This week the Jackson Lees Group celebrates culture. The firm’s Diversity Committee is hosting a range of events; from guest speaker led discussions to a training session exploring unconscious bias.  Yesterday academic and criminal barrister Zia Chaudhry MBE addressed the firm speaking about the importance of diversity in the workplace.

Zia stated how the workplace must reflect wider society and discussed the intuition that a diverse, equal and tolerant workplace is a happier one in which fresh perspectives facilitate positive results. Further to this is the business case for diversity; research suggests that companies in the top quartile for gender or racial and ethnic diversity are more likely to have financial returns above their national industry medians. This goes towards establishing the importance of workplace diversity.  

With last Sunday marking International Women’s Day, it’s pertinent timing then to look at diversity through the lens of gender equality in employment. Sadly, the gender pay gap remains and despite the Equal Pay Act’s creation 50 years ago the fight continues. This fight received high profile attention recently when Samira Ahmed successfully brought an equal pay claim against her employer, the BBC. Ahmed’s claim was one for sex discrimination; she earned £440 per episode whereby her male comparator Jeremy Vine was paid £3,000 Equal pay is contractual right which can go back 6 years, Ahmed’s claim amounted to nearly £700,000. The Employment Tribunal ruled in Ahmed’s favour and the case settled out of court. I hope that Ahmed’s brave actions in calling out workplace discrimination encourages other women to also demand that their rights be upheld if they too have experienced discrimination. In so doing we will be working towards ensuring our workplaces truly are respectful and diverse places for all to flourish.  The photograph showing Ahmed entering the Employment Tribunal arm-in-arm with fellow women is a striking image of solidarity to all women in the workplace.

As Zia Chaudhry highlighted to the Jackson Lees Group yesterday, fundamentally diversity does matter.  Importantly, the law is here to ensure that diversity and equality is taken seriously.