LGBTQ+ inclusion in the workplace: Are your policies fair?

Dr Enya Doyle explores the importance of organizations reviewing employee policies and benefits for LGBTQ+ staff. Based on the current legal landscape, she outlines key policies employers should know about and discusses how they can monitor and measure progress to meet the evolving needs of LGBTQ+ employees.

It’s well established now that fostering an inclusive workplace is more than a moral imperative — it’s a business necessity.

Ensuring that LGBTQ+ staff receive equitable treatment is crucial to maintaining a diverse and dynamic workforce. Given that at least 3.5% of the UK population falls under some part of the LGBTQ+ umbrella, you likely work alongside LGBTQ+ employees and colleagues.

Yet, despite shifts in societal attitudes and legal protections, challenges remain for LGBTQ+ people at work. This article explores the five key areas HR leaders need to address to ensure LGBTQ+ employees are treated fairly in their policies and have access to benefits that work for them.

QUICK LINKS

• Understanding the legal landscape for LGBTQ+ employees
• Evaluating your employee policies for LGBTQ+ inclusion and equality
• Creating an LGBTQ+ inclusive workplace culture
• Monitoring and measuring progress
• Reviewing LGBTQ+ inclusion in your workplace

1. Understanding the legal landscape for LGBTQ+ employees

The Equality Act 2010 is a cornerstone of employee legislation for LGBTQ+ people in the UK with both sexual orientation and gender reassignment being protected under the Act. It has also been over ten years since the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 legalized same-sex marriage and twenty years since the Gender Recognition Act 2004 legally permitted transgender people to change their gender.

Whilst the Equality Act legally protects people from discrimination in the workplace and wider society, recent workplace legislation is also relevant to LGBTQ+ staff. This includes:

Carer’s Leave Act 2023

The Carers Leave Act states that anyone who is legally an employee can take time off to help a dependant who needs long-term care. An employee’s dependant can include a wife, husband, civil partner, or partner.

Paternity Leave (Amendment) Regulations 2024

Statutory Paternity Leave allows an employee to take paid leave for one or two weeks when their partner is having a baby, adopting a child, or having a baby through a surrogacy arrangement.

Flexible Working Law

Every employee has the legal right to request flexible working from the first day of their employment. Flexible working covers part-time work, compressed hours, changing hours to fit better with commitments such as schooling and caring, and working from home.

The Worker Protection Act

The Worker Protection Act introduces a new duty for employers where the onus is on them to prevent sexual harassment at work. This duty requires employers to take reasonable steps to avert sexual harassment of their employees whilst employed.

While the law essentially underpins organizational policies, legislation alone is not enough to ensure organizations remain compliant and should only be seen as a benchmark. In practice, the legislation should inform and underpin your employee policies, and both then need to be translated and embedded into day-to-day practices that foster an inclusive environment for all.

To bring their employee policies to life, and reap the benefits, organizations need to move beyond ticking the minimum legal compliance box and proactively embed inclusion at the core of their business practices.

2. Evaluating your employee policies for LGBTQ+ inclusion and equality

Check when was the last time you reviewed your employee policies with an eye to the impact they have on minoritized colleagues. To successfully implement these policies, organizations will need to first evaluate them and their effectiveness. By regularly reviewing policies and procedures, businesses can experience a range of benefits from improved employee engagement to financial performance.

Beyond this, by adopting an anticipatory approach to policy development, employers can better assess the impact and practicality of their policies.

As a result, organizations are better positioned to analyze how their policies impact different groups of people including minoritized colleagues, and fine-tune them to ensure they are fair, inclusive and equitable.

Having a full suite of inclusion-first company policies is a strong baseline from which to build a culture of equity and belonging. Below are four types of common policies that we recommend reviewing with their impact on LGBTQ+ colleagues as your focus.

• Bullying and harassment policies: Ensure your non-discrimination policies explicitly mention sexual orientation and gender reassignment. Offer practical, real-life examples of what this includes to set a clear standard. This can help prevent bias in hiring, promotions, and day-to-day interactions.

