Taylor Wessing has been named as a Stonewall Top 100 employer for the third year running, increasing its overall score in the rankings and placing in the top ten of the legal sector.
Stonewall's 2020 Top 100 Employers list received a record 503 submission, placing Taylor Wessing at 51 among UK employers demonstrating their commitment to LGBT workplace inclusion.
As part of the Top 100, Stonewall collects more than 109,000 anonymous responses from employees on their experience of Britain’s workplace culture and diversity.
The firm is committed to enabling more opportunities that create an inclusive and diverse working environment. It continues to work extensively to drive initiatives to achieve this. These include:
- Reviewing our suite of parental policies to make them LGBT friendly.
- Developing and launching a new toolkit to accompany our Transitioning at Work Policy.
- Connecting with clients and other firms to share best practice on creating a supportive environment for LGBT people.
- Regularly reviewing our suppliers to ensure they support our culture of inclusivity.
- Communicating days of significance such as Pride, LGBT History Month and International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia and how we support our LGBT staff.
- Implementing learning sessions focusing on topics from trans awareness to inclusive leadership.
Commenting on the firm's ranking, Managing Partner Shane Gleghorn said: "Making the Stonewall Top 100 Employers list for the third time is another milestone for us. Last year, we worked hard to improve our position and this year, amongst a record number of competitive submissions, we improved our overall score. Our work on making our firm as inclusive as possible, the quality of our communications around LGBT issues and our work with the wider community were particularly praised by Stonewall, showing constant improvement through all our initiatives. Our clients insist on diverse teams and we embrace the diversity of our people and their individual strengths, which result in stronger teams. We are a firm that is committed to our LGBT employees and to providing a working environment where people can be themselves and flourish."
Sanjay Sood-Smith, Stonewall’s Executive Director of Workplace & Community Programmes, said: "We are delighted to name Taylor Wessing as one of our Top 100 Employers this year. All the organisations in this year's Top 100 Employer's list are playing a huge role in improving the lives of LGBT people, and should be very proud of their work.
'We still don't live in a world where everyone is able to be themselves in the workplace, as we know more than a third of LGBT staff (35 per cent) hide who they are at work. By taking steps to make their workplaces supportive and welcoming of all lesbian, gay, bi and trans people, businesses like Taylor Wessing are bringing us closer to a world where everyone is accepted without exception."
The firm is also dedicated to promoting inclusivity in the wider world through supporting several charitable organisations. This includes supporting Opening Doors London , a charity helping older LGBT Londoners, and Freehold, a forum for LGBT people in the property sector.
