Thames Reach ensured that it could capture information relating to applicants’ personal experience of homelessness and thus detect any discrimination.
Thames Reach revised its Equality & Diversity form to ensure that it could capture information relating to applicants’ personal experience of homelessness, including whether the applicant had slept rough or had lived in a hostel for longer than 9 months, and which services he or she had used.
This helped Thames Reach to recognise which of the applicants had been current or former service users and which applicants had experienced homelessness but had not used services (both groups were valued equally).
This confidential information was recorded in the human resources database so that when an applicant was successful at interview the information would be transferred to their employee record.
This enables Thames Reach to monitor applicants’ progress through periods of recruitment and then, if applicable, employment. For example, at any given time we can report on who was on the recruitment panel for an applicant who was unsuccessful at interview; if an applicant is successful we can report on which teams they have worked in and which posts they have held during their employment history.
If discrimination or prejudice did occur this will help to ensure that Thames Reach can identify these incidences.
