Equality and Diversity
Parable Dance is dedicated to encouraging a supportive and inclusive culture. We promote diversity and eliminate discrimination in the workplace.
Parable Dance recognises that in our society power is not held equally and that groups and individuals have been and continue to be discriminated against on many grounds including, for example, race, sex, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender, class, religion, marital status and where they live.
Our aim is to ensure that all Freelancer Artists, job applicants and volunteers are given equal opportunity and that our organisation is representative of all sections of society. Each team member will be respected and valued and able to give their best as a result.
All freelancers will be treated fairly and with respect. When Parable Dance selects candidates for freelance opportunities, promotion, training, or any other benefit, it will be on the basis of their aptitude and ability.
All employees will be given help and encouragement to develop their full potential and utilise their unique talents. Therefore, the skills and resources of our organisation will be fully utilised and we will maximise the efficiency of our whole workforce.
All project budgets will include access support to ensure that disability is not a barrier for working with Artists with disabilities.
Commitments:
Equal Opportunities
Parable Dance is an equal opportunities organisation dedicated to enforcing completely non-discriminatory practices and procedures.
Any persons working on behalf of Parable Dance are expected to respect and act in accordance with this policy. Bullying, harassment, and victimisation in the workplace are not tolerated and are subject to action.
Parable Dance responds openly, fairly and without discrimination to anyone on the basis of:
This policy is updated regularly. Anyone working on behalf of Parable Dance is aware of this policy and any changes that have been made.
Complaints
Parable Dance is committed to protecting your privacy according to GDPR guidelines. We will only use the data we collect from you to tell you about the work we are doing.
We collect this data about you when you use our website. For example, when you contact us about our services.
The personal information that we collect about you and/or your child and/or adult at risk, is used only to provide appropriate care for you and them and to effectively communicate with you. By providing us with your personal data, you consent to the collection and use of any information you provide in accordance with the above purposes and this privacy statement. Where we offer you services either directly or through a third-party supplier, we will ask you for permission to use and/or share your information before we proceed.
We will only share personal information about you or your child or adult at risk with another organisation if there is:
We will not sell or rent your information to third parties.
We will never share your information with third parties for marketing purposes.
Non-sensitive details (your email address etc.) are transmitted normally over the Internet, and this can never be guaranteed to be 100% secure. As a result, while we strive to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of any information you transmit to us, and you do so at your own risk. Once we receive your information, we make our best effort to ensure its security on our systems.
We will use all reasonable endeavours to ensure that you provide personal information in a secure and confidential environment and when the information is no longer needed it will be destroyed or permanently rendered anonymous.
Parable Dance Website: Our website may contain links to other websites run by other organisations. This privacy policy applies only to our website‚ so we encourage you to read the privacy statements on the other websites you visit. We cannot be responsible for the privacy policies and practices of other sites even if you access them using links from our website.
In addition, if you linked to our website from a third-party site, we cannot be responsible for the privacy policies and practices of the owners and operators of that third-party site and recommend that you check the policy of that third-party site.
With the exception of Google Analytics*, this website does not use cookies. Parable Dance may contain links to other websites, such as YouTube, but is not responsible for their privacy practices or content.
*Google Analytics uses cookies to collect information about how visitors use our site. Cookies are collected anonymously and do not identify individual visitors. Information that is collected includes the number of visitors to the site, the country the visitor is from, and the pages they have visited. For an overview of Google’s privacy policy, or to opt out of Google Analytics tracking, please visit the Google website.
Emails: We retain copies of emails sent to us on our servers. Your personal information will be held by us in accordance with this Privacy Policy and will be on the basis of being legitimate to our business interests and in order to provide our services to you.
Email marketing: We will record your communication preferences when you sign up to our email alerts and may monitor whether you open our emails and which links you click on. We will also log your Internet Protocol (IP) address, and the type of web browser used. Data is held on the grounds of being legitimate to our business interests so that we can provide our services to you. Data is processed on the basis of valid consent obtained from you.
