Mayor calls for all public bodies to be made ‘women-friendly’ workplaces as he sets out ground-breaking polices on domestic abuse, acute period pain and menopause
- Sadiq hosts first ever Women’s Policy Summit at City Hall
- The GLA’s sickness, menopause and workplace adjustment policies affirm that debilitating gynaecological issues - including severe period pain - are grounds for adjustment or leave
- Mayor urges others to adopt City Hall’s sector-leading provisions for colleagues fleeing domestic abuse - this includes an interest-free loan of up to £10,000 to help rebuild their lives
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has today called on the Government to begin a ‘wholesale’ review of workplace policies, across Government bodies, to ensure they are inclusive of and supportive to women at every stage of their careers.
Ahead of International Women’s Day, the Mayor has called for all public organisations to ensure the physical health and safety of their women employees are made key priorities and considered alongside more high-profile concerns such as access to flexible working and underrepresentation at senior levels.
In a letter to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Mel Stride, Sadiq has urged the Government to ensure taxpayer-funded Government bodies are taking their responsibilities to women colleagues seriously and are inclusive and supportive at every level. The Mayor said that for too long they have struggled to reflect the breadth of backgrounds and experiences which exist in their communities, including those of women.
He encouraged public organisations to ‘follow City Hall’s lead’ in making provisions for people experiencing severe gynaecological pain and urged these bodies to offer robust support to victims of domestic violence both practically and pastorally so that no one has to ‘suffer in silence’. This includes adopting City Hall’s sector-leading provision for colleagues fleeing domestic abuse which offers an interest-free loan of up to £10,000 to help rebuild their lives.
The Mayor has called for taxpayer-funded Government bodies to commit to the following:
- Robust provision for colleagues who are victims of domestic abuse.
- A strengthening of sickness and absence policies to ensure that debilitating gynaecological pain is affirmed as grounds for reasonable adjustment or leave.
- A clear strategy for the development of women into positions of leadership in order to generate a pipeline of talent.
- The implementation of a comprehensive policy to support colleagues during the menopause and perimenopause.
- Consideration of the experiences of women and the potential impact on women ahead of major policy changes.
The Mayor made these calls as he joined London's Deputy Mayor for Communities and Social Justice, Dr Debbie Weekes-Bernard in hosting London’s first women’s policy summit at City Hall – the fulfilment of a manifesto commitment to put the experiences and concerns of women at the heart of policy-making. The summit will help inform mayoral policy on how to tackle the skills and employment gap, the soaring cost of living and the housing crisis.
The conference will be opened by feminist scholar and activist Helen Pankhurst, feature a keynote intervention from the Women’s Budget Group and a speech by the Mayor. It will also include detailed discussions of some of the most pressing issues facing women in London, with the findings to be compiled and used by City Hall to help inform future policy.
The conference has been developed in partnership with the Women’s Resource Centre and builds on research commissioned by the Mayor in 2020 that revealed women had experienced disproportionate economic, social and psychological impacts as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. It also follows YouGov data from 2022 that shows that despite 24 per cent of women experiencing periods so painful they affected their ability to work each month, 40 per cent of these women said they had never taken time off work and a further 23 per cent only did so ‘sometimes’ or ‘rarely’.
The Mayor is committed to ensuring women are fully supported at work. That is why Sadiq has made commitments to reporting on the gender pay gap, furthering equality and improving diversity central tenets of his flagship workplace accreditation – the Good Work Standard - with which more than 115 London organisations are now accredited. The London Recovery Board have further encouraged organisations across London to improve representation in the workplace and promote employment rights through the Building a Fairer City Plan.
Since 2016, the Mayor has overhauled City Hall’s workplace offering to better support women at all stages and backgrounds. This has included the provision of sector-leading support for colleagues who are experiencing domestic violence, tailored training to enable career progression through the leadership programme Our Time, the development of a world-leading menopause policy, enhanced caring, adoptive and shared parental leave, the introduction of premature and neonatal baby leave and significant progress toward the elimination of the gender pay gap. City Hall has also led the way in breaking workplace taboos and supporting Londoners experiencing period poverty through the provision of free menstrual hygiene products onsite.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan said: “The pandemic and the cost of living crisis have shone a light on gaping inequalities in our society and it simply isn’t right that, in 2023, women continue to face significant barriers in accessing housing, employment and skills.
