IBM named most gay-friendly employer in Britain
Stonewall today publishes its annual Workplace Equality Index, showcasing the UK's top 100 employers for gay people.
Top 2007 employer is IBM. In second place is last year's winner, Staffordshire Police. The Greater London Authority and Manchester City Council tie for third place.
Lloyds TSB is named Most Improved Employer and Manchester City Council wins an award for Network Group of the Year.
"A pink plateau still exists in too much of the British workplace," says Ben Summerskill, Stonewall Chief Executive. "The business case for addressing effective recruitment and retention of lesbian and gay staff is increasingly persuasive. This work isn't just about fair treatment, it's about establishing competitive advantage in the labour market. Happily this year there's excellence in every sector from which other employers across Britain can learn".
Larry Hirst, Country General Manager at IBM UK, says: "To be recognised by Stonewall as the leading UK employer for workplace equality is a source of tremendous pride. I'm convinced that the principles of diversity, inclusion and equality must sit at the heart of any truly modern, successful and confident organisation. This award will give IBM the impetus to further imbed these principles into the way we work, empowering all of our employees to succeed and thrive".
Fiona Cannon, Head of Equality and Diversity at Lloyds TSB says: "Our progress sends a powerful message to our lesbian, gay and bisexual staff and customers about how committed we are to making sure our organisation is fully inclusive, and has significantly helped us in building our brand with the LGB community. Stonewall's Workplace Equality Index has been crucial in helping us to understand what best practice tools looked like".
Steve Mycio, Deputy Chief Executive at Manchester City Council, says: "We're proud to feature in Stonewall's Index. It provides us with evidence that we are a supportive and progressive employer and that we value our LGB staff."
Employers were ranked according to criteria ranging from implementation of an effective equality policy to demonstrating how they engage with their lesbian and gay staff and customers and service users. The Index assesses actual practice, such as recruitment and mentoring activity, as well as just policy.
"Employers actively engaged in the talent market take Stonewall's Workplace Equality very seriously," says Stephen Frost, Stonewall's Director of Workplace Programmes. "They know Britain's 1.7 million gay staff and their colleagues now use this information in their career planning. Organisations that have made Stonewall's list deserve congratulations for their performance over the past year".
The awards will be presented this evening at a ceremony and champagne reception at the Wallace Collection in London sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Stonewall's Diversity Champions good practice programme currently has 254 members from across Britain with almost four million employees among them. Recent recruits include Manchester City Football Club, the Royal Air Force and Procter & Gamble. On average, programme members scored 14 per cent higher in the 2007 Index than organisations that do not work with Stonewall.
To download the 2007 Workplace Equality Index booklet, click here.
For further information contact: Vicky Powell, Communications Officer (020 7593 1856/07985 439 660), Andy Forrest, Communications Officer (020 7593 1856/07985 439660), Stephen Frost, Director of Workplace Programmes (020 7593 1863/07944 032206) or Alan Wardle, Director of Public Affairs (020 7593 1854/07720 718176).
Notes
(1) Case studies of successful lesbians and gay men in the UK workforce available on request.
(2) The 2003 Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations made workplace discrimination against gay people unlawful. In spite of the regulations, Stonewall still deals regularly with people facing workplace discrimination. Employment tribunals can award unlimited compensation to people who face discrimination or harassment at work on grounds of their sexual orientation.
(3) Research carried out in 2004 by the University of Cardiff for Stonewall found that one in four lesbian, gay or bisexual people in Wales had been dismissed or forced to leave a job at some point in their working lives because of their sexuality. Nearly half of gay employees still feel unable to reveal their sexual orientation at work.
(4) Government actuaries now estimate that six per cent of the adult population is lesbian or gay. The current UK workforce is 28.4 million.
(5) Stonewall is the gay equality organisation founded in 1989. Founding members include Sir Ian McKellen.
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