Interserve 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 Interserve 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 Interserve 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
- Armed Forces Day
- Reserve Forces Day
We also pledge the following:
We will continue to work closely with Defence Relationship Management to develop a mutually beneficial relationship between our business and the Armed Forces Community. We will internally promote the fact that we are an armed-forces friendly organisation by establishing a military steering committee and sharing updates on our intranet. We will encourage employees to participate as mentors to ex Service personnel who are setting up their own businesses. We will externally promote the fact that we are an armed forces-friendly organisation by publicising our Armed Forces Covenant on our website and by proudly displaying the Armed Forces Covenant logo and by notifying our supply chain of our commitment. We will use social media to lead by example and advocate support for the Armed Forces Community. WE will seek to support our employees who choose to be members of the Reserve forces, including by accommodating their training and deployment where possible; maintaining a Reservist HR policy and by granting 10 days additional paid leave for Reservists to undertake their annual training commitment. We will continue to encourage our Reservist employees to be ambassadors for the reserves by partaking in case study opportunities. We will seek to support the employment of veterans young and old by advertising all of our job vacancies through the Career Transition Partnership, attend Career Fairs, advertise in the resettlement magazine and we will endeavour to recognise military qualifications when interviewing for new positions. We will endeavour to support the employment of Service Spouses and partners by promoting our vacancies in local military communities. We will endeavour to offer a degree of flexibility before, during and after a partner’s deployment. We will ensure that line managers understand the Reserve commitment and ensure that Reservists are fully supported and do not face discrimination. We will consider offering work placement to serving military personnel and participating in military initiatives. We will support Armed Forces Day and reserves Day through our communication channels.
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.