Law Firm Ranked Amongst Best UK Businesses For Championing Inclusion In The Workplace

Irwin Mitchell has received a Gold Award, having been recognised as one of the top 100 employers in the country for equality. A Highly Commended Network Group Award also marked the achievements of the law firm’s internal group for championing lesbian, gay, bi, trans, queer, questioning (LGBTQ+) inclusion in the workplace.

For the second year running, Irwin Mitchell achieved a Gold Award for being ranked amongst the UK’s top 100 employers in 2023, ranking 36^th in the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index.

The work of IM Equal, the firm’s internal networking group for LGBTQ+ inclusion also attained the Highly Commended Network Group Award from Stonewall, recognising the efforts of the firm and colleagues in continuing to deliver on its diversity and inclusion agenda.

Stonewall is Europe’s largest charity for lesbian, gay, bi, trans, queer, questioning and ace (LGBTQ+) people. The Workplace Equality Index is a competitive tool that organisations use to benchmark their LGBTQ+ inclusion practices against other organisations.

Feedback from organisations like Stonewall forms part of the resources Irwin Mitchell uses for ongoing assessment and evaluation process in respect of the firm’s diversity and inclusion policy, something tested by regularly seeking the views of staff.

LGBTQ+ History Month in February will see the firm celebrating achievements over the years and recognising what more still needs to be done. The conversation began with a national meeting organised by IM Equal on 8 February, exploring key moments in LGBTQ+ history.

The firm also published a Responsible Business Report, which highlighted progress made, including:

• A leader in the legal industry for gender equality – with the highest percentage of female partners and a low gender pay gap

   

• Ranked 16th in the Great Place to Work Index for Super Large Businesses across the UK with new wellbeing initiatives, improved menopause support for colleagues and achieving Level 2 Disability Confident as an employer

February also saw the launch of Irwin Mitchell’s new Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) Advisory Service, helping clients with diversity and inclusion assessment, support and training.

Charlotte Delaney, the diversity and inclusion manager at Irwin Mitchell, said: “We’re proud to continue to champion LGBTQ+ inclusion and these latest results from the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index demonstrate our consistently strong performance when it comes to promoting diversity and inclusion.

“IM Equal has continued to successfully spearhead these efforts, which has been recognised again with the Highly Commended Network Group Award and while marking our achievements to date, we also recognise there is more to be done.

“Our latest ESG services will support our clients looking to improve their own performance when it comes to inclusivity and enables us to pass on what we have learned on our own journey to a more diverse workplace. We’re looking forward to building on this further over the weeks and months ahead.”

Nancy Kelley, CEO of Stonewall, said: “It’s been fantastic to see all of the work put in by Irwin Mitchell over the past year to create a workplace where LGBT+ staff feel free to thrive as themselves.

“For many of us, the majority of our time is spent at work, so if we have to hide from who we are it can take an enormous personal toll and hold us back from fulfilling our true potential. Creating environments where we can all feel comfortable makes our workplaces a safer, better and friendlier place for everyone and helps staff to be proud of who they are.

“We’re incredibly proud to see so many new entrants from a range of sectors on this year’s list, who are committed to making LGBT+ people’s lives better. That’s what inclusion is all about.”