Diversity & Equality Policy Statement

ADEN CONTRACTING LTD

GROUNDWORKS/CIVIL ENGINEERING

It is Aden Contracting Ltd policy not to discriminate against its employees on the basis of their gender, sexual orientation, marital or civil partner status, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, disability or age, pregnancy (together the “Protected Characteristics”) or trade union membership or the fact that they are a part-time worker, labour only sub-contractor or a fixed-term employee.

Aden Contracting is committed to ensuring that its employees and applicants for employment shall not be disadvantaged by any policies or conditions of service which cannot be justified as necessary for operational purposes. The Company will appoint, train, develop, reward and promote on the basis of merit and ability.

All employees have personal responsibility for the practical application of the Company’s diversity and equality policy, which extends to the treatment of job applicants, employees, customers and visitors.

Special responsibility for the practicable application of the Company’s diversity and equality policy falls upon managers, supervisors and personnel involved in the recruitment, selection, promotion and training of employees.

The Company’s grievance procedure is available to any employee who believes that they may have been unfairly discriminated against. You will not be victimised in anyway for making such a complaint in good faith. Complaints of this nature will be dealt with seriously, in confidence and as soon as possible.

The policy and procedure does not form part of any employee's contract of employment and it may be amended at any time. We may also vary any parts of this procedure, including any time limits, as appropriate in any case.

Who is covered by the policy?

This policy covers all individuals working at all levels and grades, including senior managers, directors, employees, consultants, labour only sub-contractors, contractors, trainees, casual and agency staff.

All above have a duty to act in accordance with this policy and therefore to treat colleagues with dignity at all times and not to discriminate against or harass other members of staff, whether junior or senior to them. In some situations, the Company may be at risk of being held responsible for the acts of individual members of staff and will not therefore tolerate any discriminatory practices or behaviour.

Scope and purpose of policy

The Company will not unlawfully discriminate on grounds of a Protected Characteristic, trade union membership, or part-time or fixed-term status.

This policy applies to the advertising of jobs and recruitment and selection, to training and development, opportunities for promotion, to conditions of service, benefits and facilities and pay; to health and safety and to conduct at work, to grievance and disciplinary procedures and to termination of employment for any reason.

The Company will take appropriate steps to accommodate the requirements of employees' religions, cultural and domestic responsibilities.

Forms of discrimination

Discrimination may be direct or indirect and it may occur intentionally or unintentionally. It may also arise due to someone’s association with an individual who has a Protected Characteristic or because an individual is perceived to have a Protected Characteristic, even if that is not in fact the case.

Direct discrimination occurs where someone is put at a disadvantage for a reason related to a Protected Characteristic. For example, rejecting an applicant of one race because it is considered they would not "fit in" on the grounds of their race could be direct discrimination.

Indirect discrimination occurs where an individual is subject to an unjustified provision, criterion or working practice which puts them at a particular disadvantage because of a Protected Characteristic. For example, a height requirement would be likely to eliminate proportionately more women than men. If these criteria cannot be objectively justified for a reason unconnected with sex, it would be indirectly discriminatory on the grounds of sex.

Discrimination also includes victimisation (being subjected to a detriment because of action taken to assert legal rights against discrimination or to assist a colleague in that regard) and harassment

(subjecting someone to unwanted conduct that has the purpose or effect of violating their dignity or creating an offensive, intimidating or hostile environment for them and which is related to a Protected Characteristic).

Recruitment and selection

The Company aims to ensure that no job applicant receives less favourable treatment on any unlawful grounds. Recruitment procedures will be reviewed regularly to ensure that individuals are treated on the basis of their relevant merits and abilities and that sufficiently diverse sectors of the community are reached where possible. Job selection criteria are reviewed to ensure that they are justifiable on non- discriminatory grounds as being essential for the effective performance of the job.

The Company shall take steps to ensure that knowledge of vacancies reaches a wide labour market and, where relevant, groups under-represented within the Company. Where appropriate, use may be made of lawful exemptions to recruit suitably-qualified people to cater for the special needs of particular groups. Vacancy advertisements shall include an appropriate short statement on our diversity and equality policy.

