Equal Opportunity and Diversity Policy

COMMITMENT:

• Media Steps Consulting embraces diversity and will seek to promote the benefits of diversity in all business activities.
• We will seek to develop a business culture that reflects that belief.
• We will seek to widen the media in which we recruit to ensure as diverse an employee and candidate base as possible.
• We will strive to make sure that our clients meet their own diversity targets.
• Media Steps Consulting will not accept instructions from clients that indicate an intention to discriminate unlawfully.
• Media Steps Consulting will include a summary diversity policy in every advert placed.

Media Steps Consulting is committed to diversity and will promote diversity for all employees and applicants and shall adhere to such a policy at all times.

Media Steps Consulting will treat everyone equally irrespective of sex, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marital or civil partnership status, age, disability, colour, race, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, political beliefs or membership or non-membership of a Trade Union or spent convictions and places an obligation upon all staff to respect and act in accordance with the policy.

Media Steps Consulting shall not discriminate unlawfully when deciding which candidate is submitted for a vacancy. Media Steps Consulting will ensure that each candidate is assessed only in accordance with the Candidate’s merits, qualifications and abilities to perform the relevant duties required for the vacancy.

Definitions of Discrimination

Direct Discrimination – occurs where one individual treats or would treat another individual less favourably on grounds of sex, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marital or civil partnership, age, disability, colour, race, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, political beliefs (“the protected categories”).

It is unlawful for a recruitment consultancy to discriminate against a person on the grounds of a protected category: –

• in the terms on which the recruitment consultancy offers to provide any of its services;
• by refusing or deliberately omitting to provide any of its services;
• in the way it provides any of its services.

Direct discrimination would also occur if a recruitment consultancy accepted and acted upon a job registration from an employer which states that certain persons are unacceptable due to a protected category, unless one of the exceptions applies, for instance, the job demands a genuine occupational requirement or in the case of age, the discrimination can be lawfully justified.

Indirect discrimination occurs where an agency or employer applies a provision, criterion or practice generally, which disadvantages a minority group in the community on the basis of a protected category.

Indirect discrimination would also occur if a recruitment consultant accepted and acted upon an indirectly discriminatory instruction from an employer.

If the vacancy requires characteristics which amount to a genuine occupational requirement or the instruction is lawfully discriminatory due to a statutory exception or objective justification, Media Steps Consulting will not deal further with the vacancy unless the client provides written confirmation of such genuine occupational requirement, exception or justification.

Reasonable adjustments for disabled candidates – this is a similar protection to indirect discrimination in the other protected categories.

Where a provision, criterion or practice applied by or on behalf of an employer, or any physical feature of the employer’s premises, places a disabled person at a substantial disadvantage in comparison with persons who are not disabled, it will be the duty of an employer to take such steps as are reasonable, in all the circumstances of the case, to remove the provision, criterion, practice or physical feature.

Media Steps Consulting will not discriminate against a disabled person on the grounds of disability in the arrangements i.e. application form, interview or arrangements for selection for determining to whom a job should be offered; or in the terms on which employment or engagement of temporary workers is offered; or by refusing to offer, or deliberately not offering the disabled person a job for reasons connected with their disability; or in the opportunities afforded to the person for receiving any benefit, or by refusing to afford, or deliberately not affording him or her any such opportunity; or by subjecting him or her to any other detriment (detriment will include refusal of training or transfer, demotion, reduction of wage, or harassment).