According to the latest report from InnovateHer, only one third of businesses in the UK currently enforce policies that protect women against sexual discrimination and harassment in the workplace, and just over half of companies supply sanitary bins or products in washrooms, despite this being a legal requirement in the UK.
In addition to this, the report, Gender Equality x Corporate Sustainability: A British Business Pulse Check, found that 83% of companies fall short on their employment regulation requirement of offering a safe place for breastfeeding people to pump at work, and only 43% of mothers are provided with sustainable childcare options and support.
And the findings don’t stop there: only 28% of businesses surveyed believe themselves to be a menopause-friendly environment, with just 19% of companies being privy to menopause awareness.
The results cast a doubt on the 95% of male respondents who believe the workplace does enough to support women in the workplace, blissfully unaware of what is legally expected.
The report comes after research showed that progress towards gender parity has slowed in the last few years, and that the gender gap has in fact widened since the pandemic.
A collaboration with Don’t Be Shy, the report called upon responses from approximately 200 professionals across the UK to take a temperature check of gender equality in businesses today, the awareness of EDI and what is being done to support it.
InnovateHer, is a social enterprise on a mission to create inclusive, equitable workplaces for tomorrow’s generations to thrive within. They work closely with their partner community to embed EDI into individual organisations, and therefore enable social change across the business landscape.
Chelsea Slater, founder of InnovateHer, said: “Our report reveals the reality that women of today face in the workplace. Although there have been some positive moves in the right direction when it comes to gender equality, it doesn’t take much digging to uncover the outdated dynamics and discrepancies that still exist.
“It’s a huge topic, and one that InnovateHer is deeply invested in. Our work focusses on opening up opportunities for women and non-binary people, because we know that gender equality benefits businesses and builds resilience in the long term.