Equality & Diversity

Temple Garden Chambers is committed to promoting equality and diversity within Chambers and at the Bar.

We take a proactive approach going beyond our obligations under the Equality and Diversity Rules of the BSB Handbook.

EXAMPLES OF ACTION TAKEN TO DATE

We have put in place the following policies:

• Equality and Diversity Policy.
• Anti-harassment Policy.
• Parental Leave Policy. Our Policy is more generous than the BSB guidelines, which state that, where any element of rent is paid on a flat rate basis, chambers should provide a minimum of 6 months free – we allow 12 months.
• Flexible Working Policy to ensure that members can manage family responsibilities, any long-term illness or disability.
• Reasonable Adjustments Policy.

We have an Equality and Diversity Action Plan, which is regularly reviewed and updated by the Equality and Diversity Committee.

In relation to pupillage applications:

• All candidates are assessed using objective and fair criteria.
• Everyone involved in the selection process (i.e. both sifters and interview panel members) is trained in fair recruitment and selection processes.
• We use blind recruitment at the sifting stage: names are replaced with numbers and sifters do not know any of the personal information that would identify gender, age, ethnicity, location etc. Sifters also attend a coordination meeting to ensure that our fair recruitment criteria are being objectively applied. The sift is then moderated to ensure consistency and fairness.

For further information, see the Join Us section of this website.