Heat Exchange Group further enhance their commitment to fair and equitable work practices

Our fair and equitable work practices

Heat Exchange Group Limited are a manufacturing and service business that seeks to utilise heat resources better, from our inception manufacturing fuel economisers that minimise input fuel to worldwide power stations 100 years ago, all the way to our current day products looking at a wide range of heat exchange possibilities.

As part of our commitment to do the right thing, we embed collaborative working and encourage an open culture, with emphasis on fair practices

Equality & Diversity

Our dignity & respect at work policy details our commitment to providing a working environment free from bullying, harassment, and violence. It is circulated to all employees and is a contractual policy. We further circulate this policy with our supply chain members and ensure that they have an agreeable policy in place as part of supplier auditing or adopt and agree to the terms of our policy as a term of our partnership. Compliance must be understood by all as discrimination or harassment will not be tolerated; our managers undertake EDI training on an annual basis, and dignity & respect at work lunch & learn sessions open to all colleagues, have regularly formed part of our annual learning at work week

Fair & Living Wage

The wages we provide our employees with are based on their ability, performance, contribution, and experience. We undertake regular, diligent reviews of salary levels to ensure our employees are remunerated competitively. On at least an annual basis every employee is communicated with about their own personal remuneration and outcomes of salary reviews Our employee population has a discretionary contractual entitlement to paid sick leave, to support their physical, mental, and financial wellbeing. Furthermore, our employed staff members receive the non-contractual benefit of personal and independent financial and pensions advice, substituted by the company on an annual basis during the learning at work week, to help them maintain financial wellbeing, and prepare for retirement. We are proud to be a living wage employer and recognise the importance of the living wage in socioeconomic terms.

Fair Employment

Our recruitment and employment policies and procedures consist of hiring practices that are fair and non-discriminatory. Our hiring managers have all undertaken recruitment and selection training as part of our internal management development programme, with a focus on fair, inclusive and non-discriminatory hiring practises. Our recruitment and selection policy and practises are reviewed on a regular basis and form an integral part of our wider EDI strategy. The effective integration of new employees, and familiarisation with our core policies and procedures, form an important part of our onboarding process. Our onboarding process is tailored to individual roles and employees and has scope for reasonable adjustments to overcome barriers caused by impairment, disability and socioeconomic circumstances.

Absolute commitment to Health & Safety and consultation

Consultation on matters relating to HSEQ take place through one-to-one conversations, health & safety committee meetings, general staff meetings, notice boards, internal publications, etc. We actively encourage employees to take ownership for H&S at work, and in our most recent colleague survey 100% of participants agreed that H&S is taken seriously here, and that H&S is everybody’s responsibility. We launched an internal peer- peer recognition initiative for HSEQ during 2021 – ‘be a hero, target zero’, to further embed the importance of HSEQ compliance and continuous improvement throughout our employee population.

Open Door Policy

We promote an ‘open door policy’ and believe in transparent communications, as we recognise that the most effective way of dealing with concerns, risk of malpractice etc, is through honest and effective communication. The company is open and transparent with employees about strategy, mission, business decisions and financial information, insofar as is reasonable and proportionate to achieving legitimate business aims. Our communication plan features monthly all company gatherings, and more detailed quarterly all company gatherings to exchange knowledge and information. Our whistleblowing policy which applies to all employees, agency workers and sub-contractors, sets out the scope, procedure, and process for a concern to be raised. Anonymity is guaranteed through our whistleblowing policy, and repercussions of a harmful or malicious nature for the disclosing person are strictly unacceptable.

Training & Development

We are committed to delivering the highest standards of service to our customers. Our learning and development strategy outlines our objectives and approach to professional development and training and is reviewed annually. Our annual learning at work week has formed a part of our L&D strategy for 3 consecutive years to date, and in 2021 an internal management development programme was launched. Furthermore, we are committed through our partnerships with local education institutes to the wider development of skills and experience for the longevity of the UK and global manufacturing sector.

Stability of Employment

We comply with our obligations in relation to statutory requests for contract variations and provide the appropriate paperwork for recording them. Various policies such as our absence management policy and family policies, demonstrate how we will legally and ethically support stability of employment for our colleagues. in all circumstances, from recruitment to offboarding, we are committed to exploring the provision of reasonable adjustments to our standard working practices to overcome barriers caused by disability, impairment and socioeconomic status

For further information – please call our QESH, Sustainability, Compliance and Human Resources team on 07920 548056 or 0300 124 0495