Equal Employment Opportunity Policy
1. Purpose
This policy outlines Elenium Automation’s Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) policy to include its zero-tolerance stance towards discrimination, harassment, bullying and victimization. The policy additionally covers compulsory EEO training for all staff to ensure understanding of the EEO policy and fair treatment.
The EEO policy should be read in conjunction with the EEO procedure.
2. Scope
This policy applies to all staff, including full-time, part-time, casual and contract employees.
3. Definitions
Complainant: A person who files a complaint of discrimination or who submits allegations of unlawful discrimination, sexual harassment, racial harassment, bullying or victimisation.
Complaint: An allegation of unlawful discrimination, sexual harassment, racial harassment, bullying or victimisation.
Direct Discrimination: Operates on a comparative basis such as when a person with a particular characteristic is treated less favourably than a person without that characteristic.
Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO): An employment practice where employers do not engage in employment activities which are prohibited, to include unlawful discrimination, sexual harassment, racial harassment, bullying or victimisation.
Indirect Discrimination: Occurs where an employer’s policies or work practices are the same for everyone but place a particular employee or group of employees at a disadvantage.
Racial Harassment: Inappropriate behaviour pertaining to one’s actual or assumed race as it pertains to the place of birth, nationality, colour, accent, language or physical characteristics.
Repeated Behaviour: The persistent nature of behaviour which can involve a range of behaviours over time.
Reprisal: Taking or threatening to take an unfavourable action, withholding or threatening to withhold a favourable action, or any other act of retaliation against an employee for making or preparing to make a protected communication.
Sexual Harassment: Unwelcomed sexual advances, requests for sexual favours, or other unwelcomed verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature.
Staff Member: All personnel within the work place, to include fulltime, part-time, casual and contract employees.
Unreasonable Behaviour: Behaviour that a reasonable person, having considered the circumstances, would see as unreasonable, including behaviour that is victimising, humiliating, intimidating or threatening.
Victimisation: Unfairly treating people for complaining or helping others to lodge a complaint.
Workplace Bullying: Repeated and unreasonable behaviour directed towards a worker of group of workers that creates a risk to health and safety.
4. Policy
4.1 Elenium Automation Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Policy
It is the policy of the Australian and Victorian governments, along with Elenium Automation, not to condone or tolerate unlawful discrimination, harassment, bullying or victimisation of any kind.
This Zero Tolerance policy ensures that once unlawful discrimination, harassment, bullying, or victimisation is alleged, immediate and appropriate action will be taken to investigate and resolve the allegations and ensure any proven unlawful behaviour stops.
Appropriate disciplinary action, up to and including termination, will be taken against any employee who engages in unlawful discriminatory practice. Depending on the nature of the offense, criminal and/or civil action may be taken against an employee found guilty of an unlawful discriminatory practice.
4.2 Intent of the Elenium Automation EEO Policy
It is the policy of Elenium Automation to provide equal treatment and employment opportunity thereby enhancing organisational cohesiveness and mission accomplishment.
As the EEO program is a function of leadership, Elenium Automation shall:
- Provide sufficient resources to ensure successful and efficient operation.
- Ensure prompt, fair and impartial processing of complaints.
- Conduct a continuing training program to eradicate every form of unlawful discrimination.
- Communicate the policy to all employees, as well as all new applicants for advertised position vacancies.
- Identify, assess, and remove EEO barriers through the utilisation of Organisational Climate Surveys to gather information, identify and assess EEO barriers to assist the Chief Executive Officer in the removal and neutralisation of those barriers to prevent unlawful discrimination.
- Ensure complaints are fairly and thoroughly addressed and that final actions are taken in a timely manner.
4.3 Objectives of the Elenium Automation EEO Policy
The objectives of the Elenium Automation EEO policy are
- Eradication of unlawful discrimination through a continuing training campaign to rid all forms of discrimination, harassment, victimisation, and bullying from the workplace.
- Fostering a positive human relations environment through the use of Organisational Climate Surveys to evaluate the positives and negatives in the environment and further training to help employees and managers at all levels to understand the need for a positive human relations environment.
4.4 Responsibilities
The responsibilities of the Chief Executive Officer, or their delegate, are
- Has ultimate responsibility to ensure Elenium Automation has an effective EEO program.
- Shall promote EEO to all staff.
- Shall provide an environment free of unlawful discrimination, harassment, victimisation and bullying.
- Shall advise the Human Resources Manager when an Organisational Climate Survey is to be released and will ensure a Survey is conducted, at a minimum, once in a 12-month period.
- Shall inform an alleged offender that they are the subject of a formal EEO complaint and provide only general information as to the nature of the allegation without disclosing the complainant’s identity.
- Shall caution the alleged offender from taking reprisal or other retaliatory actions against the complainant and/or witness if the alleged offender suspects or discovers their identity.
- Shall inform the alleged offender of the outcome of the EEO complaint against them.
The responsibilities of the Human Resources Manager are:
- Has functional responsibility to develop and carry-out the EEO program initiatives.
- Shall submit Organisational Climate Survey’s within 2 weeks of receiving the Chief Executive Officer directive to perform the Survey.
- Shall analyse and report on the Survey findings.
