John Lewis Partnership Plc - Head Office
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 John Lewis Partnership Plc - Head Office 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 John Lewis Partnership Plc - Head Office 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
We also pledge the following:
Promoting the Armed Forces: Promoting the fact that we are an Armed Forces-friendly and inclusive organisation, to our Partners (staff}, customers, suppliers, contractors and wider public. Promoting the fact that we are an Armed Forces-friendly organisation via our recruitment website -JLPjobs as well as our social media platforms and careers websites Show the AFC and ERS logos on our email footers, company website and other company literature where applicable Employment of veterans and service leavers: Supporting the employment of veterans, recognising military skills and qualifications in our recruitment and selection process Working with the Career Transition Partnership (CTP) to support the employment of Service leavers. We will also look to forge stronger links with the Forces Employment Charity Making reasonable adjustments where required to support candidates through our recruitment processes Being a Disability Confident employer - providing new Partner veterans who join our business with accessibility and support where required Promoting internal communities and ensuring that new Partner veterans can network with other Partner veterans if they wish. Signposting Partner veterans to the health and wellbeing commitment we make to all our Partners. This is alongside promoting the access to our specialist team who provide services to Partners who may require mental health and physical support. Our internal Health Hub has a whole range of information, ideas, tools, support and links to our Partner networks and communities to support our Partners remaining fit and well. Our PartnerChoice website also promotes wellbeing benefits such as ticket subsidy and sports and social clubs Support for service Spouses/partners: Supporting the employment of service spouses/partners Promoting career pathways available to Partners who are service spouses/partners. Where there are opportunities, supporting spouses/partners to transfer to a new location if their spouse/partner is relocated in the vicinity of a Partnership site Providing flexibility in granting leave for Partners who are service spouses/partners before, during and after a partner’s deployment. Our managers are encouraged to build and maintain great working relationships with all Partners and will be encouraged to use their judgement to ensure that leave is granted in these circumstances. Our “time away from work” policy cites a variety of ways to make this possible, through annual leave allowances, timebanking and paid and unpaid leave where necessary Operating a Flexible Working policy that applies to all Partners to ensure that, where possible, we provide the support for Partners to manage a good balance between their home and work lives Reserves: Supporting our employees who are members of the Reserve Forces Topping up service pay if it is less than contractual pay during any training and mobilisation Granting up to an additional 2 weeks paid leave for annual Reserve Forces training camps through our existing “time off for public duties” policy Supporting any mobilisations and deployment Cadet Organisations: Supporting our employees who are volunteer leaders in military cadet organisations, through our Partner Volunteers scheme Granting additional leave where possible to attend annual training camps and courses Actively encouraging members of staff to become volunteer leaders in cadet organisations and promoting success stories through our Partnership journalism Recognising the benefits of employing cadets/ex-cadets within the workforce and the skills and experiences this brings to our business National Events: Supporting the Poppy Appeal Day and Remembrance activities Armed Forces Charities: Supporting Armed Forces charities with fundraising and supporting staff who volunteer to assist Value and quality for all our customers: Maintaining our commitment to lowering our prices in Waitrose to make it easier to buy quality products when household budgets are under pressure. This investment in prices is a critical priority as part of our focus on all our customers Promoting our quality and value approach for every John Lewis customer every day.
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.