Equal Opportunity Policy

Effective Date 

June 2, 2021 

Purpose 

To outline Debt Control Agency Inc (DCA)’s goal of achieving equal opportunity for all employees and  candidates for positions, regardless of race, how a person recognizes themselves, national origin, colour, religion, sex, marital status, physical disability, or any other factor unrelated to job performance. 

Policy 

1. We are committed to creating and maintaining an equal opportunity workplace for all employees. 
2. It is our policy to make decisions on hiring, promotion, rewards and other human resource issues  based on merit. Merit includes a persons’ qualifications, ability and performance. 
3. Employees at DCA have the right to be free from discrimination at work. The protected grounds  of discrimination are: 

• • Race, colour, ethnic origin 
  • Creed, religion 
  • Age 
  • Sexual orientation 
  • Family, marital or same-sex partnership status 
  • Handicapped or perceived handicap 
  • Ancestry, citizenship, national origin or place or origin 

4. To ensure equality of opportunity for all employees, DCA will work with you to accommodate your individual needs. While these needs will vary depending on the circumstances, some of the  measures we may offer include: 

• • Assistance through the “Employee Assistance Program” 
  • Personal days
  • Alternative work arrangements such as flextime, compressed work weeks and  telecommuting 
  • Breastfeeding rooms 
  • Accommodating persons with disabilities in a manner that respects their dignity and  helps maximize their contribution to DCA. 
  • Place to worship. 

5. To reflect our commitment to equal opportunity, all work-related communications must be  written in gender-neutral language. Please observe the following guidelines: 

• • Do not address correspondence “Dear Sir”, unless the person to whom you are directing the correspondence is a man. Directly address the person to whom you are corresponding (i.e., Dear Ms. Smith or Dear Mr. Jones). 

• • Do not identify women by their marital status by addressing them as “Miss” or “Mrs.”,  unless they ask you to do so; use “Ms.” instead. 
  • Do not use terms of endearment such as “dear”, “honey”, etc. 
  • Do not use “he” with a disclaimer to indicate that even though you are using the male  pronoun you intend to include women as well. 
  • Alternate the word order and phrases so that neither women nor men are always  mentioned first. 
  • Instead of “he” or “she”, use plural references (e.g., “employees should speak to their  supervisors”) or repeat the noun (e.g., “the employee should speak to the employee’s  supervisor”). In less formal communications such as e-mail, “they,” “them” and “their”  may be used as a singular pronoun (e.g., “the employee should speak to their  supervisor”). Avoid “he or she” which may exclude people of non-binary gender. 
  • Avoid identifying a woman or man solely as somebody’s wife or husband (e.g., “Mrs.  David Smith”). 

6. Please be respectful of any language differences between you and your co-workers. If you are in  the company of others who speak different languages, make every effort to ensure that everyone  understands and is included in the conversation, even during break times. It can be very lonely  and isolated for someone to be in the company of others who are speaking a language that  person does not understand. 
7. To achieve equal opportunity and accommodate individual needs, we must take a flexible  management approach. This may mean treating employees differently, for example, making  scheduling adjustments to accommodate religious needs.
8. We expect you to do your part in respecting individual differences and achieving equal  opportunity. 
9. If an employee feels that someone has abused this policy, they are encouraged to either contact  the Manager of Human Resources or follow the guidelines noted in our Whistleblowing Policy.