- Shall maintain neutrality in the performance of investigating complaints.
- Shall assist the complainant with determining their basis, framing claims, and clarifying any ambiguities.
- Shall seek a reasonable resolution at the lowest possible level.
- Shall prepare and provide a Clarification report to the Chief Executive Officer within 2 workdays of a claim being resolved.
- Notifies the Chief Executive Officer of situations involving possible unlawful discrimination, harassment, victimisation, or bullying when no claim has been lodged.
4.5 Prohibition of Discrimination
Discrimination can be either direct or indirect.
Direct discrimination operates on a comparative basis such as when a person with a particular characteristic is treated less favourably than a person without that characteristic.
Indirect discrimination occurs where an employer’s policies or work practices are the same for everyone but place a particular employee or group of employees at a disadvantage.
For discrimination to be unlawful, it must also be unreasonable.
It is unlawful to unfairly treat people due to the following attributes.
• Age.
• Sex.
• Chosen gender.
• Race.
• Disability or impairment.
• Sexuality.
• Marital or domestic partnership status.
• Social origin.
• Trade union or employer association activity.
• Pregnancy.
• Parenthood.
• Caring responsibilities.
• Identity of spouse.
• Religious belief or activity.
• Breastfeeding.
• Political opinion, affiliation, or activity.
• Irrelevant criminal record. • Irrelevant medical record.
• Association with a person who has or is believed to have an attribute.
Elenium Automation shall not discriminate against any recruit with an attribute. A recruit with an attribute shall be considered equally against those recruits without an attribute.
Elenium Automation shall not ask an employee or recruit a question which would result in seeking unnecessary information in attempt to discover an attribute when the attribute has no relevance to the job.
4.6 Prohibition of Sexual Harassment
Unlawful sexual harassment includes.
- Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favours, or other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature particularly when submission to such conduct is made directly or indirectly as a term of condition or employment and/or when submission to or rejection of such conduct is used as a basis for an employment decision affecting the person.
- Creating an intimidating, hostile working environment.
- Conduct which has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work performance.
- Actions/behaviours with the intention of offending, humiliating, or intimidating the aggrieved person.
4.7 Prohibition of Racial Harassment
Unlawful racial harassment pertains to one’s actual or assumed race in relation to one of the following attributes.
• Place of birth
• Nationality
• Colour
• Accent
• Language
• Physical characteristics
Racial harassment includes.
• Jokes relating to racial characteristics.
• Belittling comments
• Offensive mimicry relating to accent or physical characteristics
• Derogatory comments about customs and traditions
• Excluding a person from activities or information because of their race
• Setting different work or conduct standards for people on the basis of their race
4.8 Prohibition of Victimisation
Unlawful victimisation is behaviour displayed by a person against another person who does the following:
- Has made, or intends to make, a complaint.
- Has given, or intends to give, evidence or information in connection with proceedings under this policy.
- Has alleged, or intends to allege, that a person has committed an act which would amount to a contravention to this policy.
- Has done anything in relation to a person under or by reference to this policy.
Victimisation takes place if a person subjects or threatens to subject another person or an associate of the other person to any detriment.
4.9 Prohibition of Bullying
Workplace bullying is defined as repeated and unreasonable behaviour directed towards a worker or a group of workers that creates a risk to health and safety.
Repeated behaviour refers to the persistent nature of the behaviour and can involve a range of behaviours over time.
Unreasonable behaviour refers to the behaviour that a reasonable person, having considered the circumstances, would see as unreasonable, including behaviour that is victimising, humiliating, intimidating, or threatening.
A single incident of unreasonable behaviour is not considered to be workplace bullying, however it may have the potential to escalate and should not be ignored.
Prohibited bullying activities include the following:
- Abusive, insulting, or offensive language or comments.
- Unjustified criticism or complaints.
- Deliberately excluding someone from workplace activities.
- Withholding information that is vital for effective work performance.
- Setting unreasonable timelines or constantly changing deadlines.
- Setting tasks that are unreasonably below or beyond a person’s skill level.
- Denying access to information, supervision, consultation, or resources to the detriment of the worker.
- Spreading misinformation or malicious rumours.
- Changing work arrangements such as rosters and leave to deliberately inconvenience a particular worker or workers.
The following managerial actions are not considered as bullying:
- Setting reasonable performance goals, standards, and deadlines.
- Rostering and allocating working hours where the requirements are reasonable.
- Transferring a worker for operational reasons.
- Deciding not to select a worker for promotion where a reasonable process is followed.
- Informing a worker about unsatisfactory work performance in an honest, fair, and constructive way.
- Informing a worker about inappropriate behaviour in an objective and confidential way.
- Implementing organisational changes or restructuring.
- Taking disciplinary action, including suspension or terminating employment.
4.10 Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Training
Periodic EEO training for all employees is vital to help ensure that all personnel have a basic understanding of EEO principles and the complaint process if an employee feels to be a victim of an EEO aggression.
EEO training shall occur during Induction briefs and every three years thereafter and conducted and/or coordinated by Human Resources.
The Chief Executive Officer, or their delegate, may mandate additional training to occur if a negative trend of EEO infractions is noted.