Northern Trust
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 Northern Trust 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 Northern Trust 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
- UK Reservists
- UK Cadets
- Armed Forces Day
We also pledge the following:
We will publicise our commitments under this covenant on our website and careers site. We will display the Armed Forces Covenant logo and our signature to this covenant in our client reception area. We will continue to support our staff network - the Military Appreciation and Assistance Resource Council (MAARC) and publicise its work on our website and intranet. Participating in Insight Days offering service leavers the chance to experience our industry and organisation. By recognising military skills and qualifications when interviewing for new positions and educating our Recruitment team and Hiring manager on how to do this. This will include the benefits of hiring veterans as well as reservists. Striving to support the employment of service spouses and partners: - by reviewing our policies and practice to ensure they are supportive of spouses and partners of reservists and veterans. Seeking to support our employees who choose to be members of the Reserve forces: - amending our current policy to include 2 weeks paid leave per year for training commitments. - Introducing a policy to support deployment, including pre and post deployment leave and the right to return to the same role (if the deployment is 6 months or less) or a similar role (if deployment is more than 6 months) Celebrating Reserves Day each year. Running community outreach events with local units to share the success stories of our veteran employees. Aim to actively participate in Armed Forces Day: Continue to be an Armed Forces Day Corporate Partner and use their logo on internal and external communications promoting the Day. Promote our association with the Day via our social media accounts. Celebrate the Day each year. Supporting our military focused staff network/affinity group: - continue to support our staff network - the Military Appreciation and Assistance Resource Council (MAARC) with an annual budget and executive sponsor.
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.