Companies urged to review gender identity policies in 2024 to attract and retain talent

Companies must create a truly inclusive and safe workplace culture if they are to attract and retain talent, says a leading HR & Employment firm.

Precept, an award-winning HR & Employment business based in Derby, says that businesses need to review their HR policies to ensure that their company promotes a zero-tolerance approach to bias, barriers and discrimination.

The most research on inclusion at work from the CIPD, the professional body that governs HR and people development, found that a staggering 55% of Trans workers in the UK have experienced conflict and harassment in the workplace compared with 29% of heterosexual, cisgender employees.   

And it’s not hard to see why. After all, a poll from TUC in 2022 highlighted that there is still a widespread lack of support for LGBTQ+ staff. For example, one in five workplaces told the TUC that they didn’t have any policies in place to support LGBTQ+ staff.

Precept recently held a webinar on gender identity in the workplace to offer advice to businesses and organisations, and Senior Associate Philip Pearson-Batt (pictured above) shared these tips.

He said: “Whilst there are no changes in law regarding gender identity in the workplace on the horizon for 2024, it is always a good idea for organisations to review their policies and procedures and to have more awareness on the topic as society changes.

Companies should train staff on EDI generally, with a specific focus on gender identity. Raising awareness and opening channels of communication can help.

Talking is encouraged, too. Chat to your Trans staff and listen to what they have to say; often they will be best-placed to tell you how they would like you to deal with a period of transition for them. Try to have inclusive resources and facilities; think about toilet facilities and uniform.”

Philip, who was promoted to Senior Associate at Precept last year, added: “Trans, non-binary and gender fluid staff are already offered some protections from discrimination under the Equality Act 2010 – for example, direct discrimination by treating trans staff less favourably than cisgender staff; maybe not offering a suitable candidate a job because they’re trans – indirect discrimination, harassment, and victimisation.

An example of victimisation could be removing clients from a Trans person in response to them raising a grievance that they’ve been bullied, because they are trans. A lot of employers don’t always know that Trans staff have an additional protection under section 16 of the Equality Act.”

He concluded: “Employers will be guilty of direct gender reassignment discrimination if, in relation to the Trans employee’s absence from work that is due to gender reassignment, they treat them less favourably.

This means that Trans staff should be receiving at least the same pay as they would for any other absence and employers should also be mindful of how they treat such absences when making redundancy decisions, too.”

Precept’s next webinar is on dealing with performance issues in the workplace. It takes place on February 14 and booking is now open via their website.