Equal Opportunity
The purpose of this policy is to demonstrate Therapy House's commitment to an inclusive workplace, free from unlawful discrimination.
Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to demonstrate Therapy House's commitment to an inclusive workplace, free from unlawful discrimination. This policy applies to all employees, volunteers, visitors and contractors.
Definitions
Equal Opportunity refers to the right to be treated without discrimination.
Diversity refers to aspects of individuals including beliefs, attitudes, languages, social circumstances, ability, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender history, health status and age.
Attributes include cultural and linguistic backgrounds, sexuality, gender/gender history, age, health, disability, religious and spiritual beliefs, political beliefs, parenting responsibilities.
Discrimination refers to treatment of a person, or a group of people, that creates a disadvantage compared to another person or group because of their background or certain personal characteristics. It can also refer to an unreasonable requirement, condition or practice imposed that persons with one or more protected attributes cannot comply with, where most persons without the attribute can.
Policy
Therapy House is committed to equal opportunity and promoting a workplace free of discrimination. Therapy House will take reasonable steps to identify and eliminate unlawful discrimination from our work practices and promote equal opportunity for all employees.
Unlawful discrimination is not tolerated and Therapy House can be held liable for the actions of an employee in breach of equal opportunity laws.
It is the responsibility of all team members to conduct themselves in a professional manner, treating all those they encounter with respect. Team members must not encourage or assist another person to engage in discriminatory actions.
It is the responsibility of management to demonstrate inclusive, non-discriminatory practices to the team. When management is made aware of alleged discriminatory practices, management must investigate these allegations via internal investigative procedures.
Procedure
Workplace Adjustments
An individual may request reasonable adjustments to their workplace if a personal attribute negatively impacts their performance. Therapy House will assess the request and make a determination if the request is reasonable. Therapy House is not obliged to make adjustments if the adjustment will negatively impact other employees, be a financial burden or cause unreasonable time delays.
Recruitment and Career Development
All recruitment, selection and employment decisions must be based on individual merit and competence.
Complaints
When an individual feels they have experienced or witnessed discriminatory practices, a complaint either verbal or written can be made to their manager.
Investigations
When a complaint has been lodged, management will commence an investigation immediately.
The manager will:
- Clarify the details of the complaint including the nature of the complaint, when it occurred, where it occurred and who was involved
- Meet with the complainant to identify their desired outcome and to discuss their legal rights
- Meet with the person/s accused to discuss the complaint and collect their statement
- Consider all the facts and make a determination as to whether the allegation(s) are justified
- Identify and document next steps with agreed timeframes
- Where management finds the complaint warrants disciplinary action for the team member accused of misconduct, the manager will follow standard Disciplinary Action procedures