Through its Club structure, Cound Cricket Club commits itself fully to the ECB's vision for cricket. On the 15th October 2008 the Club achieved Sport England / ECB Clubmark Accreditation.

 Equity Policy

 1.     Statement of Intent 1.1     

Cound Cricket Club is fully committed to the principles of equality of opportunity and aims to ensure that no individual receives less favourable treatment on the grounds  of  age,  gender,  disability,  race,  ethnic origin, nationality,  colour,  parental or  marital  status,  pregnancy, religious  belief, class or social  background, sexual preference or political belief. This includes job applicants, employees,  participants,  volunteers  and  spectators.


1.2     Cound Cricket Club will ensure that there will be open access to all those who  wish to  participate  in  all aspects of cricket and that they are treated fairly.

1.3    Cound Cricket Club specifically supports initiatives by other organisations within cricket which recognise the principles of equality of opportunity and treatment such as the  International  Cricket  Council  Anti-Racism Policy and the Professional Cricketers Association's Racism Awareness Campaign.

2.     Purpose of the Policy

2.1     Cound Cricket Club recognises that certain sections of the community may  have  been  affected  by  past discrimination and may have felt denied the opportunity to participate equally and  fully  in  sport  at  all  levels.

2.2     This policy has been  produced  to  prevent/tackle  any  potential/current  discrimination  or  other  unfair treatment,   whether   intentional  or  unintentional,   direct  or  indirect,  against  its  employees,  members  and volunteers.

2.3    This policy is applicable to the game of cricket at all levels and in all roles.  

3.     Actions

3.1     Cound Cricket Club will produce  and  maintain  an  action  plan  to  ensure  the  intent  of  this  policy  is delivered.  

3.2     All areas of the organisation will be affected by this action  plan,  which  will  be  incorporated  in  to  the overall plan for the long term development of the Club.

3.3    Cound Cricket Club recognises that, in some cases, to achieve the principle of  equality, unequal  effort  is required and, if appropriate, will consider positive action to tackle under representation.

4.     Legal Requirements 4.1     

Cound Cricket Club recognises its legal obligations under, and will abide by the requirements of, the following:

·    Equal Pay Act 1970
·    Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (and Exemptions Order 1975)
·    Sex Discrimination Acts 1975, 1986 & 1999
·    Race Relations Act 1976 and the Race Relations Amendment Act 2000
·    Children Act 1989 and 2004
·    Disability Discrimination Act 1995
·    Data Protection Act 1998
·    Human Rights Act 1998
·    Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000
·    Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003
·    Employment Equality (Religion and Belief) Regulations 2003
·    Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006

This includes any later  amendments  to  the  above  Acts / Regulations,  or  future  Acts / Regulations  that  are relevant to Cound Cricket Club and are included in the Clubs Constitution revised 9th November 2007.

4.2     Cound Cricket Club will seek legal advice each  time  the  policy  is  reviewed  to  ensure it  continues  to comply with all legislation requirements.


5.     Discrimination, harassment and victimisation
 
5.1   Discrimination can take the following forms:

5.1.1   Direct Discrimination. This means treating someone less favourably than  you  would  treat others  in  the same circumstances.

5.1.2     Indirect  Discrimination.   This  occurs  when  a  job  requirement or  condition  is  applied  equally  to all, which has a disproportionate and detrimental affect on one sector of society, because fewer from that sector can comply with it and the requirement cannot be justified in relation to the job.

5.2     Harassment is described as inappropriate actions, behaviour, comments or physical contact that is objectionable or causes offence to the recipient. It may be directed towards people because of their gender, appearance, race, colour, ethnic origin, nationality, age, sexual preference, a disability or some other characteristic. Cound Cricket Club is committed to ensuring that its employees, members, participants and volunteers are able to conduct their activities free from harassment or intimidation.

5.3     Victimisation is defined as when someone is treated less favourably than others because he or she has taken action against Cound Cricket Club under one of the relevant Acts / Regulations (as previously outlined) or provided information about discrimination, harassment or inappropriate behaviour.

5.4     Cound Cricket Club regards discrimination, harassment or victimisation, as described above, as serious misconduct and any employee, volunteer or participant who discriminates against, harasses or victimises any other person will be liable to appropriate disciplinary action.

6.     Responsibility, implementation and communication

6.1     The following responsibilities will apply:

6.1.1     The Club Management Committee is responsible for ensuring that this Equity Policy is followed and to deal with any actual or potential breaches.

6.1.2     The Club Chairman has the overall responsibility for the implementation of the Equity Policy.

6.1.3     The Welfare Officer designated by the Chairman has the overall responsibility for achieving the Equity Action Plan as this will form part of their work programme.

6.1.4     All employees, volunteers and members have responsibilities to respect, act in accordance with and thereby support and promote the spirit and intentions of the policy and, where appropriate, individual work programmes will be amended to include equity related tasks.

6.2     The new policy will be implemented immediately following the Clubs Annual General Meeting on Friday 9th November 2007 will result in the following:

 6.2.1     A copy of this document will be available to all staff (both permanent and contract), members and volunteers of Cound Cricket Club

6.2.2     Cound Cricket Club will take measures to ensure that its employment practices are non-discriminatory.

6.2.3     No job applicant will be placed at a disadvantage by requirements or conditions which are not necessary to the performance of the job or which constitute unfair discrimination.

6.2.4     A planned approach will be adopted to eliminate barriers which discriminate. Cound Cricket Club will ensure that best practice is extensively promoted and will expect that clubs and members will follow guidelines that are set down.

6.2.5     Ensure that consultants and advisers used by Cound Cricket Club can demonstrate their commitment to the principles and practice of equity and that they abide by this policy.

6.2.6    Cound Cricket Club will require all affiliated organisations to adopt this policy or ensure that current equity policies have the same stated intent as Cound Cricket Club cricket policy

 6.3     The new policy will be communicated in the following ways:

6.3.1     It will be part of the staff handbook and reference will be made to it in any codes of conduct.

6.3.2     It will be covered in all staff and volunteer induction training.

6.3.3     All participants will be made aware of the policy's existence through Cound Cricket Club website and a summary of any revisions will also be published there www.coundcricketclub.org.uk

6.3.4     At time of review, a mechanism will be put in place to allow all staff, members, participants and volunteers to be part of the process.
 

7.1     This policy will be reviewed annually and changes made if required.

 7.2    The equity action plan, created to ensure the intent of the policy is delivered, will be reviewed by the Welfare Officer and the Clubs Committee on a quarterly basis.

7.3     As part of the overall Clubs development delivery plan, the equity action plan will be reviewed by the Club Management Committee on an annual basis.

7.4     On an annual basis, statistical information will be produced by the Chairman of the Club Management Committee for the Club, and will be published internally and externally, to show the impact of this policy.

8. Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures

8.1     To safeguard individual rights under the policy, an employee, volunteer or participant who believes he/she has suffered inequitable treatment within the scope of the policy may raise the matter through the appropriate grievance procedure.

8.2     Appropriate disciplinary action will be taken against any employee, volunteer or participant who violates the Clubs Equity Policy.

7.     Monitoring and Evaluation

8.3    An individual may raise any grievance and no employee, volunteer or participant will be penalised for doing so unless it is without foundation and not made in good faith.

                                                                   Cound Cricket Club 9th November 2007