In the context of the CIISA Standards, an inclusive working environment is one where:

2.1 – Individuals in the Creative Industries Workforce – regardless of their role, seniority or employment status – know what discriminatory behaviour, including harassment, looks like. They understand that this behaviour is not acceptable and act accordingly. They recognise that:

• It is everyone’s responsibility within the workforce to prevent the discrimination of others, to promote inclusivity and to be open to learning and changing their own behaviour if necessary.
• Regardless of personal beliefs, they must treat everyone they work with in a professional, respectful manner, and can expect others to treat them in the same way.
• They can expect action to be taken to address discriminatory behaviour, even if it is unintentional, and to ensure it is not repeated. This action could include informal training, disciplinary action or termination of services (depending on employment status), or potential legal action by the victim.
• They are able to seek support for their mental health and wellbeing if they are affected by discriminatory behaviour, and to receive support in addressing such behaviour.
• Each person is an individual with specific concerns and experiences, and discriminatory conduct and other unfair treatment is not always attributable to a single, easily identifiable characteristic.
• The targeted characteristic(s) may not always meet the ‘protected characteristic’ definition in UK law – for example socio-economic background, accent or class – but action should still be taken to address harmful behaviour based on these characteristics.

2.2 – Senior Leaders promote a culture of inclusivity, treating people fairly and equitably, valuing everyone’s differences, and empowering and enabling each member of their workforce to thrive, regardless of seniority or employment status. They take meaningful preventative measures to ensure that their workforce do not face discrimination or disadvantage in the working environment. These measures include:

• Setting a good example by modelling the highest standards of behaviour.
• Clearly explaining to everyone they work with what discriminatory behaviour, including harassment, looks like and the consequences of such behaviour. This may be communicated through (but not exclusively) policies and procedures, contracts, service agreements, training and broader day-to-day engagement designed to avoid, reduce and mitigate against discrimination and any harmful conduct that may impact on members of the workforce.
• Prioritising the provision of training and resources to equip themselves and their workforce with the appropriate skills, competencies and means to support an inclusive working environment.
• Taking proactive steps to mitigate power imbalances, tackle abuses of power and address any structural barriers to inclusion.
• Ensuring they regularly review and meet the accessibility requirements of their workforce, including recognising and implementing the social model of disability (which seeks to remove barriers that prevent disabled people from participating in the workforce), and making reasonable adjustments as required under the Equality Act 2010.
• Ensuring that their workforce has access (internally or through third parties) to individuals with enhanced responsibilities for supporting others with access requirements, for example occupational health specialists and access co-ordinators (where applicable).

2.3 – Managers set the tone by promoting and embedding a culture of inclusivity, treating people fairly, valuing everyone’s differences, and empowering and enabling each member of their workforce to thrive. They do this by:

• Setting a good example by modelling the highest standards of behaviour.
• Developing their knowledge of recognising and addressing discriminatory behaviour, where it may be lacking.
• Taking responsibility for the behaviour of others in their team.
• Supporting the implementation of any accessibility requirements for their team, including reasonable adjustments as required under the Equality Act 2010, and any enhanced regulations under devolved nations.
• Proactively supporting individuals with enhanced responsibilities for supporting access requirements – such as occupational health specialists and access co-ordinators (where applicable) – to meet the responsibilities that come with the enhanced role.