Explaining non-binary and gender diversity to people who may be older or unfamiliar with these concepts can require patience, empathy, and clear communication. Here’s a way to explain these concepts in a simple and understanding manner:
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The diversity at the most recent Coronation ceremony reflected the changing values and reality of British society. While the essential elements of the ceremony remained the same, King Charles III’ ceremony showed how even the ancient, religious Coronation ceremony has adapted to place a greater emphasis on inclusivity and the participation of people from all walks of life. At a time when D&I has come into the royal spotlight, it’s now more crucial than ever to make sure your organisation is doing the most it can to celebrate and embrace a culture of inclusion and diversity.
In our recently published photo guide, we rounded up a list of people from minority backgrounds including women, people of different faiths and ethnicities, LGBTQ+ individuals and disabled people who were invited to attend and had active parts in the Coronation ceremony. Browse through this colorful guide and get in touch with us to find out how VinciWorks can help your organisation prioritise diversity and inclusion and be a role model for your industry!
Wednesday 5th July, 12:00 pm (BST)
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has announced that its biannual mandatory diversity survey will be due on 23rd July 2023.
All SRA regulated law firms, regardless of size, must collect, report and publish their workforce diversity data every two years.
In this webinar, VinciWorks’ Director of Best Practice, Gary Yantin, will be joined by Siân Hughes, Head of EDI at the SRA, and Andrew Donovan, Managing Director, at The Compliance Office. Gary, Siân and Andrew will discuss the importance of reporting and publishing SRA diversity data.
The webinar will cover:
Our recent survey has found that over half (56%) of HR and DEI managers are not yet carrying out any training around sexual orientation within their organisations. Furthermore, 62% of HR and DEI managers have witnessed discrimination against sexual minorities in the workplace.
Almost a quarter of those surveyed (23%) revealed they had witnessed this type of discrimination several times, while only one-third (33%) had not seen any discrimination against LGBTQ+ employees.
Only a quarter (25%) of HR and DEI managers plan to roll out sexual orientation training to their employees to combat discrimination in the workplace in the near future, but barely a fifth (22%) of those questioned are undertaking the recommended training every year.
While over half (57%) of HR and DEI managers think their organisations provide a significant amount of support to LGBTQ+ employees in their workplace, 43% of those surveyed admitted they feel their organisations are not very supportive. This highlights the substantial amount of work that still needs to be done to make sexual minorities feel comfortable in the workplace.
“Organisations must recognise the importance of supporting LGBTQ+ employees to feel comfortable in the workplace, which means educating the whole workforce about the challenges that sexual minority employees face. Regular training on sexual orientation also supports staff to know how to speak to colleagues and clients with more sensitivity, more understanding, and also challenge those potentially biassed. People should be able to bring their whole selves to work, and that includes LGBTQ+ people,” commented Nick Henderson-Mayo, Head of D&I at VinciWorks.
“Having more comprehensive training sessions that are shared with all employees allows sexual minority employees to see that their organisation cares about them and creates a culture of respect for LGBTQ+ employees that helps brands build strong, inclusive reputations.”
To support HR and DEI managers in tackling discrimination against sexual minorities in the workplace, VinciWorks has launched its latest film-based training on Sexual Orientation and is offering a free trial of the course.
Organisations have increasingly shown their commitment to sexual minority employees and customers with inclusive marketing and rainbow advertising.
But what concrete steps should organisations take to support their sexual minority staff, and how can businesses celebrate Pride when there are still so many challenges that LGBTQ+ individuals face worldwide?
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The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has announced that its mandatory diversity survey will be due sometime in the summer of 2023. The SRA has said that it will provide four weeks’ notification prior to the actual deadline. VinciWorks is proud to offer all law firms in England and Wales a simple, free and secure way to anonymously collect and aggregate diversity data via our compliance management software, Omnitrack.
After registering, you will be provided with a unique link to send to your staff. We will send you all data collected, together with aggregated data in the format required by the SRA, in advance of the reporting deadline. Click here to preview the questionnaire.
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Updated 1 June 2023
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has announced that its mandatory diversity survey will be due in the summer of 2023. The SRA will open the survey on 26 June when they will email firms with a link for reporting.
The SRA has given a reporting period of four weeks – the deadline is 23 July 2023. Firms should have received an email on 18 May with information on reporting.
All firms, of any size, even sole practitioners will have to collect and report the data to the SRA. However, in-house lawyers will not need to report.
In order to make this mandatory report to the SRA, firms will need to collect diversity data, based on a questionnaire, from all staff. The firms will then have to collate the data and organise it by specific job roles before submitting it to the SRA.
You can use the SRA’s Word version of the questionnaire or VinciWork’s SRA diversity survey data collection tool.
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Menopause leave matters. In the UK alone, 60% of women have taken time off work due to menopause symptoms, 900,000 women have left their jobs due to menopause, and 99% of women said menopause symptoms had impacted their careers according to data from CIPD.
Businesses know staff turnover is expensive. And the costs are exponentially greater when staff have more experience and have developed long term organisational knowledge. It’s expensive to lose any staff, it’s even more expensive to lose experienced staff, while the benefits of investing in diversity and inclusion have returns many times greater than any initial investment.
We’ve written before about how employers can be more supportive of women experiencing menopause, and some companies have already moved forward with flexible working for all to help employees deal with whatever issues they have in their own time. Whether or not employees offer flexible working, all employers should be offering menopause leave.
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Intersectionality describes the relationship between our multiple identities and how they can create a unique experience of discrimination, bias and privilege.
If a person has more than one marginalised or minority group identity, they are more likely to experience overlapping forms of bias, discrimination and disadvantage, both in the workplace and in wider society.
To tackle these inequalities, we cannot look at each identity and the associated injustices in isolation because people experience injustices intersectionally. Therefore, to tackle inequalities, we need to explore these intersecting identities and the unique experiences they create for people.
Continue readingPeople are multi-dimensional in their identities and may identify with several different marginalised or minority groups at the same time. These overlapping identities can result in multiple and intersecting forms of bias, discrimination and disadvantage, both in the workplace and in wider society.
Intersectionality provides a framework for considering our different identities and experiences in order to understand the complexity of biases and prejudices that people can face and take steps to address any resulting inequality or discrimination.
In this webinar, we drew on expert insight, ‘lived experience’ interviews and original drama to look at how an intersectional approach can support inclusion and help to achieve more equitable outcomes.
The webinar covered:
