Symphony Healthcare Services Ltd
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 Symphony Healthcare Services Ltd 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 Symphony Healthcare Services Ltd 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 our work, activities and events through our own digital and social media channels as well as working with the press. E.g. armed forces day promotion website, in-ternal bulletins social media Publishing our Covenant pledges on a dedicated Covenant section/page on our website Promoting the fact that we are an Armed Forces friendly organisation, to our staff, contractors, customers, suppliers and wider public Supporting employee volunteers to champion and contribute to the organisations com-mitment Veterans: Ensuring our practices are RCGP veteran friendly practices Welcoming Applications from and guaranteeing interviews with, veterans who meet the criteria in the job specification Recognising military skills and qualifications in our recruitment and selection process by ensuring our person specifications are focused on the key competencies for the role. Service Spouses & Partners: Supporting the employment of Service spouses and partners by welcoming applications from spouses/partners who meet the criteria in the job specifications. We can offer flexibility of employment type for example fixed term or bank contracts based around deployment needs. Partnering with and advertising vacancies on Forces Families Jobs and Recruit for Spouses, as well as advertising widely within the Armed Forces community Endeavouring to offer a degree of flexibility in granting leave for services spouses and partners before, during and after a partners deployment Reserves: Supporting our employees who are already members of the Reserve Force Staff are actively encouraged to become Reservists by promoting local recruiting campaigns Granting one week paid leave for annual Reserve Forces training. Plus an additional one week unpaid. Supporting any mobilisations and deployment Cadet Organisations: Supporting our employees who are volunteer leaders in military cadet organisations by being flexible around working arrangements. Consider additional unpaid leave to attend annual training camps and courses Actively encouraging members of staff to become volunteer leaders in cadet organisations by promoting local recruiting campaigns Supporting local military cadet units Recognising the benefits of employing cadets/ex-cadets within the workforce by assessing transferrable skills upon shortlisting and/or interview. National Events: Supporting Armed Forces Day, Reserves Day, the Poppy Appeal Day and Remembrance activities via our website, social media platforms and employee champions Armed Forces Charities: Supporting Armed Forces charities by supporting staff who volunteer to assist with fund-raising by promotion and consideration of unpaid time off from work to fundraise. Any additional commitments the company wishes to make: We will support veterans through health promotion offerings targeted at this group, wellbeing activities and social prescribing activities that recognise their specific needs.
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.