Inclusion and diversity

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Inclusion
Disability Confident
The Race at Work Charter
Reading care leavers
Ethical Recruitment Charter
Staff groups

Inclusion

Here at Reading Borough Council we embrace diversity, valuing the experience and unique skills that our team members bring. Reading is a diverse and vibrant town, and the council aims to reflect that diversity in its workforce, celebrating difference and enhancing our ability to deliver to our staff and residents.

We are keen to hear from all applicants from all backgrounds. It is clear to us that a combination of differences in our teams produces the best performance. We’re particularly keen to make sure that applicants include people of the Global Ethnic Majority (GM), people who live openly as LGBTQIA+, or with a disability.

Disability Confident

The Council is a Disability Confident employer. If you have declared a disability in your application we can guarantee you an interview if you meet the essential criteria for the job role.

If you are invited for interview, you will be asked if you need any reasonable adjustments in order to attend, and we will make these wherever possible. An example would be ensuring that the interview is held in an accessible room or building.

If you are offered a job, we will make any reasonable adjustments that you might require.

The Race at Work Charter

As supporters of the The Race at Work Charter, we are committed to improving opportunities for Global Ethnic Majority employees in the workplace. The charter consists of the following five principles aimed to help organisations overcome obstacles to Global Ethnic Majority recruitment and career progression:

Appointing an Executive Sponsor for race
Capturing data and sharing progress
Ensuring zero tolerance of harassment and bullying
Making equality in the workplace the responsibility of all leaders and managers
Taking action that supports ethnic minority career progression

Reading care leavers

We consider care experience as a protected characteristic. This means we help young people who were in care as children to overcome unfair disadvantages. We support care leavers in finding jobs, learning new skills, gaining work experience, and help them through the recruitment process.

Our care leaver commitment ensures that all Reading care leavers are guaranteed an interview if they meet the basic criteria for a job role. Please let us know as part of your application.

Ethical Recruitment Charter

We are proud to have signed the Reading Ethical Recruitment Charter. It is an initiative developed by Ethical Reading with the following aims:

To inspire, encourage and celebrate ethical recruitment practices by Reading employers and recruiters

To provide recruitment and best practices guidance to both employers and job applicants
To attract talent to our community

The video below explains the aims and three pillars in more detail, filmed at the launch in 2020:

For further information, visit Ethical Reading
If your organisation is interested in being involved you can sign up to the charter here
Report a breach of the Reading Ethical Recruitment Charter

Staff groups

Reading Borough Council have a range of networks for colleagues to be a part of. They are designed to support individuals to feel that they can speak openly around certain topics and build a community at work. Networks are open to all members of staff. Meetings are often held on a monthly basis with frequent social events too.