Quick tip: Make sure LGBTQ+ colleagues are aware of the reporting mechanisms in your company, and that they know that their reports will be taken seriously.

• Parental leave policies: LGBTQ+ employees should have equal access to parental leave. This includes ensuring that policies are inclusive of same-sex couples and provide equal benefits for adoption, fostering and surrogacy. Be sure to check whether your policies are inadvertently heteronormative – e.g. they might refer to “your husband” or use “she” pronouns when referring to pregnant people.

Quick tip: Read the policy through the eyes of a gay/bisexual man considering his options for parental leave. Is your policy wording exclusionary? You can then repeat this for lesbian/bisexual women and for trans and non-binary colleagues.

You should also be explicit in your bereavement leave clauses that the policy is inclusive of LGBTQ+ relationships. It’s important to know that this might be the first time your company is made aware that a colleague is in a same-sex relationship.

• Health and wellbeing benefits: Consider whether your health benefits cover the unique needs of LGBTQ+ staff. This includes coverage for gender-affirming treatments and access to fertility treatments and surrogacy. If your company offers health insurance, make sure that you extend that coverage to domestic partners, regardless of legal marital status. If you offer access to counseling, check if you have specialist support for LGBTQ+ colleagues.

Quick tip: Do you have paid leave available to accommodate the needs of employees undergoing gender transition including support for employees who need time off for medical appointments related to transition?

3. Creating an LGBTQ+ inclusive workplace culture

Creating an LGBTQ+ inclusive workplace culture is more than just complying with legal requirements. It’s about fostering an environment where all employees feel safe, valued, and empowered to be their authentic selves. By promoting inclusivity, you can enhance employee morale, attract top talent, and create a more innovative and dynamic workplace.

Training and education

Regular training on barriers to LGBTQ+ inclusion can help create a sense of belonging and safety for your employees. This should include:

• Awareness training: Educate employees on barriers for LGBTQ+ employees, including updates to inclusive language and terminology.
• Bias training: Help employees recognize and mitigate their biases.
• Leadership training: Ensure that managers understand the importance of inclusivity and how to support LGBTQ+ team members.

Employee resource groups

ERGs for LGBTQ+ employees can provide vital support and foster a sense of community. These groups can also serve as a valuable resource for HR leaders, offering insights into the unique challenges faced by LGBTQ+ staff.

Active leadership

Senior leaders should actively support LGBTQ+ inclusion. This can be through participating in Pride events, public statements, and ensuring that inclusivity is a key part of the corporate strategy. Do you have any LGBTQ+ leaders on your team? If not, why is that? You may find our post of the 10 things your LGBTQ+ employees want you to know is a useful resource.

4. Monitoring and measuring progress

Undertaking regular reviews and updating your policies is essential to ensuring the evolving needs of LGBTQ+ employees continue to be met. Use metrics to track the effectiveness of your inclusivity efforts and seek routine feedback from LGBTQ+ colleagues. Key metrics might include:

• Employee satisfaction surveys with specific questions on LGBTQ+ inclusion
• The number of LGBTQ+ discrimination or harassment complaints
• Participation rates in LGBTQ+ training programs

5. Reviewing LGBTQ+ inclusion

Ensuring that LGBTQ+ employees receive a fair deal requires more than just compliant policies. It demands a proactive and ongoing commitment to inclusivity at all levels of the business.

By evaluating and enhancing your employee policies and benefits and having LGBTQ+ colleagues help you measure your progress, you can create a workplace where all employees, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, feel valued and supported.

Taking these steps can really impact a person’s sense of belonging and quell a sense of “only-ness” (feeling like the only person in your company experiencing this).

Your role is pivotal in making LGBTQ+ colleagues feel safe, supported and represented well in your company.

If you would like help with reviewing your policies and ensuring your LGBTQ+ colleagues are getting a fair deal, please get in touch today.