Phone calls: We may make notes during phone calls recorded and any data relating to the call may be retained by us. The data will be held on the basis of being for our legitimate business needs or in order to fulfil our contractual obligations if you are a client of ours.
Social media: We use social media to engage with users using our pages on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. We do not keep any specific data that identifies you as an individual user, but hold details of our followers on these platforms. You should refer to the Privacy Policies of these channels to understand how they treat your data in relation to linking to our site.
Your legal rights: Parable Dance recognises a data subject’s rights and will uphold these in accordance with data protection laws. You are entitled to see the information held about you and you may ask us about any of the following:
Subject access requests: Data subjects (i.e. individuals) have the right to access personal data that is held by submitting a subject access request (SAR) to Parable Dance. We will endeavour to respond quickly to any such requests, which legally require us to respond within one month of receiving the request and necessary information. A subject access request can be made by emailing us at info@parabledance.co.uk.
Right to rectification: Data subjects have the right to request that we amend or change personal information that is inaccurate or incorrect.
Right to erasure: Data subjects have the right to ask us to delete personal information from our systems without giving any reason and at any time. We will act on any such request without delay.
Right to restrict processing: Data subjects have the right to rectification or erasure of personal data in the following circumstances:
Right to object: Data subjects have the right to object to the processing of data at any time based on their particular situation. This includes objecting to profiling unless it is in the ‘public interest’ or exercised lawfully by an official authority. We will only process data under lawful grounds.
Right not to be subject to decisions based on automated processing: We do not use any automated processing that results in any automated decision based on a data subject’s personal information.
Using your rights: If you wish to invoke any of these rights, you should email us at: info@parabledance.co.uk. You also have the right to complain about any use of your information with the UK data protection regulator: https://ico.org.uk/.
Whilst we hope that we provide a good service to all our customers, sometimes we may get it wrong and we would like to hear from you if you are not satisfied with any aspect of our service.
This document explains our complaints procedure which is accessible to all our customers on an equal basis. Our approach will be to try to put things right quickly and politely. Making a complaint will not affect the level of service you receive from Parable Dance.
Do you need any specific requirements to enable you to make a complaint? Please let us know if you would like to receive this complaints procedure in an alternative format.
If you would like to make a complaint, this is what you should do:
Stages in our complaints procedure:
Stage 1
Contact the member of staff you first dealt with, giving details of what you wish to complain about. If the complaint is made in writing or through an answer message, we will inform you that we have received it. The member of staff will investigate your complaint with the aim to settle the complaint as quickly as possible. Please tell us how you would like to be contacted to receive our response.
In most cases you will receive a full reply to your complaint within 10 working days of making the complaint. If we cannot give you a full reply in this time, we will tell you why and inform you of when you are likely to receive it.
Stage 2
If you are dissatisfied with the response you receive from the member of staff you may ask us to review the complaint by emailing info@parabledance.co.uk, with the word ‘Complaint’ in the email subject. You must request Stage 2 within 10 working days of receiving our response to Stage 1. Please put in writing:
The decision will be given to you in writing 10 days after receiving your request for Stage 2.
Stage 3
If you are still unhappy, your complaint will be put to both Artistic Directors of Parable Dance to review. We may ask you to attend a meeting with us to discuss your complaint in more detail. We would send you a written record of the meeting and a formal reply to your complaint from the Artistic Directors. This will take place 10 working days after Stage 3 was requested.
Your personal information
If you use our complaints procedure, you are agreeing that we can use any personal information you send us for purposes connected with your complaint. We will only give your personal information to other people and organisations if you have given us permission to do so.
Equal opportunities
We are committed to equal opportunities and take complaints about discrimination seriously.
Parable Dance records information about the ethnic background, age, sex, religion, sexual orientation and disability of everyone who makes a complaint so that we promote and maintain our equal opportunities commitment. We will keep all information confidential.
Comments and suggestions
We hope that your concerns can always be resolved through the stages 1 – 3 of the procedure above. However, we welcome comments and suggestions that can help us improve our services. The feedback we obtain from our customers will help us to continue to improve our service.
Contact information
Tel: 07957 460 177 (Natasha Britton; Artistic Director)
Email: info@parabledance.co.uk
1.1. Parable Dance recognises that colleagues (employees, freelancers, volunteers) gain information about individuals and organisations during the course of their work or activities. In most cases such information will not be stated as confidential and colleagues may have to exercise common sense and discretion in identifying whether information is expected to be confidential. This policy aims to give guidance but if in doubt, seek advice from your line manager.
1.2. Colleagues are able to share information with their line manager in order to discuss issues and seek advice.
1.3. Colleagues will avoid exchanging personal information or comments about individuals with whom they have a professional relationship.
1.4. Talking about the private life of a colleague is to be avoided, unless the colleague in question has instigated the conversation.
1.5. Colleagues will avoid talking about the organisation or individuals in social settings.
1.6. Colleagues will not disclose to anyone, other than their line manager, any information considered sensitive, personal, financial or private without the knowledge or consent of the individual, or a member of senior management, in the case of an organisation.
1.7. There may be circumstances where colleagues would want to discuss difficult situations with each other to gain a wider perspective on how to approach a problem. The organisation’s consent must be sought before discussing the situation, unless the colleague is convinced beyond doubt that the organisation would not object to this. Alternatively, a discussion may take place with names or identifying information remaining confidential.
1.8. Where there is a legal duty on Parable Dance to disclose information, the person to whom the confidentiality is owed will be informed that disclosure has or will be made.
2.1. Most information held by Parable Dance relates to schools, individuals, voluntary and community organisations, arts organisations, volunteers, students, employees or services which support or fund the company.
2.2. Information is kept to enable Parable Dance colleagues to understand the history and activities of individuals or organisations in order to deliver the most appropriate services.
2.3. Information about a participant is shared between the Parable Dance team members and a partner school/ organisation (where relevant), but to no one else.
2.4. Information about projects (work covered, outcomes etc.) is kept as evidence for reporting to funders, but only using the first names of the participants involved.
2.5. Information about ethnicity and disability of users is kept for the purposes of monitoring our equal opportunities policy and also for reporting back to funders.
3.1. Information is confidential to Parable Dance as an organisation and may be passed to colleagues or line managers to ensure the best quality service for users.
3.2. Where information is sensitive, i.e. it involves disputes or legal issues; it will be confidential to the member of the team dealing with the case and their line manager. Such information should be clearly labelled ‘Confidential’ and should state the names of the colleagues entitled to access the information and the name of the individual or group who may request access to the information.
3.3. Colleagues will not withhold information from their line manager unless it is purely personal.
3.4. Users may have sight of Parable Dance records held in their name. The request must be in writing to one of the Artistic Directors giving 14 days’ notice and be signed by the individual. Sensitive information as outlined in para 3.2 will only be made available to the person named on the file.
3.5. When photocopying or working on confidential documents, colleagues must ensure people passing do not see them. This also applies to information on computer screens.
4.1. General non-confidential information about organisations is kept in computer files with open access to all Parable Dance colleagues.
4.2 Personnel information on employees, freelancers and volunteers working within Parable Dance will be kept in password protected computer files by The Artistic Directors.
4.3. All files containing confidential information will be password protected and labelled ‘confidential’.
4.4. In an emergency situation, the Project Manager or CEO may authorise access to files by other people.
5.1. There is a legal duty to disclose some information including:
5.2. In addition, colleagues believing an illegal act has taken place, or that a user is at risk of harming themselves or others, must report this to one of the Artistic Directors who will report it to the appropriate authorities.
5.3. Users should be informed of this disclosure.
6.1 Parable Dance complies fully with the DBS Code of practice regarding the correct handling, use, storage, retention and disposal of Disclosures and Disclosure information.
6.2 Disclosure information is always kept separately from an applicant’s personnel file in secure storage with access limited to those who are entitled to see it as part of their duties. It is a criminal offence to pass this information to anyone who is not entitled to receive it.
