We know that as a business, to authentically participate in Pride we need to be actively striving towards the continued positive change that’s needed to reach total equality as an industry (and as a society).
So, in line with our core values of Pursuing Improvement, Always and Empowering Our Employees we have been dedicating time to reviewing our policies internally with a view to figuring out where we can implement positive change. In this way, we hope to be able to participate in the conversations and celebrations around Pride in the knowledge that we are actively moving towards a more inclusive future.
There are two key areas that we would like to highlight in honour of 2023’s Pride Month. The first, being that we will now be including salaries in our job listings, and secondly, promoting our comprehensive parental leave package.
Historically, we have not included salary brackets on our job postings. This is something that—as a result of our recent review—we are changing. While we have never discriminated against candidates and pride ourselves as an equal opportunities employer, this move increases transparency within our recruitment process. Increasing transparency will serve to increase trust, meaning that candidates will be able to apply for a job with the peace of mind that their protected characteristics have no bearing on their salary offer. It is a public reassurance to candidates that as a Group, we take diversity, equality and inclusion seriously.
Another area of improvement is around our family friendly policies. Under UK law, maternity, paternity, shared parental, adoption and surrogacy are all available. We (of course) provide these and are happy to share that we are working on updates and enhancements to these policies to maintain a company environment where staff can thrive.
Furthermore, we are raising awareness internally around the wide range of options available for all parents-to-be, with awareness pieces to boost visibility and understanding of these policies. For example, we highlight that paternity leave is non-gendered: you can take paternity leave if you are the partner, spouse or civil partner of the birth mother, regardless of sex/gender. We will continue to strive to ensure that our family friendly policies are as visible and accessible to families of all types.
Creating a more inclusive workplace is a year-round priority for us. So, ahead of Pride Weekend, we would like to reiterate our commitment to ongoing improvement and supporting our staff in all the ways we can. We will continue to review our processes and enhance our policies and processes to build a better future and we look forward to sharing our progress with you as we go.
