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Encouraging Employers to Embrace Equity on International Women's Day
This year International Women’s Day 2023 has everyone talking about embracing equity. To begin with, what do we mean by equity?
As with last years’s IWD campaign to #breakthebias, we can all challenge gender stereotypes, call out discrimination, and seek out inclusion. Each one of us can actively support and embrace equity within our own sphere of influence. Collective activism is what drives change.
Forging gender equity isn't limited to women solely fighting the good fight. Allies are incredibly important for the social, economic, cultural, and political advancement of women. From grassroots action to wide-scale momentum, we can all embrace equity.
Here we see the Hughes Paddison family doing just that - #Embraceequity. By striking the pose we are also opening up the conversation about diversity and inclusion and helping to raise awareness to everyone we work with.
Expert Equality & Diversity Employment Advice
If the #Embraceequity theme has got you thinking about reviewing your own Equality & Diversity policies, no need to worry, help is at hand. Kimberley Whalen-Blake, our Employment Law Director, is well-versed on the topic of Equality and Diversity, and is able to assist from policies, to recruitment processes and the overall workplace culture.
Since the Equality Act 2010 was introduced and brought together all of the discrimination legislation, claims in this area have been on the increase. The legislation is more accessible to individuals and discrimination is a constant media hot topic.
Understanding the sensitive nature of such complaints and the reputation damage they can cause, it is essential they are resolved quickly. Particularly so, where employment relationships are to be preserved.
Kim and her team provide timely, clear and commercial advice to help you make a decision that protects the business reputation, goodwill and the rest of your workforce.
Empowering UK Employers
As well as resolving disputes, we can also assist with the provision of training on Equality and Diversity to the managers or wider workforce, support your compliance with gender (and soon to be ethnicity) pay reporting and provide day-to-day advice on matters such as handling flexible working requests.
Getting to grips with the basics
The Equality Act 2010 legally protects people from discrimination in the workplace and in wider society.
It replaced previous anti-discrimination laws with a single Act, making the law easier to understand and strengthening protection in some situations
When it comes to making decisions, the Equality Act 2010 gives us a duty to take into account the need to:
The Equality Act protects people against discrimination on the grounds of protected characteristics, of which there are 9:
We are required to consider all individuals in their day to day work, in shaping policy and in providing services. This is in line with the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) introduced by the Equality Act 2010.
If you or your business has a need for expert, objective and commercially-centric Employment Law advice please contact our Employment Law Director, Kimberley Whalen-Blake on 01242 574244.
Kimberley Whalen-Blake