6.3 Documents will be kept for a year and then destroyed by secure means. Photocopies will not be kept. However, Parable Dance may keep a record of the date of issue of a Disclosure, the name of the subject, the type of Disclosure requested, the position for which the Disclosure was requested, the unique reference number of the Disclosure and the details of the recruitment decision taken.
7.1. Information about individuals, whether on computer or on paper, falls within the scope of the Data Protection Act and must comply with the data protection principles.
These are that personal data must be:
8.1. Employees who are dissatisfied with the conduct or actions of other colleagues or Parable Dance should raise this with their line manager if necessary, and not discuss their dissatisfaction outside Parable Dance.
8.2. Colleagues accessing unauthorised files or breaching confidentially may face disciplinary action.
All colleagues hold the right to inform one of the Artistic Directors or a member of the board, if they believe that Parable Dance is being brought into disrepute by the actions of another colleague.
Statement of intent:
The Health and Safety at Work Act (HSWA) 1974 imposes certain obligations on an employer. Not only to take all such actions as are reasonable to safeguard the health and safety of their employees, volunteers and freelancers but also to be able to show they are doing so by producing adequate written policies and procedures. The Directors of Parable Dance fully accept their responsibilities under the Act.
The Directors of Parable Dance make a commitment to:
Organisation of Health & Safety:
At Parable Dance the following people have responsibility for health and safety, including annually updating the policy:
Natasha Britton (Artistic Director) and Erica Moshman (Artistic Director)
Arrangements for Health & Safety:
The Directors consider these matters of such importance that breach of Health and Safety procedures by Parable Dance Adults (Staff, freelancers, volunteers) constitutes misconduct and will be dealt with as a disciplinary matter. It is not possible to detail here all the Health and Safety matters that come up, so all ‘Adults’ must constantly be mindful of their responsibilities individually and collectively for the safety of themselves and others.
Policy brief & purpose
Our Code of Conduct company policy outlines our expectations regarding employees’/ freelancers’/ volunteers’ (herein ‘Adults’) behaviour towards their colleagues, supervisors, clients and overall organisation.
We promote freedom of expression and open communication. But we expect all ‘Adults’ to follow our code of conduct. They should avoid offending, participating in serious disputes and disrupting our workplace. We also expect them to foster a well-organised, respectful and collaborative environment.
Scope
This policy applies to all ‘Adults’ working with Parable Dance regardless of employment agreement or rank.
Compliance with law
All ‘Adults’ must protect our company’s legality. They should comply with all environmental, safety and fair dealing laws. We expect ‘Adults’ to be ethical and responsible when dealing with our company’s finances, products, partnerships and public image.
Respect in the workplace
All ‘Adults’ should respect their colleagues. We won’t allow any kind of discriminatory behaviour, harassment or victimization. ‘Adults’ should conform with our equal opportunity policy in all aspects of their work, from recruitment and performance evaluation to interpersonal relations.
Protection of Company Property
All ‘Adults’ should treat our company’s property, whether material or intangible, with respect and care. ‘Adults’:
‘Adults’ should protect company facilities and other material property from damage and vandalism, whenever possible.
Professionalism
All ‘Adults’ must show integrity and professionalism in the workplace:
All ‘Adults’ must follow our dress code and personal appearance guidelines. When representing Parable Dance for meetings / networking ‘Adults’ should be smartly dressed. When representing Parable Dance delivering training and workshops, ‘Adults’ should ensure they are dressed in an appropriate manner for their role within the sessions. All ‘Adults’ should dress in a modest manner, Parable Dance sessions are a professional environment and, although the atmosphere is generally relaxed, ’Adults’ dress, behaviour and demeanour should reflect this. Any paid members of the delivery team should wear a Parable Dance T-shirt.
We discourage ‘Adults’ from accepting gifts from clients or partners. We prohibit briberies for the benefit of any external or internal party.
All ‘Adults’ should fulfil their job duties with integrity and respect toward customers, stakeholders and the community. Supervisors and managers mustn’t abuse their authority. We expect them to delegate duties to their team members taking into account their competences and workload. Likewise, we expect team members to follow team leaders’ instructions and complete their duties with skill and in a timely manner.
