Diversity and Inclusion: Anti-Discrimination Policy

You’re starting a new business, you’ve built your swanky new website and you’ve begun your hiring process. But you forgot one thing, your policies.

Policies and procedures are an extremely important component of any organization, in or outside of business. They outline what you constitute as acceptable and unacceptable behavior by members and address pertinent issues, conveying your stance and how you commit to upholding specific values and initiatives.

Under the Equality Act (2010) companies are legally required to protect the rights of, and prevent any staff from discriminating against employees or potential employees based on their race, gender, age, disability, religion or sexual orientation. It was created in pursuit of reducing unfair treatment, advancing equality and opportunity for all and promoting a fair and more equal society as a result.

With this in mind, although it is not a legal requirement, it is a good idea to publicize your pledge to this law and commitment to meeting your legal and moral obligations towards creating and maintaining a diverse workplace and inclusive environment for all employees.

Whether you are drafting your first diversity statement or you’re a mature company, looking to update your policy for a wider diversity and inclusion program or strategy, policies can be daunting to write.

So if you’re looking for somewhere to start, we have created a template in which you can adjust the information in the brackets to suit your company’s needs.

Anti-Discrimination Policy

Our company complies with all anti-discrimination laws, including The Equality Act (2010). We explicitly prohibit any behavior that confounds the principles or guidelines of this act and work continuously to prevent harassment of any kind in or outside our headquarters.

This policy applies to all employees, contractors, visitors, customers, and stakeholders. Reporting discrimination or non-compliance to this policy on any grounds is welcome and encouraged and should be done so to the human resources team or CDO.

Diversity and Inclusion Practices

We are committed to creating an equitable workplace where diverse life experiences are respected and valued. (COMPANY NAME) sees diversity and inclusion as paramount to the mission of our organization. Our company provides promotion, compensation, and benefits to all employees regardless of nationality, race, ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation, religion, physical ability, or medical history. Employees and contractors are guaranteed equal opportunities throughout their tenure with (COMPANY NAME).

Diversity and inclusion are defined differently globally. At (COMPANY NAME), ‘diversity’ refers to the representation of individuals with differing experiences, perspectives, faiths, beliefs, communities, traditions, and customs. What ‘Inclusion’ means to us is investing in nurturing a true sense of belonging across the company and promoting the respect, consideration, and appreciation of members of diverse backgrounds.

(You may want to include your mission statement or company values here and explain how diversity and inclusion is part of that)

In order to promote both diversity and inclusion, and ensure equal opportunities to all staff, (COMPANY NAME) has taken the following measures:

• Provide company documents in multiple languages and tactile writing systems, including Braille for the visually impaired
• Modified company facilities for people with mobility challenges
• Guaranteed generous parental leave policy for new parents of adoptive and biological children
• All employees permitted to submit requests for additional days of leave due to religious holidays
• Compulsory sensitivity training for all senior employees and managers
• Attendance to any holiday events is voluntary and nondenominational
• On site/Emergency childcare is available to those who need it
• Regular employee surveys gather consensus on attitudes around diversity/inclusion
• Formal leadership training to mitigate biases and increase cultural competency
• Informal discussion sessions and support groups to discuss bias and equity issues
• Flexible-work programs for individual mitigating cases including health problems, family and religious commitments
• Blind screening of résumés and diverse interview panels for job candidates
• Recruitment outreach initiatives for more diverse talent pools
• Randomly allocated sponsorship programs and provision of individual roadmaps for career advancement
• Gender-neutral restrooms and nonbinary gender choices on surveys

Our Chief Diversity Officer is responsible for ensuring that all employees feel safe, confident and comfortable to live their day-to-day lives at work, without harassment, prejudice or judgment and to have their concerns heard and attentively listened to otherwise.

Our diversity and inclusion efforts are heartfelt and we are committed to continuously developing new, better and relevant strategies for our workforce. To make suggestions or discuss additional measures that could be taken to support diversity and inclusion in your department, contact MAIL TO: CDO.

Disclaimer: The PeopleGoal Policies are general templates and should only be used as a basis for company policies. Please take into account all local, state, and federal laws when drafting your company’s final policies. This is not a legal document or a contract, and PeopleGoal will not assume any legal liability associated with the use of this document.

If you need further guidance on how to implement diversity and inclusion in your workplace, read our Insider’s Guide on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.