Why the pandemic must not be allowed to wipe out progress over gender equality - Greg Wright

Tens of thousands of people have lost their jobs over the last six months, as sectors such as hospitality and travel face the toughest trading environment in modern times.

There are concerns that groups who were economically disadvantaged before the pandemic will have suffered the most as companies shed jobs.

One Yorkshire lawyer, however, is calling on employers to think deeply about which staff they decide to let go.

#FairRedundancy is a campaign run by the human resources and employment specialist business Han Law, founded by Hannah Strawbridge.

Ms Strawbridge is calling on the UK’s major employers to sign up to a Fair Redundancy Pledge and be transparent on their redundancy programmes for 2020/21 and beyond.

“The pledge is simple,” said Ms Strawbridge. “We’re asking employers to declare the splits of their redundancy programmes by age, race, disability and gender.

“Our gut instinct is that women, individuals from minority ethnic backgrounds, the disabled and people of certain ages are going to be disproportionately affected by Covid-related redundancy.

Ms Strawbridge added: “Firms which take the pledge, are less likely to impose disproportionate redundancies on women, the disabled, the young and the old and those from minority backgrounds.

“We’re worried that all the recent progress on equality will now be eradicated and that as a result of Covid, women’s rights in particular, have been denigrated,’’ said Ms Strawbridge. “This pledge is intended to bring equality front of mind for leaders and allow them to demonstrate that they have been fair in their judgements.

“The harsh reality is that a lot of people will lose their jobs in the coming weeks and months. The pledge won’t stop that. However, the burden of those redundancies needs to be shared equally across society. Conduct a fair redundancy process and publish your before and after figures so that you can demonstrate that you’ve been even handed.”

The #FairRedundancy campaign has just signed its first major UK employer, the law firm Shakespeare Martineau.

Sarah Walker-Smith, Chief Executive of Shakespeare Martineau said: “Navigating a good course through the upcoming economic uncertainties requires us to have a strong, open and fair working culture. We’re happy to back greater transparency in redundancy programmes so that everyone knows where they stand and why.”

Employers looking to sign the pledge can visit: https://www.hanlawco.com/fair-redundancy-pledge/

Research carried out by McKinsey & Company found that women are more vulnerable to COVID-19–related economic effects because of existing gender inequalities.

To quote research published at McKinsey,com: “Using data and trends from unemployment surveys in the United States and India..we estimate that female job loss rates due to COVID-19 are about 1.8 times higher than male job loss rates globally, at 5.7 percent versus 3.1 percent respectively.”

The McKinsey study found that COVID-19 has disproportionately increased the time women spend on family responsibilities. It is not surprising that women have dropped out of the workforce at a higher rate than explained by labour-market dynamics alone.

Another factor could be COVID-19’s disproportionate impact on female entrepreneurship, including women-owned micro businesses in developing countries, according to McKinsey & Co.

The crisis may have made some family resources scarce, such as financial capital to invest in businesses or digital devices that families must now share as children’s schooling has gone online.

The pandemic has torn lives apart. Every employer must ensure that, as they make difficult decisions to help their business survive, they are not making life harder for people who were already facing huge economic obstacles.

Support The Yorkshire Post and become a subscriber today. Your subscription will help us to continue to bring quality news to the people of Yorkshire. In return, you'll see fewer ads on site, get free access to our app and receive exclusive members-only offers. Click here to subscribe.