Equal Opportunities & Diversity Policy

ABOUT THIS POLICY

1.1 Equal opportunity statement: XHYPE GROUP LTD is committed to promoting equal opportunities and promoting diversity and inclusion in the workplace. You and any job applicants will receive equal treatment regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marital or civil partner status, pregnancy or maternity, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin,
religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation (these are known as Protected Characteristics).

1.2 Equal opportunities apply to all aspects of employment with us, including recruitment, pay and conditions, training, appraisals, promotion, conduct at work, disciplinary and grievance procedures, and termination of employment. Diversity and inclusion aspects cover both our actions and opportunities for you to be involved.

1.3 Multiple people have responsibility for this policy:

• XHYPE Website Admin is responsible for this policy and any necessary training on equal opportunities.
• XHYPE Website Admin is responsible for coordinating diversity and inclusion events in the company.
• Our board of directors (the board) has overall responsibility for the effective operation of this policy and for ensuring compliance with discrimination law.
• Day-to-day operational responsibility for this policy, including regular review of this policy, has been delegated to XHYPE Website Admin.

1.4 Leading by example: All managers must set an appropriate standard of behaviour, lead by example and ensure that those they manage adhere to the policy and promote our aims and objectives with regard to equal opportunities and diversity and inclusion. Managers will be given appropriate training on awareness and recruitment and selection best practices.

1.5 This policy does not form part of any employee’s contract of employment and we may amend it at any time.

DISCRIMINATION

2.1 You must not unlawfully discriminate against or harass other people including current and former employees, job applicants, clients, customers, suppliers and visitors. This also applies on work-related trips or events, including social events.

2.2 The following forms of discrimination are prohibited under this policy and are unlawful:

• Direct discrimination: treating someone less favourably because of a Protected Characteristic.
• Indirect discrimination: a provision or practice that applies to everyone but adversely affects people with a particular Protected Characteristic more than others and is not justified.
• Harassment: this includes sexual harassment and other unwanted conduct related to a Protected Characteristic, which has the purpose or effect of violating someone’s dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for them.
• Victimisation: retaliation against someone who has complained or has supported someone else’s complaint about discrimination or harassment.
• Disability discrimination: this includes direct and indirect discrimination, any unjustified less favourable treatment because of the effects of a disability, and failure to make reasonable adjustments to alleviate disadvantages caused by a disability.

2.3 If you have a long term health condition and are disabled or become disabled, we encourage you to tell us about your condition so that we can consider what reasonable adjustments or support may be appropriate.

2.4 Part-time and fixed-term employees should be treated the same as comparable full-time or permanent employees and enjoy no less favourable terms and conditions (on a pro-rata basis where appropriate), unless different treatment is justified.

RECRUITMENT

3.1 We take the following steps to ensure that we avoid discrimination in our recruitment and other selection exercises (such as redundancy selection):

• Merit: we will make any selection on the basis of merit.
• Two eyes approach: shortlists should be drawn up by more than one person if possible.
• Advertisement: we take care to ensure that our vacancies are advertised to a diverse market of applicants. All adverts should be carefully reviewed before being posted to ensure that they do not contain language which would discourage any group or type of applicant from applying to a role.
• Interview questions: our interview questions are job focussed, and do not ask questions which could lead to discrimination. For example, we would not ask any applicant whether they plan to have children.
• Reasonable adjustments: we must make reasonable adjustments to enable any applicant to apply for a role. This means that we can ask about health or disability before interview, but only for this limited purpose of making any reasonable adjustments.
• Equal opportunities monitoring: we ask applicants to fill out equal opportunities monitoring forms. This helps us ensure that we are not discriminating against one group over another. These answers are used for this monitoring only and are not considered as part of the interview process in assessing whether a candidate is suitable for a role.

DISABILITIES

4.1 If you are disabled or become disabled, we encourage you to tell us about your condition so that we can consider what reasonable adjustments or support may be appropriate to help you in your role.

4.2 Please contact admin@xhype.co.uk if you would like to discuss any reasonable adjustments that would help you at work.

4.3 We will do our best to accommodate your needs. However, if we are ever unable to do so (for example, the cost of doing so would be disproportionate for the business), we will inform you and work with you to find an alternative solution where possible.

PART-TIME AND FIXED-TERM EMPLOYEES

5.1 Part-time and fixed-term employees should be treated the same as comparable full-time or permanent employees and enjoy no less favourable terms and conditions (on a pro-rata basis where appropriate), unless different treatment is justified.

BREACHES

6.1 We take a strict approach to breaches of this policy. Serious cases of discrimination may amount to gross misconduct resulting in summary dismissal.

6.2 If you believe that you or someone else has suffered discrimination you can raise this with admin@xhype.co.uk or under our Grievance Policy. Complaints will be treated in confidence and investigated as appropriate.

6.3 You must not be victimised or retaliated against for complaining about discrimination. However, making a false allegation deliberately and in bad faith will be treated as misconduct and dealt with under our Disciplinary Policy.

CONTACT US

7.1 We are constantly trying to improve diversity and inclusion in our workplace. If you have any ideas or would like to get involved, please contact admin@xhype.co.uk.

7.2 If you have any concerns about equal opportunities, please contact admin@xhype.co.uk in the first instance.