Who are the employers in this guide?
By law all employers have to ensure that they treat lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) employees the same as everyone else. Unfortunately legislative protection doesn’t mean that discrimination no longer exists. Many gay people still experience harassment, hostility and discrimination – after all, it takes more than a piece of paper to change attitudes, workplace cultures and to really understand the issues LGB people can face at work.
But it’s not all bad – in fact far from it! Listed in these pages are the organisations that choose to work with Stonewall through our Diversity Champions programme. These employers understand how important it is to make proactive changes to ensure their workplace environment includes everyone, and that all employees – regardless of sexual orientation – can perform to their full potential. They also understand that they need to prove their inclusive credentials; and that potential employees, customers and members of the public need to know what steps they’re taking to be gay-friendly, which is why they chose to be profiled in this guide.
And if you’re not LGB but want to work for an organisation that understands the value of diversity, and of its people, don’t leave this website! If an organisation is good on sexual orientation, it is likely to be good on diversity in general, so take a look through these pages and see if there’s an employer here that works for you.
This year we’ve divided the guide into sections to make it easier for you to find the industry you’re most interested in. You’ll see an introduction to each section giving you information about the general culture of that sector and a personal insight from someone who has inside knowledge of the industry.
You may notice we talk about our ‘Top 100 Employers’. This means they are one of the top performers in the Workplace Equality Index – our annual assessment tool to measure what employers are doing to make their workplaces gay-friendly. The things they have to prove to us to get in the list include: are they engaging with both straight and gay staff on LGB issues; do they use inclusive language to make it clear that employee benefits apply equally to same-sex partners; does the organisation have any openly lesbian, gay or bisexual role-models? The assessment is very thorough so you can be sure the top performers are doing everything they can to prove their commitment to equality and embrace their LGB employees.
‘You can be sure the top performers are doing everything they can to prove their commitment to equality’
Remember that all the organisations profiled here have chosen to make a commitment to LGB equality and are engaging with us to improve the working lives of gay staff, and we are proud to call them our Diversity Champions. So whether you want to work for an investment bank or an ambulance service, what better place to start your search?
Good Luck!
