EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES POLICY OF MERCHANT NAVY OFFICERS’ GUILD – HONG KONG

Merchant Navy Officers’ Guild – Hong Kong (“the Guild”) is an equal opportunities union and employer.

You will not be disadvantaged because of your sex, pregnancy, disability, race, marital status, family status, age, or sexual orientation during your employment. What matters to us is that you do a good job.

We believe that everyone in the Guild has the right to work in an environment free of discrimination, harassment, vilification, and victimization. We will not tolerate such behaviour under any circumstances.

Discrimination

We will not tolerate direct or indirect discrimination based on sex, pregnancy, disability, race, marital status, family status, age, or sexual orientation.

Harassment

We will not tolerate sexual harassment, disability harassment, racial harassment, or age harassment.

All members and employees are responsible for their own actions and should not engage in potentially offensive behaviour. It is not necessary for the person being harassed to tell you that they were humiliated or offended by the behaviour.

Vilification

Vilification of a member or an employee because of their sex, disability, family status, race, age, or sexual orientation is unacceptable in this workplace.
Victimization

We will not disadvantage you for complaining about unlawful conduct in this workplace or for helping someone else to do so. We take reports of discrimination, harassment, vilification and victimization very seriously and will handle such complaints as quickly, confidentially and fairly as possible.

Who this policy covers

This policy covers all members and employees of the Guild and the Merchant Service Club, including those on commission, casual and contract staff.

Resolving problems

If you feel you are being unlawfully discriminated against, harassed, vilified or victimized, we would like you to tell us as soon as possible so we can resolve the issue or problem at the earliest opportunity.

We have a procedure for handling equal opportunities related problems, as enclosed as Annex I herein.

Definitions of the aforesaid terms are provided in the enclosed Annex II herein.

We will not victimize you for speaking out and will not allow any member and employee of the Guild to do so.

Members and employees found to have engaged in unlawful behaviour may be disciplined and, in serious cases, dismissed.

Merchant Navy Officers’ Guild – Hong Kong
Dated the 1st day of October 2016

Annex I

PROCEDURE FOR HANDLING EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES RELATED PROBLEMS OF MERCHANT NAVY OFFICERS’ GUILD – HONG KONG

This procedure explains what to do if you have an equal opportunities related problem, issue or complaint.

At Merchant Navy Officers’ Guild – Hong Kong, we understand that it may be hard for you to work to your full capacity if you are being treated unfairly or harassed at work. That is why we support equal opportunities (EO) in this workplace. The EO policy is posted on notice boards of the Guild and Merchant Service Club or you may obtain a copy from our EO Officer. They are responsible for making sure this procedure is followed and reviewed as necessary.

If you bring a problem to us it will be handled confidentially, impartially and speedily.

What to do if you have a problem
We have outlined the procedure for handling problems in steps. Not all of these may apply to you, or you may follow them in a different order than shown here. You can seek help from the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) at any time, though we recommend that you try to resolve the issue at workplace first.

Step 1: Talk to the person/people involved
If you can, it is best to try to resolve issues yourself with the person involved and to do so as soon as possible after the incident.

Step 2: Talk to the person responsible for EO
If you would like to talk over an issue or find out what your rights are, make a time to talk to the Guild’s EO Officer in person, at our office number 2545 8269. They will meet with you as soon as possible and keep all information confidential.

Depending on what you decide and after taking details from you, the Guild’s EO Officer will approach the other person(s) involved in the issue as soon as possible (and preferably within 3 workdays of meeting with you) and obtain their side of the story.

Within 7 days after speaking to the other person(s) involved, the EO Officer will speak to witnesses if further information is required.

The EO Officer will then provide the General Secretary with all the information gathered. Where allegations/disputes are proved, the General Secretary will resolve the problem by the following ways:

 If the allegations/disputes is not of a serious nature and if it is the accused person’s first attempt in doing so, the General Secretary will bring everyone together for a meeting to reach an agreement and/or to resolve issues; and/or requiring an apology from the accused person; and/or counselling the accused person;

 If the allegation is serious, or if the allegation is not the first attempt, the General Secretary will ask the Executive Council of the Guild to decide whether disciplinary action is required. Disciplinary action which may be taken includes but not limited to: verbal/written warning for the first time, written warning and deduction of year-end bonus for the second time, and membership termination or dismissal for further attempt.

