Positive Action
You may have heard the term "Positive Action" before but have
you ever wondered exactly what does it mean?
Positive Action is…
- Provision has been made under the Race Relations Act 1976, Race
Relations (Amendment) Act 2000, and the Sex Discrimination Act 1975
to enable employers to redress the imbalance of the racial and/or
gender makeup of their workforce.
- Positive Action is a legally acceptable means of encouraging
applications for employment from under-represented groups within
the community. If a particular group covered by the legislation
listed above has been under represented within the workplace in the
last 12 months, then these groups may be targeted and assistance
given to encourage applications for employment.
- Positive Action allows for targeted marketing campaigns to
encourage interest in a career with Strathclyde Fire & Rescue.
It also allows for the provision of training and guidance to
under-represented groups within the community prior to application
for employment.
- Positive Action is aimed at individuals who are from an
under-represented group covered by the legislation listed above.
Since Strathclyde Fire & Rescue's operational workforce
(firefighter) is made up almost entirely of white males, the
Positive Action initiative is aimed at encouraging applications to
operational roles from both from females and individuals from a
minority ethnic background.
- Strathclyde Fire & Rescue's commitment to attracting
applicants from diverse backgrounds extends to all of its positions
- both operational and non-operational posts. For this reason we
market our career opportunities using a variety of methods and
media.
Positive Action is not…
- Many people often misconceive Positive Action as Positive
Discrimination. Positive Discrimination is giving some candidates
an unfair advantage in the recruitment process such as lowering the
entry requirements. Positive Discrimination is
unlawful under current legislation and Strathclyde Fire &
Rescue does not adopt this particular type of initiative.
- Positive Action does not mean lowering or diluting standards to
help under-represented groups pass our stringent entry
requirements. This initiative ensures that only the best applicants
are successful, irrespective of their race and/or gender.
Positive Action makes sense because…
- As an Equal Opportunities employer, we are duty bound to ensure
that our workforce represents the community in which we work and
this can be achieved using Positive Action.
- Having the broadest pool of applicants means that we will get
the best candidate for the right job.
- A diverse workforce has a broad range of experiences and skills
that we can draw upon to deliver our services more
effectively.
- A workforce that reflects the communities we serve makes us
more approachable.
- There is now a steady interest from the identified
under-represented groups who are thinking about firefighting as a
career.
Positive Action in practice…
- To help raise awareness of a career in Strathclyde Fire &
Rescue we have delivered talks and leaflet drops in various
community, religious, leisure and educational establishments. The
interest generated has been extremely encouraging.
- Strathclyde Fire & Rescue aims to hold Positive Action
initiatives, such as information sessions for under-represented
groups, prior to the commencement of the Wholetime Firefighter
recruitment campaign.
- Strathclyde Fire & Rescue maintains a Positive Action
Database for under-represented groups. By registering your contact
details on the Database you will notified of upcoming positive
action events.
- Information about the recruitment process, positive action
events and to register on the database can be found on the Working
for Us section of our website.
