Improving inclusion for LGBTQI+ employees

Explore the issues affecting LGBTQI+ employees at work, and how employers can better support them in palpable ways.

Many LGBTQI+ people in the UK still choose not to disclose their sexuality at work

While evidence in recent years has shown acceptance of LGBTQI+ relationships is increasing, there is still a strong avoidant response when it comes to being ‘out’ at work for LGBTQI+ people.

According to the Government’s LGBT action plan, 70% of respondents with a minority sexual orientation said they had avoided being open about their sexual orientation for fear of a negative reaction from others.

During Pride Month (1 – 30 June) we’ll be taking a closer look at some of the issues affecting LGBTQI+ employees at work, and how employers can better support them in palpable ways.

Coming out at work

According to the Trades Union Congress (TUC), one in five workplaces do not have any policies in place to support LGBTQI+ employees at work.

Measures to support the physical and psychological safety of these employees is distinctly lacking in some important areas.

The fear of negative reaction to their identity, rejection, bullying, and harassment are just some of the issues affecting people from a minority sexuality or gender identity, in the workplace.

The effect of these can be compounded if there is no clear way to report for employees to report bullying, harassment, or discrimination.

The importance of support from management and company policies cannot be overstated, even in companies that have supportive policies.

Particularly when the TUC’s research found only 34% of workplaces with those policies had reviewed them in the last 12 months, along with 28% who could not recall when they last looked at them.

Risks

People who are gender non-conforming, including Transgender people, are at inherently higher risk of unemployment, workplace harassment and discrimination.

According to Skylar Davidson’s research on gender equality in the workplace, about half of Transgender people have reported adverse job outcomes, such as being fired, not hired, or denied a promotion because of their gender identity or expression.

In the European Union, six times as many trans people as cis lesbian, gay and bisexual people report being assaulted at work.

This has been exacerbated by a recent increase in anti-transgender laws, in countries including the United States and Hungary.

Having a workplace which is supportive and welcoming of different sexual orientations and gender identities can be not just affirming, but lifesaving.

Equality Matters outlines the risks an LGBTQI+ person navigates in expressing their identity to prospective or current employers include:

  • Discrimination during their job search.
  • Deliberate mis-gendering.
  • Having to deliberately hid their identity to avoid discrimination.
  • Exhaustion from having to repeatedly explain their identity.
  • Experiencing negative reactions from customers and clients.
  • Colleagues and managers who are anti-LGBTQI+ and who express these sentiments openly.
  • Potential pay gaps between LGBTQI+ and non-LGBTQI+ employees.
  • Being denied access to workplace family policies such as adoption, maternity, paternity and shared parental leave.

Impacts

The mental health impacts can be significant for a person encountering these issues and barriers.

Increased rates of anxiety, depression, and mental fatigue can have specific flow-on effects for employees who identify as LGBTQI+, such as:

  • Aversion to and or loss of candidates from certain industries, due to real or perceived anti-LGBTQI+ bias.
  • Even being perceived as queer or outside of conventional norms can increase an employee’s risk of bias.
  • Workplace pressure to perform in a specific gendered way – e.g., pressure to appear more feminine to get tips in a service industry.
  • Employee absenteeism, becoming unable to complete the core tasks of their role and increased turnover.

How employers can make their workplace welcoming and inclusive

There is evidence companies who embrace LGBTQI+ policies, outperform their competitors, by at least three percent in recent years, the Credit Suisse has found.

Workplace review company Glassdoor UK share some of their insights on how businesses can actively support LGBTQI+ employees:

  • Develop a clear mission for supporting LGBTQI+ employees – communicate this mission to all employees through education and training about your inclusion policies and strategies for supporting LGBTQIA+ employees.
  • Take LGBTQIA+ discrimination seriously – Promptly act when issues arise. Establish a strong anti-discrimination policy in your recruitment & promotion practices and be sure all employees know what is not tolerated in the workplace.
  • Develop support programmes for LGBTQIA+ employees – Mentoring, employee networking groups, seminars, and conferences all go a long way in becoming a more inclusive place to work for LGBT employees. You can also support employees with measures such as climate surveys, LGBTQ competency trainings, and employee resource groups (ERGs).
  • Get support from senior staff – Gain the support from the very top and promote senior staff champions, who can help implement diversity initiatives, mentor junior LGBT colleagues, and act as sponsors of employee network groups.
  • Use gender neutral language – Referring to someone you don’t know as ‘they’ rather than using the pronoun ‘he’ or ‘she’, or addressing a group as ‘everyone’ rather than saying, ‘hey, guys’. Grammarly have made a guide for gender neutral language at work.

Resources

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