Costain 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 Costain 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 Costain 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
- Armed Forces Charities
- UK Wounded, Injured And Sick
We also pledge the following:
Promoting the Armed Forces: promoting the fact that we are an Armed Forces-friendly organi-sation, to our staff, customers, suppliers, contractors and wider public. Through the Costain Services and Service Families Network (SaSFN) we organise events and social meetings to share and celebrate military and blue light service insights. Veterans: supporting the employment of veterans, recognising military skills and qualifications in our recruitment and selection process. Working with the Career Transition Partnership and BuildForce to support the employment of Service leavers through advice, guidance, coaching and mentoring of veterans through transition (regardless of employment into Costain). Service Spouses & Partners: partnering with the Forces Families Jobs Forum and the Military Coworking Network to support the employment of Service spouses and partners. Providing flexibility in granting leave for Service spouses and partners before, during and after a partners deployment. We will support the Military Coworking Network providing advice and guidance to the development and growth of the organisation across all military bases in the UK. Reserves: supports membership of its employees in the Reserve Forces and reflects this posi-tion in published procedures. Agrees, wherever possible, to be flexible in granting time off to enable an employee to undertake Reserve Service training. Supports an employee who is compulsorily mobilised for service in the Armed Forces. Reservists will receive two weeks addi-tional paid leave for training. Once every five years, an employee will be granted additional un-paid time off to: support the Regular Forces for up to one month on non-mobilised duties support the Regular Forces for three to six months as part of a military force on Peace Support or Humanitarian Operations supporting any mobilisations and deployment; actively encouraging members of staff to become Reservists. Cadet Force Adult Volunteers: supporting our employees who are volunteer leaders in military cadet organisations, able to utilise two volunteering days annually and by local arrangement granting additional leave by exception to attend annual training camps and courses; actively en-couraging members of staff to become volunteer leaders in cadet organisations; recognising the benefits of employing cadets/ex-cadets within the workforce. National Events: supporting Armed Forces Day, Reserves Day, the Poppy Appeal Day, Remem-brance activities and key blue light service events. Armed Forces Charities: supporting Armed Forces charities with fundraising and offering staff who volunteer two days paid leave. From a corporate perspective we are partnered with The Royal British Legion, Samaritans and Help for Heroes which support Armed Forces Charities. The Victoria Cross Trust: supporting the Victoria Cross Trust to identify grave location and the condition reporting. The Costain Inclusion Board: the SaSFN is one of the six networks that form part of the Costain Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Board. Annually the SaSFN set out and agree their objectives in-line with their purpose, which are: to support transitioning ex-service personnel from military and emergency service careers into our industry (including mentoring support) provide support for the spouses/partners of service personnel act as a channel for corporate and social activities
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.