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Gender discrimination is unequal or disadvantageous treatment of an individual or group of individuals based on gender. Gender discrimination is one of the areas covered by the 2010 Equality Act which includes legislation against many forms of discrimination. Gender discrimination can be direct or indirect. It can also take the form of victimisation or harassment.

Gender discrimination does not need to be deliberate. Someone may be discriminating against you without realising it or meaning to, but this might still count as discrimination. The law against gender discrimination does not allow positive discrimination in favour of one sex. For example, an employer is not allowed to insist on only recruiting or promoting women to a particular job because women have previously been discriminated against when applying for that role.

So how do we ensure we do not discriminate against Gender?

It is illegal for Derian House to discriminate against you because of your gender. Areas of employment where gender discrimination may typically occur are:

• Recruitment and selection
• Promotion
• Pay and benefits
• Redundancy and dismissal
• Terms and conditions of work

Recruitment and selection – Derian House is committed to ensure that neither Gender based discrimination or gender bias takes place in any practice including Recruitment and Selection. When recruiting a new role, we are strict to ensure that adverts remain accessible and are written in a gender neutral manner. We also ensure that all shortlisting activities and interviews are held with a heavily structured process to ensure all candidates are provided with equal opportunity.

Promotion – When deciding which staff are eligible for promotion the main issue to avoid is unconscious bias from the line manager. Therefore, in all promotion situations there is a discussion around suitability and performance in order to lower the risk of unfair evaluation. This joint discussion maybe between the line manager, HR, the CEO or the Board of Trustees.

Pay and benefits – The Equal Pay Act 1970 gives you the right to be treated equally in terms of pay in comparison to a member of the opposite sex. At Derian House we have a rigid salary evaluation process which is benchmarked by an external company. Our roles are benchmarked by the associated job description and therefore the pay and benefit package an individual receives is dictated by their position.

Redundancy and dismissal – In order to move ahead with fair Redundancy and dismissal there are a number of factors that have to be considered. Whenever an individual or pool of people are selected for risk of redundancy we always ensure we follow the ACAS code of practice. In instances of dismissal we have strict policies in place to ensure that all staff regardless of gender are subject to the same process.

Terms and conditions of work – At Derian House we have a set of contractual terms and conditions which are split into the following categories; Care team, Retail, Intern, Office and management and Facilities. These terms are in line with all legislation and written by the organisational employment lawyers. Terms and Conditions of staff are therefore driven by your department rather than any personal circumstance and do not vary per individual.