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Thursday 29 Jun 2023

Network Rail celebrates being named in The Times Top 50 Employers for Gender Equality

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National

Network Rail, the organisation which manages, maintains and upgrades Britain’s railway infrastructure, has been recognised as one of The Times Top 50 Employers for Gender Equality for the third consecutive year, for its commitment to addressing gender inequalities in the workplace.

The Times Top 50 Employers for Gender Equality is the UK’s most highly profiled and well-established listing of employers taking action and making gender equality part of their business strategy at all levels.

While progress has been made, gender inequalities are still prevalent in UK workplaces today, especially in times of economic disruption, such as the aftermath of the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis.

Michelle Handforth, Network Rail’s Wales & Western regional managing director and sponsor for the Gender Matters programme, said:

“We are thrilled to have been named in the Times Top 50 Employers for Gender Equality for a third consecutive year. It’s a reflection of the tremendous amount of work we’re doing to create a truly inclusive and diverse workplace for all of our employees, where everyone feels respected, valued, and recognised for their contribution to our organisation.

“We’re making great progress, as our inclusion in the Top 50 testifies, and we’re determined to continue on this path so we can encourage more women to thrive at Network Rail.”

Through its Gender Matters programme, Network Rail has taken a number of steps to improve gender diversity between 2021 and 2022, including:

• Setting gender diversity in leadership targets - female representation in leadership has increased from 28.3% in 2021 to 31.2% in 2022.

 

• Introducing targets on female representation in senior leadership roles – growth in female representation from 25.16% to 26.17% in 2022.

 

• Making flexible/hybrid working more accessible & upskilled HR community on flexible job design/adverts and influencing hiring managers. This shift has helped to attract/retrain/develop an increasingly gender diverse workforce. We’re also embedding flexible working in our more senior roles, with a route director role being advertised as a job share for the first time.

 

• Updating the Family Friendly policy to include new Carers Leave and introduced five days of unpaid leave for carers to use on planned appointments.

 

• Addressing topics like menopause and menstruation in the workplace to create a more inclusive environment, this includes signing up to the ‘menopause pledge’ and the roll out of free sanitary products.

 

• Updating Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) offering including unisex & female fit, breathable material for menopausal symptoms and longer tunics for modesty reasons.

 

• Becoming a Signatory member of the Employers Domestic Abuse Covenant (EDAC). Network Rail are the first in the transportation industry to sign up. EDAC is designed to create positive, long term and sustainable solutions by supporting women affected by abuse to enter or re-enter the workplace by committing to identify employability opportunities including, workplace skills, job opportunities/experiences and mentoring.

 

• Celebrating and creating awareness around events and topics that directly impact women in minority groups such as – White Ribbon Day, International Women In Engineering Day, International Transgender Day of Visibility, Lesbian Visibility Day, National Coming Out Day & Hijab Day.

Business in the Community (BITC) has been running The Times Top 50 for 13 years, and this year, received more applications than ever before, with a significant number of new organisations appearing on the list. The name of the list, previously The Times Top 50 Employers for Women, has been updated this year to better reflect that addressing gender equality in the workplace requires achieving equality for all, and requires engagement from everyone. BITC gender equality work focuses on equality for all genders and those who do not identify as a gender.

This year’s applicants were assessed on the work they do to remove gender inequalities in the workplace, from flexible working to family friendly policies to pay, reward, and progression at work. All applicants submitted a case study alongside their application, evaluating their approach and impact in the field of gender equality.

Mary Macleod, Chief Executive at Business in the Community said:

“We know that when women succeed, the UK succeeds, enabling our communities and planet to thrive. Network Rail is one of the companies leading the way in building a culture where women can reach their full potential by showing real commitment to addressing gender inequalities in the workplace.”

ENDS