The EO Officer may arrange training on EO issues for all staff to ensure that everyone knows what is and is not acceptable workplace behaviour.

Step 3: Contact the Equal Opportunities Commission
If you are unsatisfied with the decision reached under this procedure, or you do not feel comfortable bringing it to our attention, you can contact the EOC for information and advice about your issue.

Address: 19/F, Cityplaza Three, 14 Taikoo Wan Road, Taikoo Shing, HK.
Tel: 2511 8211
Fax: 2511 8142
Email: eoc@eoc.org.hk
Website: http://www.eoc.org.hk
How will the Guild handle your problem?

We will handle your problem:

Confidentially
Only those directly involved in your issue or complaint (including anyone helping to sort it out) will have access to information about it.

Impartially
Everyone involved in the issue will get the chance to tell their side of the story, and will be treated as fairly as possible. The person handling the issue or complaint will not make a decision or take any action until all relevant information has been gathered.

Speedily
We will handle all issues or complaints as quickly as possible. Where possible, we will try to resolve all issues within 2 weeks.

We will not tolerate:

Victimization
Less favourable treatment or disadvantage of anyone involved in an issue or complaint being handled under this procedure will be disciplined. Malicious use of this procedure (for example, to lie about someone) will also be disciplined.

We will not take any action without proof. We will investigate all issues before making a decision and/or taking action. We will only take action if we believe that it is more likely than not that the allegations happened.

Annex II

DEFINITIONS OF TERMS OF THE EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES POLICY OF MERCHANT NAVY OFFICERS’ GUILD – HONG KONG

This Annex provides definitions of the following terms which are contained in the Equal Opportunities Policy of Merchant Navy Officers’ Guild – Hong Kong:

Discrimination

Direct discrimination is when you are treated less favourably because of your sex, disability or other protected characteristic previously mentioned. For example, it would be direct discrimination for a supervisor to refuse you training because you were pregnant.

Indirect discrimination means imposing the same requirement or condition on everyone, but which has an unfair effect on a particular group of persons, including persons with a particular sex, marital status, family status, race, age or persons with a disability or who are pregnant. The application of such condition or requirement is not justified in the relevant circumstances. For example, an employer’s policy of only hiring people who were able to relocate at short notice may disadvantage people whose family responsibilities (e.g. persons with young children) prevent them from speedy relocation. However, it would not be indirect discrimination if we, as your employer, can give a valid reason for such a requirement.

Harassment

Unlawful sexual harassment is unwelcome sexual behaviour that a reasonable person would anticipate, having regard to all the circumstances, it would offend, put down (humiliate), seriously embarrass or threaten (intimidate) another. Examples include unwelcome touching, hugging, kissing or fondling, groping, displaying or transmitting sexually explicit material (posters, computer screensavers, cartoons, e-mails), telling sex jokes in the workplace or flirting with colleagues.

It is a kind of sexual harassment if a person, alone or together with other persons, engages in conduct of a sexual nature which creates a hostile or intimidating environment for others. For example, loudly discussion about a person’s sex life or sex jokes in the office.

Disability/racial harassment includes abusive, teasing, bullying, or other intimidating and offensive acts based on a person’s disability or race, including the disability of the person’s associate(s) or the race of their near relatives(s). Calling someone names or making fun of them because of their disability or race would be harassment.

It is also an unlawful racial harassment if a person, alone or together with other persons, creates a hostile or intimidating environment for others on the ground of race, such as displaying a racist poster in the workplace.

Age harassment includes abusive, teasing, bullying, or other intimidating and offensive acts based on a person’s age, including the age of the person’s associate(s) and near relatives(s). Calling someone names or making fun of them because of their age would be harassment.

Vilification

Vilification is any activity in public that incites hatred, serious ridicule or contempt of a person because of their sex, disability, family status, race, or age. Where such behaviour includes threats of harm or property damage, it may constitute serious vilification, which is a criminal offence.