We encourage mentoring throughout our company.
‘Adults’ should follow their schedules. We can make exceptions for occasions that prevent ‘Adults’ from following standard working hours or days. But, generally, we expect ‘Adults’ to be punctual when coming to and leaving from work. When delivering workshops and training, ‘Adults’ should observe session times and should arrive with enough time before the session to ‘set up’ appropriately.
We expect ‘Adults’ to avoid any personal, financial or other interests that might hinder their capability or willingness to perform their job duties.
We expect that when representing Parable Dance, if ‘Adults’ are approached about further work opportunities, clients be signposted to Natasha and Millie’s contact details. It is considered a conflict if the ‘Adult’ discusses these opportunities as a freelancer.
‘Adults’ should be friendly and collaborative. They should try not to disrupt the workplace or present obstacles to their colleagues’ work.
All ‘Adults’ must be open for communication with their colleagues, supervisors or team members.
All ‘Adults’ should read and follow our company policies. If they have any questions, they should ask their managers.
Safeguarding guidelines for ‘Adults’ in workshops/ classes
Disciplinary actions
Our company may have to take disciplinary action against ‘Adults’ who repeatedly or intentionally fail to follow our code of conduct. Disciplinary actions will vary depending on the violation. We may take legal action in cases of corruption, theft, embezzlement or other unlawful behaviour.
Parable Dance is strongly committed to promoting the welfare of children and Adults at risk. The company’s activities help meet the five key outcomes for children that are set as the framework for all children’s services in the Children Act 2004: be healthy, stay safe, enjoy and achieve, make a positive contribution, achieve economic well-being.
The company’s activities are also in accordance with best practice in at risk adult safeguarding. The full safeguarding children and adults at risk policy document, focuses on the outcome ‘staying safe’. A copy of the full policy is available upon request.
Children and Adults at risk are hereafter referred to as ‘Participants’
Parable Dance has a duty of care to all the participants who take part in our activities. We will do all in our power to protect participants from harm. As many of the participants we reach are disabled or at risk in other ways, we have to be exemplary in our practice and especially vigilant for abuse. To ensure the protection and safety of all participants involved with Parable Dance, all staff (salaried and freelance), contractors and volunteers of Parable Dance are required to adhere to the full Safeguarding Children and Adults at risk Policy. Parable Dance will take any failure to follow this Policy very seriously and, in the case of Parable Dance staff, any breaches of it could result in disciplinary sanctions up to and including dismissal.
The aim of The Parable Dance Safeguarding Children and Adults at risk policy is to promote good practice:
We will ensure that:
We recognise that misunderstandings or disagreements may sometimes arise between staff, or between colleagues and their managers, and that it is important that these are resolved as quickly and fairly as possible. You are encouraged to try to resolve any grievances you may have informally.
However, if your grievance cannot be settled informally you may raise it formally in accordance with this procedure.
The Grievance Procedure allows us to deal with grievances fairly, consistently and speedily. It is intended as a means of resolving issues concerning matters such as:
It can also be used if you have a complaint or concern that relates to potential misconduct on the part of another colleague (including allegations of unlawful discrimination, bullying or harassment).
The Grievance Procedure cannot be used as a means of appealing against a disciplinary decision and any appeal you may wish to make against disciplinary action will be dealt with as part of the Disciplinary Procedure.
Bringing a Grievance
If you wish to bring a formal grievance against a fellow team member or a Director, you must set out your grievance in writing. Once you have set out your grievance in writing then, you should send it to Artistic Director; Natasha Britton (natasha@parabledance.co.uk). If your grievance is about Natasha Britton, you should send it to Parable Dance Committee Member Lynne Mansfield-Osborne (info@parabledance.co.uk).
You will then be informed of the name of the person who will consider your grievance and what steps he or she will take in order to do so. In most cases, the person who will consider your grievance in the first instance will be your line Manager.