The Company shall not ask applicants questions related to their health or disability before a job offer is made. The only exception to this is where approval has been obtained from Senior Management and the purpose of the questions is either:

• to establish if an applicant can perform an intrinsic part of the job (subject to any reasonable adjustments); or

• to establish if an applicant is fit to attend an interview or whether any reasonable adjustments may be needed at interview; or

• related to positive action to recruit disabled persons; or

• as part of diversity and equality monitoring (which will not form part of the decision making process).

Staff training, promotion and conditions of service

Staff training needs will be identified through regular staff appraisals. All employees will be given appropriate access to training to enable them to progress within the organisation. All promotion decisions will be made on the basis of merit.

The composition and movement of employees at different levels will be regularly monitored to ensure equality of opportunity at all levels of the organisation. Where appropriate, steps will be taken to identify and remove unnecessary or unjustifiable barriers and to provide appropriate facilities and conditions of service to meet the special needs of disadvantaged or under-represented groups.

Our conditions of service, benefits and facilities will be reviewed regularly to ensure that they are available to all employees who should have access to them and that there are no unlawful obstacles to accessing them.

Termination of employment

The Company will monitor redundancy criteria and procedures to ensure that they are fair and objective and do not directly or indirectly discriminate against employees.

The Company will also ensure that disciplinary procedures are carried out fairly and uniformly for all employees, whether they result in the giving of disciplinary warnings, dismissal or other disciplinary action.

Post-Employment

No employee will be subject to discrimination in the provision of references and in the handling of post termination dispute resolution procedures.

Disability discrimination

If you are disabled, or become disabled in the course of your employment with us, you are encouraged to tell us about your condition. This is to enable us to support you as much as possible.

You may also wish to advise your manager of any reasonable adjustments to your working conditions or the duties of your job which you consider to be necessary, or which would assist you in the performance of your duties. Your manager may wish to consult with you and with your medical advisers about possible reasonable adjustments.

Careful consideration will be given to any such proposals and they will be accommodated where possible and proportionate to the needs of your job. Nevertheless, there may be circumstances where it will not be reasonable for us to accommodate the suggested adjustments and we will ensure that we provide you with information as to the basis of our decision not to make any adjustments.

The Company will monitor the physical features of its premises to consider whether they place disabled employees, job applicants or service users at a substantial disadvantage compared to other employees. Where possible and proportionate, the Company will take steps to improve access for disabled employees and service users.

Fixed-term employees, Labour only sub-contractors, agency and temporary workers

The Company will monitor the conditions of service of fixed-term employees and agency workers, to ensure that they are being offered appropriate access to benefits, training, promotion and permanent employment opportunities. The Company will, where relevant, monitor their progress to ensure that they are accessing permanent vacancies.

Part-time workers

The Company will monitor the conditions of service of part-time workers and their progression to ensure that they are being offered appropriate access to benefits, training and promotion opportunities.

Breaches of the policy

If you believe that you may have been disadvantaged on any unlawful grounds you are encouraged to raise the matter through the Company's grievance procedure.

If you believe that you may have been harassed on any unlawful grounds, you are encouraged to raise the matter through the bullying and harassment policy. Allegations regarding potential breaches of this policy will be treated in confidence and investigated in accordance with the relevant procedure.

Employees who make such allegations in good faith will not be victimised or treated less favourably as a result. False allegations of a breach in this policy which are found to have been made in bad faith will, however, be dealt with under the disciplinary procedure.

If, after investigation, the Company considers that you have committed an act of discrimination or harassment against any other worker on the grounds of a Protected Characteristic or trade union membership or the fact that they are a part-time worker or a fixed-term employee, you will be subject to disciplinary action. In serious cases, such behaviour may constitute gross misconduct and, as such, may result in summary dismissal. The Company will always take a strict approach to serious breaches of this policy.

As this policy applies equally to the treatment of our visitors, clients, customers and suppliers, if, after investigation, you are proven to have committed an act of discrimination or harassment, you will also be subject to disciplinary action.

Monitoring and revision of policy

The Company will regularly review the effectiveness of this policy to ensure it is achieving the objectives stated in the policy statement by monitoring the composition of job applicants and the benefits and career progression of its employees.

The Company is committed to providing relevant training for all staff on their responsibilities and duties under this policy.