17.03.2020

Women in the workplace – the work that still needs to be done

While women continue to drive change in the working world, from championing flexible working to tackling the gender pay gap, much still remains to be done.

A group of female lawyers from Ipswich-based law firm Prettys which has four female partners equal to men, discuss their take on how far women have come, and offer their advice on how employers can put the right policies in place to continue breaking down the barriers that are still holding back many women in the workplace.

The gender pay gap

Progress in tackling the pay gap between men and women is slow, says Vanessa Bell, Prettys’ head of employment law.

But she has seen some positive steps taken to tackle the gender pay gap, particularly in the legal world, in ensuring women have greater development and sponsorship opportunities through measures such as talent and leadership training programmes.

Forward-thinking companies are also increasingly offering enhanced parental leave benefits and promoting agile working to support staff trying to juggle parenthood and a career.

“A number of initiatives and campaigns have developed over the past few years to help promote opportunities for women in the workplace,” says Vanessa.

“One of these is the Mansfield Rule, which measures whether law firms have considered women lawyers for promotions, senior-level hiring and significant leadership roles.”

Supporting working mums

With many women taking career breaks to have children, Louise Plant, head of personal injury, highlighted what practices good employers should have in place for working mums.

“While it’s still often the case that the job can require long hours, employers should be becoming more alive to parents being able to work more flexibly in terms of hours and location so that a work-life balance is maintained as far as possible,” she says.

“A good employer recognises that the more they can do in terms of flexible working to assist parents where possible to be with their children, can ultimately result in those employees feeling valued, which in turn can lead to them working hard - and being loyal to a supportive employer.”

Dress codes

When MP Tracy Brabin faced criticism for wearing an off-the-shoulder dress in the House of Commons, it sparked a debate on dress codes in the workplace. And particularly whether women are unfairly judged on what they wear.

Georgie Hall, head of private client, urged people to challenge gender bias.

“Most workplaces have a sense of ‘appropriate’ attire but there is often a lack of discussion between what employers think is necessary, what service users find appropriate and whether there are job specific image requirements. The issue of gender is also thrown into the mix,” she says.

“The more that we recognise the need for discussion, the greater our chance of acknowledging that the real value-added focus should be on a person’s performance.”

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