The Sandbag Times Issue No: 34

Harrison Clark Rickerbys signed the Armed Forces Covenant in
November 2014 and last year, Richard Morgan, Partner and Head
of HCR’s Defence, Security and the Forces Sector and Rebecca
Kirk, a Solicitor in HCR’s Employment Department accepted a
prestigious silver award on behalf of the firm as part of the
Ministry of Defence’s (MOD) Employer Recognition Scheme.
But what is it all about? Why would
businesses and employers want to sign
the Covenant? What are the business
benefits or business boo-boos of employing
members of the Armed Forces community?
And, most importantly, what does the Covenant
mean for those who have served?
What is the Covenant?
Put simply, the Covenant is a promise from the
nation ensuring that those who serve or have
served in the Armed Forces and their families
(known generally as the Armed Forces
community), are treated fairly. By signing the
Covenant it means that a business is committed
to supporting the Armed Forces community by
recognising the value that serving personnel,
veterans and military families contribute to our
businesses and our communities.
What can businesses and
employers do?
What a business actually does to demonstrate
its commitment under the Covenant is a
commercial decision but what is important is to
actually do something! It is not just about
signing! The Covenant is not a signature in a
shiny frame to display proudly by Reception. It
is a commitment. From a business perspective,
it is commitment to ensuring that no member of
the Armed Forces community suffers a
commercial disadvantage because of their
service. Be proud, of course, but proud of the
action you take as a business in order to
ensure that members of the Armed Forces
community are treated fairly and of the support
that your business offers to Veterans.
What might that commitment to be proud of
look like? Well, to suggest just a few examples,
businesses can:
• Commit to ignoring pre-conceptions about
members of the Armed Forces community.
• Offer guaranteed interviews to Veterans and
other members of the Armed Forces community
who meet the minimum selection criteria.
• Recognise equivalent military skills and
qualifications when interviewing for new
positions.
• Focus recruitment efforts on the Armed Forces
community, such as advertising through
‘service-friendly’ recruitment agencies, military
charities and publications such as the Sandbag
Times.
• Commit to finding alternative employment within
the business in another location, if an employee
is forced to relocate owing to a partner or family
member’s military service.
• Look sympathetically on requests for holidays
before, during or after a partner or family
member’s overseas deployment.
• Accommodate reservist training commitments.
• Accommodate mobilisation of reservists, if they
are required to deploy.
• Act sympathetically and with understanding
towards members of the Armed Forces
community who have been bereaved, whose
loved ones have been injured or who might
have caring commitments owing to their loved
ones injuries and consider practical assistance
such as unpaid leave or additional flexibility in
an employee’s role.
• Make services easily accessible to members of
the Armed Forces community by holding
briefing days, showcasing at resettlement
events, attending garrison welfare offices and
liaising with military charities about the needs of
Veterans in their community.
• Offer discounts on good and services to
members of the Armed Forces community –
particularly in relation to services that are
particularly relevant, such as legal services.
Why would businesses do it?
The business benefits of supporting and, in
particular, employing members of the Armed
Forces Community are numerous.
Former service personnel have a raft of
transferable skills acquired as a result of their
military service. The Armed Forces expect high
standards of professionalism, behaviour, selfdiscipline
and selfless commitment of all
serving personnel, together with expert ability in
their chosen field. The standard of training
given to military personnel across all services is
second to none, whether that be trade training
for specific disciplines or leadership and
management training which is required of all
but the most junior ranks.
Military families are, by their very nature often
adaptable, resourceful and resilient. They have
to forge relationships in the most unlikely
circumstances, often in fast changing
environments and that can result in great
people skills and self confidence.
And, let’s not forget, a great many Veterans and
service spouses are highly qualified to boot.
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