Equality and diversity

How we treat the people who work here, the people who buy Bottle, and the drivers and office staff who use it every day because their employer chose it.

The law we work to

The Equality Act 2010 protects people from discrimination on the basis of nine characteristics: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation. It covers employment and it covers the provision of services, so it applies to how we would hire and to how we sell and support Bottle. We also have a duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people, which is an active duty rather than a matter of waiting to be asked.

Hiring

These are the commitments we hold to when we hire. They are easy to keep before there is a particular person in front of you and harder afterwards, which is why they are written down.

• Decisions about hiring, pay and progression are made on what somebody can do and what they have done, and nothing else.
• Job adverts say what the work actually requires. We will not list a degree, a number of years, or a way of working as a requirement unless the job genuinely needs it, because those are the usual places bias hides.
• Adjustments to how we interview are offered to everyone up front rather than made available on request, so nobody has to disclose anything to get a fair hearing.
• We will publish a salary range with every role, and we will not ask anyone what they were paid before, because starting from somebody's last salary carries forward whatever was unfair about it.
• We will not ask for unpaid work as part of an application.

The people who have to use Bottle

This part matters more to us than the rest, because of who our software is used by. Bottle is bought by whoever runs a gas distribution business, but it is used all day by drivers and office staff who had no say in the decision. They are stuck with what we build. That makes accessibility a matter of equality rather than a technical nicety, and it is the reason we treat it as part of this policy rather than as a separate exercise.

In practice that means the software has to work for somebody using a screen reader, somebody who needs large text, somebody who cannot use a mouse, somebody with a cheap or old phone, and somebody working in bright sun or in the dark. What we have done about that, how we tested it, and the places we know we are still short are all set out in our accessibility statement.

One thing we are open about: Bottle is written in English only. For a workforce where English is a second language that is a real barrier, and it is on our list rather than solved.

We also do not ask for information about people that the job does not need. Bottle holds no record of anybody's ethnicity, religion, nationality, date of birth or health beyond the sickness absence a business records for its own staff, because delivering gas bottles does not require any of it.

How we deal with people

We will not discriminate against a customer, a supplier or anyone applying to work with us on any of the grounds in the Equality Act. We will end an arrangement with anyone who harasses or abuses our people or theirs. Bullying, harassment and victimisation are not tolerated whichever direction they travel in, including from a paying customer towards us.

If you need something adjusted to deal with us, whether that is how we communicate, the format of something we send you, or extra time, ask and we will sort it out. You do not need to explain why.

Raising a concern

If you think we have got this wrong, in how we have treated you or in how the software works for you, email hello@getbottle.app. A person will read it and answer, and we would rather hear it directly than not hear it. If it concerns the software itself, telling us what you were trying to do and what got in the way is the most useful thing you can send.

Nobody will be treated worse for raising something in good faith. You can also go to the Equality Advisory and Support Service, which is free and independent, on 0808 800 0082.