Film It Policies and Codes of Practice: Equal Opportunities

Equal Opportunities Policy

Mission Statement

Film It is committed to equal opportunities and anti-discrimination in its policies and practices. It will not discriminate against groups or individuals on the grounds of colour, ethnicity, race, nationality, sex, marital status, disability, sexuality, class, age, language, carers' responsibilities, religion or offender background.

Film It will ensure that its offices are fully accessible and encourage and persuade its key partners to do likewise. Film It is committed to making adequate provision for child-care and crèche to enable staff members and volunteers to participate in all its activities. Film It will strive to become anti-discriminatory and inclusive of communities and groups that have traditionally been marginalised in society.

Film It

SCOPE

Film It will take positive action permissible under the law to promote equality of opportunity and the involvement of all members of the community in its activities and in the way in these activities are designed, delivered and managed. Film It will strive to create an organisational environment where there is scope for debate and dialogue and a culture of anti-discriminatory practices, innovation and creative risk taking.

PUBLIC IMAGE

This policy will be publicly displayed in Film It offices and distributed to:

  • all our key partner agencies;

  • volunteers (potential and existing ones);

  • potential job applicants;

  • local community organisations;

The policy will be used as a part of any public relations and marketing that Film It carries out in order to inform all our partners about what our organisation believes in and stands for. Film It will ensure that any publicity or promotional materials that it produces will not play on stereotypes or prejudices and strive to promote positive, anti-discriminatory messages. Similarly the office environment will be free of discriminatory and oppressive imagery and culture. Materials in languages (this has both a financial and time resource issue and should be thought through as a separate strategy) other than written English will also be made available.

STAFFING

All staff will be recruited through the use of:

  • an open advertisement in local and national press including minority press;

  • a declared recruitment procedure - job description, job specification, representative short listing and interview panel;

  • proper contracts and terms and conditions of employment.

Exit interviews will be conducted when staff leave in order to assess the current demands of the job. If positive action is required to recruit under-represented workers, e.g. a black worker, then job descriptions and specifications will be changed accordingly.

All post advertisements will carry a summary statement of the equal opportunities policy. Provision will be made for job sharing, maternity cover, maternity/maternity leave and carer's leave.

VOLUNTEERS

Film It will ensure that all volunteers and others involved in its work follow and implement the equal opportunities policy. Film It relies on and values the immense contributions of its volunteers. Film It is committed to ensuring that all volunteers are treated equally and given equal opportunities to contribute to the organisation. Film It is also committed to ensuring that it recruits volunteers and encourages volunteering from all sections of the population including different social backgrounds.

SERVICE DELIVERY

Film It will ensure that it works with a wide and varied range of local partners and groups and ensure that its clients are drawn from a diverse base that reflects the pluralistic nature of local communities. Needs assessments, programmes of work and targets will be established to ensure that this group or organisation works with a diversity of clients, partners and community groups.

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

Film It will strive to network and forge effective partnerships with organisations outside its immediate environment. This will include links with local community organisations, religious bodies, local authority departments and voluntary organisations. Film It will strive to become an integral part of the local community.

All staff, volunteers and Committee members are to uphold this Equal Opportunities policy. Failure to do so will result in disciplinary action. Violence, intimidation and harassment on any grounds will also be dealt with under the same. If people want to make a complaint about discrimination, procedures for this will be laid down in the grievance Procedures.