Grievance Investigation
In most cases it will be necessary to investigate your grievance before any decision can be taken regarding this. In those circumstances, an investigator will be appointed to establish the facts of the matter. If your grievance concerns an allegation of misconduct on the part of another team member (including allegations of unlawful discrimination, bullying or harassment) the investigator will consider whether there is a disciplinary case for that team member to answer.
You will be required to co-operate fully with this investigation as best you can and to give truthful and honest answers to the investigator. We will do our best to investigate as promptly as possible.
Outcome of the Investigation
Having established the facts of the matter as far as possible, the investigator will identify as best he/she can what is most likely to have happened and pass all of the information gathered along with their summary to the Manager chairing the grievance meeting.
Grievance Meeting
Once the grievance investigation is complete, you will be invited to attend a meeting to discuss your grievance with the person dealing with it. You must take all reasonable steps to attend the meeting and may be accompanied by another team member.
You will be informed of the steps that should be taken in the event that you wish to exercise this right, and you will also be informed what you need to do in the event that either you or your chosen companion cannot attend the grievance meeting at the time, date and place scheduled. Your companion may address the meeting, take notes and answer questions on your behalf if you so wish.
If you do wish to be accompanied you should inform the person dealing with your grievance of this and provide him or her with the name of your chosen companion. You should not put any pressure on anyone to accompany you. If your companion cannot attend on the date or at the time of the meeting you should inform the person considering your grievance of this and, where possible, alternative arrangements will be made.
No decisions will be made concerning your grievance prior to the grievance meeting. At the grievance meeting you will be given the opportunity to explain your complaint and say how you think it should be resolved. The person considering your grievance will explain to you his or her understanding of the facts and circumstances surrounding your complaint and will conduct a full discussion with you about your grievance and the information he or she has obtained concerning it.
Your companion may address the hearing and answer questions on your behalf if you wish. You may request adjournments during the course of the hearing in order to confer privately with your companion if required. If the person considering your grievance reaches a point in the hearing where he or she needs more information in order to respond to your grievance, or is not sure how to deal with the grievance, it may be necessary to adjourn the meeting.
Notes will be taken during the meeting and will be given to you at the end of the meeting to read, amend (if necessary) and sign. A copy of the notes will be made available to you on request. You will not be permitted to tape or record the grievance meeting.
Response to your grievance
Once the person dealing with your grievance is satisfied that he or she has all of the information necessary to decide his or her response to your grievance, he or she will do so and this will be communicated to you in writing. You will also be advised of your right to appeal against the decision in the event that it is not acceptable to you and of the person you should appeal to.
Appeal
If you wish to appeal against the outcome of your grievance, you must notify the appropriate person of this. If you have advised us that you are unhappy with the decision after a grievance meeting, we will arrange an appeal with a Director.
You will be invited to attend an appeal meeting to discuss your concerns and may be accompanied by another member of staff if you wish. You must take all reasonable steps to attend the appeal.
COVID-19 Statement
This addendum to The Parable Dance Health and Safety Policy relates specifically to COVID-19 and the actions required by both employers and employees to maintain a safe system and place of work. This policy applies to all our employees, freelancers, volunteers, trainees and the children, young people and vulnerable adults involved in our projects.
The Directors of Parable Dance recognise that there is a legal duty of care towards protecting the health and safety of its employees and others who may be affected by our activities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In order to discharge our responsibilities, we will collectively:
Organisation responsibilities and arrangements:
In addition to the responsibilities and arrangements outlined in the full Parable Dance Health and Safety Policy, the following additional duties in relation to COVID-19 are acknowledged and recognised.
Responsibilities of the Parable Dance ‘Members’:
Responsibilities of the Artistic Directors:
Responsibilities of all staff/ freelancers/ volunteers:
This policy statement addendum was created in September 2020 and reviewed in September 2023. It will be reviewed and revised as necessary to reflect changes to the organisation’s activities and any changes to legislation or government guidance. Any changes to the policy will be brought to the attention of all employees/ freelancers/ volunteers.