The Policy

Fife Community Interpreting Service exists to promote equality of opportunity and access to services for minority ethnic communities in Fife. It is therefore vital that the Service itself is committed to actively promoting genuine equality of opportunity both as an employer and as a provider of services. FCIS is very aware of the existence of discrimination in our society and is committed to challenging it.

The Service will avoid intentional discrimination against any group or individual on the grounds of sex, race, disability, age, sexuality, religious belief, marital status or any other unjustifiable factor. It will also work to ensure that its policies and procedures are such that unintentional discrimination does not occur within the Service.

The Service will, through its management committee, employees and sessional workers promote equality of opportunity in the conduct of its affairs and in all the work it undertakes.

The Legal Position

The following pieces of legislation govern employment and provision of service and as such must be adhered to by FCIS:

a) Sexual and Racial Discrimination

The Sex Discrimination Act (1975) and the Race Relations Act (1976) make it unlawful to discriminate in employment, including recruitment and promotion, on grounds of sex or marital status or racial grounds (i.e. on grounds of race, colour, nationality or ethnic or national origin).

The same acts also state that it is unlawful to discriminate in terms of sex, marital status or race in providing a service.

b) People with Disabilities and the Law

The Disability Discrimination Act was enacted at the end of 1995 and its employment sections came into force on 2nd December 1996. The DDA makes it unlawful to discriminate against someone in employment because they have a disability. The definition of disability in the Act covers physical and sensory disabilities as well as learning disabilities, mental health problems and progressive conditions such as MS and AIDS. It also places a duty on employers to make "reasonable adjustments" to enable a disabled person to be employed.

The DDA also makes it unlawful to refuse to provide a service to a disabled person, because of their disability, or to provide a service of a lower standard. This part of the Act also came into effect on 2nd December 1996.

Implementation

The management committee will prepare annually an Equal Opportunities Action Plan outlining the action to be taken to promote equality of opportunity in the coming year. This should regularly include a review of the Equal Opportunities Policy.

1. Employment

a) Recruitment

FCIS will ensure that its procedures and practices in relation to the recruitment of paid staff and sessional workers are free from any discriminatory bias. To this end, FCIS will ensure that all management committee members and employees involved in recruiting staff have been appropriately trained in fair recruitment procedures.

FCIS will monitor its recruitment process in order to identify action to implement this policy successfully and positively encourage applicants from groups which are under-represented.

b) Terms and Conditions

FCIS will ensure that the terms and conditions which apply to staff and sessional workers are not discriminatory in their operation and that these are regularly reviewed to ensure that they comply with relevant legislation and best practice.

The service will do its utmost to ensure that the needs of staff and sessional workers who have family commitments are supported.

2. Service Delivery

FCIS will seek to ensure that its service is accessible to all people in Fife and that individuals are not prevented on any unjustifiable grounds from accessing the service.

FCIS will monitor the uptake of its service, paying particular attention to groups who may experience discrimination, to identify action to promote equality of opportunity.

FCIS will promote equal access for all to information and literature concerning the services provided and encourage clarity and communication.

FCIS will welcome advice from members of the community, voluntary and statutory agencies about how its service may be made more accessible and appropriate. FCIS will promote its status as an organisation that is striving for equality of opportunity in all its leaflets, literature, compliment slips, recruitment materials and publicity information.

FCIS will provide Equal Opportunities awareness training for staff, management committee members and sessional workers. FCIS will expect all Management Committee members, staff and sessional workers to comply with the policy and serious breaches may result in action being taken.

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