HRS Equality and Diversity Policy Reviewed and updated January 2024

    1. Our promise

    HRS Family Law Solicitors Ltd will never tolerate discrimination, intolerance, victimisation or bullying.  We regard such matters as, prima facie, gross misconduct and therefore a matter for dismissal other than in the most exceptional circumstances.

    We promise that our management will be open to and receptive about all issues raised with them concerning any issue for discrimination, or a person feeling as though they are being disadvantaged or singled out and that the management of the firm will always behave with respect and in a spirit of co-operation with such a person.

    The Office Staff will all be trained about the issues of discrimination, intolerance, victimisation and bullying as a priority training issue not less than once per annum.

    What is discrimination?

    As per the operations manual definition discrimination can be categorised in a straightforward way as treating someone differently due to their physical or personal preferences to include but not exclusively, their gender, race, creed or colour, their sexual preference or change of gender, their disability, age, pregnancy maternity and paternity situation, or their religious beliefs.

    Intolerance is the unreasonable disadvantage to people for the same or similar reasons for example not being reasonable or flexible for people to have a holiday on a religious occasion.

    Victimisation is the unpleasant process of singling one person out, perhaps for one of the reasons set out above, but not necessarily restricted to that.

    Bullying is the process of being unfair to and disadvantaging someone for any reason whatsoever and denotes an ongoing approach to the treatment of that person.

    Diversity

    At HRS we believe that the firm should be a celebration of the diversity in society.  We want staff from all backgrounds and cultures reflecting the various classes, backgrounds, religion attitudes and beliefs of society as a whole.  We will actively seek out diversity in our recruitment process and in our selection of business partners and suppliers and take in to account our current diversity profile as well as the changes in the community that we serve.  A good example of this is our policy of interviewing 50% from a minority group to ensure fairness in the process.

    General cultural awareness

    At HRS we believe that we need to know about the religion, country of origin and customs of our clients and our staff.  This will be achieved by arranging in house discussions every other month and by sourcing materials / information externally as and when appropriate.  We want to know so we can make our advice and assistance better and more customer focused and friendly.  We want to know because, apart from anything else, our moral and legal duty, it is good business sense.

    The law

    It is the responsibility of all staff to be conversant with the law of the land as to discrimination and to practice in accordance with the law in this regard.  Failure to do so is gross misconduct for obvious reasons.

    Be it the Race Relations Act 1976, the Equality Act of 2010 or any of the legislation in between, all staff at HRS must abide by and bring any issues of non-compliance to the attention of CIR without delay.  CIR is the person responsible for monitoring this policy and non-discrimination at the firm.

    No discrimination will be tolerated whether it be based on race, colour of skin, origin, sex, gender, age, disability or sexual preference.  Indeed lifestyle and opinion that is legal and does not adversely affect the company is also regarded as a private matter.

    Please refer to the anti-discrimination training policy and the operations manual as to how the firm complies with its legal obligations.  In short, we train all staff to be aware of the issues and expect compliance in all aspects of our work, selection of suppliers and in all our dealings with clients and other professionals alike.

    Making reasonable adjustments

    From time to time it will be necessary to adjust the firm’s practices and procedures to allow the participation in our firm or access of our services.  This can take many forms for example flexible hours or special arrangements to accommodate a religious belief or physical need, illness, etc.  Our policy is to do all we can to accommodate such requests.  The Directors will make the decision in any particular case.  We have done this and will continue to be flexible in our demands of staff and suppliers or clients alike.

    Reviews

    The E&D officer will review the policy and the enactment of it each year.  This will include a review of recruitment, performance, promotion and dismissal against diversity markers.  We retain all interview forms and these are reviewed as a part of the process.

    We will ensure that all managers and any staff responsible for recruitment and selection have undergone equality training.  We also carry out monitoring, annually, on the number of employees from different gender, disability, age and ethnic groups by grade when: a. In post b. Applying for posts c. Taking up training and development opportunities d. Promoted e. Transferred f. Disciplined and dismissed g. Leaving employment.

    The E&D officer will review monitoring data and set out how to deal with circumstances where under representation of the groups listed above is identified 

    The E&D officer will report annually and consult on equality issues with the workforce.

    Instructions to staff

    We provide written instructions to managers and supervisors on equality in recruitment selections, training promotion, discipline and dismissal of staff. This is is follows;

    1. You must consider the issue of diversity and reasonable adjustments at all stages of any process pertaining to recruitment, training, promotion and discipline of staff.
    2. You must note any issues that arise and seek guidance from the E&D officer.
    3. You must ensure that you have Equality training each year. The firm undertakes this work in-house on three occasions annually during our monthly training process.  Attend one of these.
    4. We abide by the SRA annual monitoring process and all managers and Supervisors must assist in this endeavour.

    Decisions

    If a decision needs to be taken that has a discrimination element then the staff member must refer the matter to CIR for a decision to be made.  It should be provided in writing to CIR without delay by email.  CIR will adjudicate and launch an investigation or institute disciplinary proceedings if required.

    Conclusion

    HRS has an excellent record in Equality and Diversity in terms of both providing a service that is free of discrimination or preference on an unfair or illegal basis and in our dealings with the people we work for and with.  That is a priority of the firm and must continue.  We have a zero tolerance approach to discrimination in all its forms.

    We believe that there is no discrimination at the firm and long may that continue.  We need to remain diligent in our practices to ensure that is so.

    Annual Review of recruitment, training, promotion etc

    CIR as the E&D Officer for the company reviews the previous years recruitment to ensure that it is compliant with this policy.  This is reported at the first Management meeting of the year.  In 2020 we noticed that the firm was recruiting above both national and regional diversity norms.  We have not found any examples of discrimination and the advertising methodology has also been reviewed as compliant.  We use Indeed and connections to training establishments, and local newspapers.  This method is ensuring a diverse application process including socio-economic balance.  In fact the majority of applicants are female and of an ethnic minority group.  There has been no identified failure in terms of promotion or dismissal.  It is noteworthy that this applies also to the highest rung of non-ownership in the firm – Associate status.

    In terms of departures there has been no identifiable problem and this is also true of promotion and training.  Our new staff salary structure is a foundation to ensure fairness for all staff based entirely on performance and experience and this is a large part of the rationale behind it.

    Nothing of note for 2021.

    2022 – We continue to interview and hire well above the national average in terms of minority groups.  No issues as to reports or complaints.

    1. The firm has not experienced any difficulties but for one resignation that was ostensibly blamed on illness and which we have not accepted. Indeed, it is clear that much was done to assist and the individual concerned actually went straight in to another role.

    CIR 050113

    Amended 10.01.14

    Reviewed 060115

    And 05th Jan 16, 7th Jan 17 and 12th Jan 18

    Jan 19, 20 and 21, and 22, 23 and 24.