Babcock International Group Plc
We, the undersigned, commit to honour the Armed Forces Covenant and support the Armed Forces Community. We recognise the value Serving Personnel, both Regular and Reservists, Veterans and military families contribute to our business and our country.
The Armed Forces Covenant
An enduring covenant between the people of the United Kingdom, Her Majesty’s Government and all those who serve or have served in the Armed Forces of the Crown and their families
The first duty of Government is the defence of the realm. Our Armed Forces fulfil that responsibility on behalf of the Government, sacrificing some civilian freedoms, facing danger and, sometimes, suffering serious injury or death as a result of their duty. Families also play a vital role in supporting the operational effectiveness of our Armed Forces. In return, the whole nation has a moral obligation to the members of the Naval Service, the Army and the Royal Air Force, together with their families. They deserve our respect and support, and fair treatment.
Those who serve in the Armed Forces, whether Regular or Reserve, those who have served in the past, and their families, should face no disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public and commercial services. Special consideration is appropriate in some cases, especially for those who have given most such as the injured and the bereaved.
This obligation involves the whole of society: it includes voluntary and charitable bodies, private organisations, and the actions of individuals in supporting the Armed Forces. Recognising those who have performed military duty unites the country and demonstrates the value of their contribution. This has no greater expression than in upholding this Covenant.
Section 1: Principles of the Armed Forces Corporate Covenant
1.1 We Babcock International Group Plc will endeavour in our business dealings to uphold the key principles of the Armed Forces Covenant, which are:
- no member of the Armed Forces Community should face disadvantage in the provision of public and commercial services compared to any other citizen;
- and in some circumstances that special treatment may be appropriate especially for the injured or bereaved.
Section 2: Demonstrating our commitment
2.1 Babcock International Group Plc recognises the value serving personnel, reservists, veterans and military families bring to our business. We will seek to uphold the principles of the Armed Forces Covenant, by pledging to the following:
- Armed Forces Friendly
- UK Service Veterans And Leavers
- UK Service Spouses And Partners
- Flexible Leave For Spouses
- UK Reservists
- UK Cadets
- Armed Forces Day
- Reserve Forces Day
- UK Wounded, Injured And Sick
We also pledge the following:
Promoting that fact that we are an armed forces-friendly organisation o We will publicise our Armed Forces Covenant commitments on our website and we will display the Armed Forces Covenant logo o We will promote membership of the Reserve Forces to our employees and within graduate and general recruitment activity o We will offer a guaranteed interview to any member of the Reserve Forces who applies for an advertised role within Babcock. Seeking to support the employment of veterans o We will work with the Career Transition Partnership to ensure employment opportunities are made available to veterans o We will participate in selected Career Fairs for those leaving the Armed Forces o We value and recognise military skills and qualifications when interviewing for positions o Where practical, we will invite to interview, all veteran applicants who meet the selection criteria in a job specification o We will engage with CTP Assist to support as far as is practicable, employment opportunities for wounded, injured or sick veterans. Striving to support the employment of Service spouses and partners o We will attempt to find alternative employment within the business in another location if they need to move to accompany their partner. Endeavouring to offer a degree of flexibility in granting leave for Service spouses and partners before, during and after a partner’s deployment o We will sympathetically review requests for holidays before, during or after a partner’s overseas deployment, when the Service person has leave to spend with their family o We will consider special paid leave is appropriate for employees who are bereaved or whose spouse/partner is injured. Seeking to support our employees who choose to be members of the Reserve forces, including by accommodating their training and deployment where possible o We will accommodate reservists’ training commitments wherever possible o Through our Reserve Forces Training & Mobilisation Policy we will provide up to 10 days per annum special paid leave in support of a reservists’ training commitments o We will wherever possible accommodate the mobilisation of our reservists if they are required to deploy o We will encourage any reservists in our business to participate in Reserves Day. Offer support to our local cadet units, either in our local community or in local schools, where possible o We will engage with the Reserve Forces and Cadets Associations to identify opportunities o We will encourage our employees to be cadet helpers or instructors, where practicable. Aiming to actively participate in Armed Forces Day o We will promote Armed Forces Day via our intranet and encourage our employees to participate in Armed Forces Day local events.
2.2 We will publicise these commitments through our literature and/or on our website, setting out how we will seek to honour them and inviting feedback from the Service community and our customers on how we are doing.