The Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) has announced a new cohort of WGEA Employer of Choice for Gender Equality (EOCGE) citation holders.
WGEA's EOCGE citation is a voluntary citation that recognises employer's efforts to combat key drivers of workplace gender inequality.
These drivers include, but are not limited to, gender bias in recruitment and promotions, inequalities in pay, access to flexible work and parental leave, and sexual discrimination and harassment.
The list of 115 EOCGE citation holders cover nearly 505,000 employees.
The cohort includes 8 employers that have secured the citation for the first time, 81 employers that successfully renewed their citation for 2023-25 and 26 that are mid-way through their two-year citation.
WGEA CEO Mary Wooldridge congratulated this year's EOCGE citation holders for their dedicated work to prioritise actions that address deep-rooted causes of gender inequality.
"The actions of EOCGE employers provide an example to others about how they can start improving gender equality in their workplace," Ms Wooldridge said.
"One new citation-holder increased men's uptake of parental leave by 400% by removing the labels of 'primary' and 'secondary' carer, expanding the leave to 20 weeks, and actively promoting the stories of men and women taking parental leave to create a workplace culture that encourages and supports all employees to share caring responsibilities at home.
"Others have prioritised strategies and actions that improve the balance of women and men in key leadership positions or have found innovative ways to address pay, recruitment or promotion inequities.
"What they all have in common is a desire to take action to improve workplaces so that all employees can achieve their full potential.
"Where they hit roadblocks, they take note and plan new strategies to address them.
"In taking action to improve gender equality, EOCGE employers unlock enormous benefits for their business. Employees are more likely to join and to stay in organisations that prioritise a culture of equality and inclusion. Research also shows that businesses with greater gender balance in leadership roles are more profitable and productive."
The EOCGE citation is reviewed every 5 years. This review is currently underway. WGEA will release updated guidance about the enhanced EOCGE citation in late 2024 for new and returning applicants in 2025.
The full list of EOCGE employers is available on WGEA's website.
Background: The WGEA EOCGE citation
Criteria for the citation cover leadership, learning and development, gender pay gaps, flexible working and other initiatives to support family responsibilities.
The criteria also ask employers about employee consultation, policies and strategies to prevent sex-based harassment and discrimination, and targets for improving gender equality outcomes.
Employers must demonstrate what they are doing to close their own gender pay gap by conducting an annual analysis of what's driving their gender pay gap and following up on this by setting targets and identifying actions to reduce it. They must account for their progress every 2 years.
The Agency's certification process also requires employee confirmation that there's a zero-tolerance approach to gender-based harassment and sexual harassment, and that managers genuinely create environments within their teams that support equality for all employees.
The criteria are regularly strengthened to reflect best practice.
