimination Act 1995, Sex Discrimination Act 1975.
We aim to encourage, value and manage diversity in all areas of our business and to be an equal opportunities employer. We are committed to providing equality for all and to this end we make real efforts to attain a workforce that is representative of the local community by ensuring that we use as wide a selection of advertising mediums as possible and by monitoring the ethnicity of job applicants.
FastKlean Ltd is actively opposed to all forms of discrimination against our staff, associates, contractors or customers on the grounds off:
It is also unlawful to discriminate by association in relation to sexual orientation, religion/belief and race, e.g. where someone discriminates against a person because that person's brother is a homosexual. However, it is advisable not to discriminate by association in relation to gender, disability or age either.
Employees of any age and other workers, office holders, partners of firms and others.
There are generally four types of discrimination:
The types of disability discrimination are slightly different.
It is not possible to justify direct discrimination (except for direct age discrimination), harassment and victimisation.
The legislation affects all areas of employment including:
Any claim to an employment tribunal will generally have to be brought within three months of the alleged discriminatory act occurring. However, in most cases, the employee has to raise a formal grievance with FastKlean first before bringing the claim.
It is important to avoid discrimination during the recruitment process. This not only is a legal requirement, but also gives us the best opportunity of getting the most suitable person for the job.
Someone might be able to take the company to an employment tribunal, even though they are not an employee if they believe they were not selected for a particular job as a result of discriminatory practices.
As result we provide training for managers and supervisors in interviewing, selection, promotion and recruitment ensuring that they understand the legislation and our policy.
When writing a job description and person specification, we clearly state what tasks the person will have to carry out and what skills they will need to do so. We avoid any requirements that are not directly related to the job.
For example, for a position as an assistant in a clothes shop, it is not necessary to know whether or not the applicant is married or what religion they are (if any).
It is unlawful for a job advertisement to specify that the applicant must be of a particular gender, race, etc - unless being of that gender, race, etc is a genuine occupation requirement/qualification.
It is unlawful to publish job advertisements that imply that any candidate's success depends to any extent on them not having, or not having had, a disability, or indicate reluctance on the part of an employer to make reasonable adjustments. In addition, third-party publishers, e.g. newspapers, are liable if they publish discriminatory advertisements.
To avoid age discrimination, we keep away from using phrases as "young and dynamic", "would suit someone who has just qualified" or "minimum of ten years' experience" as these may lead to age bias.
In some circumstances it is possible to state that being of a particular sex, race, religion/belief, age or sexual orientation is a genuine occupational qualification or requirement for the job.
For example, it may be possible to state that being:
We only ask minimum personal details in application forms.
However, there may be certain personal details that we need to ask in order to avoid discrimination during the selection process.
It is not unlawful to ask for ages on application forms. However, we do take care ensuring that obtaining this information does not lead to unjustified discrimination. Such questions are separated from the main application in a diversity monitoring form.
We also need to be sure that a candidate has the right to work in the UK. However, we do take care to avoid race discrimination while carrying out the necessary checks.
When interviewing people for a job there are certain questions which we avoid asking, either directly or indirectly, including whether a candidate is married, a partner in a same-sex civil partnership, or plans to have children. We do not attempt to elicit information about a person's sexual orientation or their religion.
Fastklean only asks questions which are relevant to the person's ability to do the job, after a reasonable adjustment, if necessary.
We make sure that tests for job applicants are non-discriminatory. For example, a written English test would discriminate against those whose first language is not English – although we justify this if having good written English was necessary for the job.
We could face a claim of unlawful discrimination if - because of their gender, race, etc - we were to select a man, white person, etc for a job who is less well qualified than other candidates who were female, black, etc.
This does not mean, however, that we must always select the best qualified person. In the case where there is a disabled applicant, we can:
FastKlean can always justify their decision in recruiting a particular person in case of an application to an employment tribunal. If the issue reached a tribunal, we can provide evidence showing how and why we reached our decision.
FastKlean Ltd is committed to delivering services that are accessible and recognise the discrimination that many people may face.
We will introduce measures to combat all direct and indirect discrimination in the work place and will endeavour to ensure that our services are made known to those individuals most requiring them.
In relation to employees, and sub-contractors the policy and practice of FastKlean require that all the persons are afforded equal opportunities within employment and that entry into employment and progression within the company will be determined only by personal merit and the application of criteria which are related to the duties of each particular post.
In all cases, ability to perform the job is the primary consideration. Subject to statutory provisions, no such person will be treated less favourably than another because of his or her sex, marital status, sexual orientation, racial group, or disability or any factor listed above.
FastKlean Ltd will also avoid, in the provision of services to customers, any factors that may have disproportionate adverse impact on members of a particular racial group, sex, or those with any characteristic as listed above.
It is a general policy objective of FastKlean to maintain, where possible, secure employment for its employees by forward planning. FastKlean intends to reduce any redundancies which may occur to the minimum, but changes in the pattern or volume of business, in the Company itself, or in the method of working may sometimes render redundancies unavoidable.
Circumstances may arise where changes in the product market, in technology and the organisational requirements of the Company may lead to the need for redundancies. In order to minimise the impact of redundancies, the following procedure will be adopted wherever possible. The procedure may need to be adapted in cases of emergency.
FastKlean’s duties in a redundancy procedure differ depending on the number of staff that might be made redundant. Where FastKlean may make less than 20 staff redundant (within a 90 day period) then there will be duty to carry out meaningful consultation and to follow the statutory dismissal procedure.
Where FastKlean may make 20 or more staff redundant (within a 90 day period) there is a duty to use an HR1 form to contact the DTI and to consult with employee representatives for a minimum of 30 days (or 90 days if 100 or more staff may be made redundant). However there is then no requirement to follow the statutory dismissal procedure.
This policy is posted on the Company Notice Board and is also available in the staff handbook. All new employees are asked to read this policy during induction.
The Managing Director is responsible for this policy and its implementation and for investigating any instances of discrimination.
FastKlean provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to age, race, creed, religion, color, national origin, sex, pregnancy, disability, veteran status, marital status, sexual orientation or gender identity, or any other protected status in accordance with applicable federal, state and local laws.
We vigorously apply this to all areas of employment at FastKlean, including recruiting, hiring, training, assignments, compensation, benefits, discipline and terminations.
This ensures the company’s continuous improvement.
We will review the policy annually and the next review date for this policy is September 2018.
