Diversity and equality policy statement – DWP committed to equality and valuing diversity
Our statement of commitment:
"The Department is committed to providing services which embrace diversity and which promote equality of opportunity. As an employer we are also committed to equality and valuing diversity within our workforce. Our goal is to ensure that these commitments, reinforced by our Values, are embedded in our day to day working practices with all our customers, colleagues and partners."
We will provide equality of opportunity and will not tolerate discrimination on grounds of:
gender, gender identity, marital status, sexual orientation, race, colour, nationality, religion, age, disability, HIV positivity, working pattern, caring responsibilities, trade union activity or political beliefs – or any other grounds.
We will demonstrate our commitment by:
- promoting equality of opportunity and diversity within the communities in which we work and with all our partners and workforce;
- aiming to build a workforce which reflects our customer base, within the diverse communities in which we work, with the aim of having parity of representation across the workforce;
- to do this by encouraging recruitment from groups currently under represented in the Department, and progression once within the Department ;
- treating our customers, colleagues and partners fairly and with respect;
- promoting an environment free from discrimination, bullying and harassment, and tackling behaviour which breaches this;
- recognising and valuing the differences and individual contribution that people make;
- providing support and encouragement to staff to develop their careers and increase their contribution to the organisation through the enhancement of their skills and abilities;
- building in legislative requirements and best practice (for example as set out in Codes of Practice from the Commission for Racial Equality on Race) to all our service delivery and employee policies and procedures, and supporting these with appropriate training and guidance.
Every person working for the Department has a personal responsibility for implementing and promoting these principles in their day-to-day dealings with customers, with each other and with partners. Inappropriate behaviour is not acceptable.
We will measure and report on the effectiveness of our service delivery and employee policies and processes in relation to these principles, by building performance monitoring and management information requirements into policy and product development. This information will be used to inform future policy and to enhance business processes.