“As Mayor of this great city and as a proud feminist, I refuse to accept gender-based injustice as inevitable. It is vital that all public bodies are safe havens for women and must lead by example in offering women the best possible place to work.
“Too often the experiences of women have been an afterthought in shaping policy, but I am committed to ensuring that they will be front and centre as we work to build a fairer, safer and more prosperous London for everyone.”
Feminist scholar and activist Helen Pankhurst said: "On the back of previous work prioritising women’s concerns and even tackling taboos such as menstrual health at City Hall, it’s great to see the hosting this year by the Mayor of a women’s policy summit. This aims to discuss what more can be done to address the continued gender inequalities and the concerns of women and girls. How wonderful to see a feminist policy ecosystem developing in London."
CEO of the Women’s Resource Centre, Vivienne Hayes MBE, said: “WRC warmly welcomes the Mayor’s prioritising of the specific needs of women in London as decades of research and evidence consistently reveals the disproportionate negative impact of public policy making on women who are, let’s not forget, half of the population.
“We fully support his initiatives to address this and for all public bodies to adopt a more critical lens in their own policy making by conducting effective equality impact assessments. It’s high time that policy makers addressed inequality rather than compounding it. We want to see different choices made, especially by the government. It is critical to creating a healthier, economically successful society to address the entrenched inequality that women suffer.
“We will continue to work together with the Mayor to ensure London leads the way in addressing the age old unfair, unequal treatment of women and the intergenerational damage this causes.”
Head of Research and Policy at the UK Women’s Budget Group, Dr Sara Reis, said: “Women in London are at the sharp end of the cost-of-living crisis and the culmination of thirteen years of austerity that have made us poorer and put unfair pressures on the unpaid care labour women provide. A combination of employment discrimination and lack of adequate and affordable childcare and adult social care continues to disadvantage women economically, making it harder for us to deal with extraordinary rising costs of essentials. We need a combination of inclusive workplace policies with serious investment in our public services if we are ever to realise gender equality.”
GLA’s Unison Branch said: “GLA Unison are pleased that these important policies are now in place as the GLA strives to be a better employer for women. Women and family friendly policies are increasingly crucial as we work in a hybrid way across multiple sites.”
Notes to editors
Full text of the Mayor’s letter to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Mel Stride:
Dear Mel,
I am writing to seek your support in championing a wholesale review of the workplace policies of taxpayer-funded government bodies to ensure they are taking their responsibilities to women colleagues seriously and are inclusive and supportive at every level.
You recently stated that “in a tight labour market every worker is really important.” I couldn’t agree more. Throughout my mayoralty, by way of initiatives like the Good Work Standard and the London Living Wage I have sought to ensure that our capital becomes an increasingly attractive destination for workers of all disciplines and backgrounds and that it is a place in which everyone is able to thrive.
For too long our public bodies have struggled to reflect the breadth of backgrounds and experiences which exist in their communities, including those of women. The reasons for this are complex but having publicly-funded organisations underserving half the population cannot be accepted as inevitable. That is why, from City Hall, I have worked hard to foster a professional environment that is both ambitious and affirming, innovative yet inclusive and, while there is always more to be done, I have made the advancement of women at every level of the organisation a key measure of our corporate success.
We have invested in tackling structural barriers to the progression of women and prioritised their physical and mental wellbeing when implementing HR reforms. This has resulted in world-leading provisions being made for colleagues experiencing adverse symptoms of the menopause or perimenopause as well as debilitating gynaecological pain – something that affects 24 percent of women every time they have a period. Rather than leaving women to suffer in silence, at City Hall we seek to end stigma and provide support.
In the same way, we want our organisation to demonstrate the best of what society can be by offering a helping hand when circumstances can feel overwhelming. An estimated 1.6 million women and girls aged 16-74 have experienced domestic abuse and it would be naïve to think that those we know and work alongside may be exempt from this reality. That is why, in addition to pastoral support, we offer access to interest-free loans of up to £10,000 to enable recipients to find secure accommodation, put financial distance between themselves and the perpetrator and begin the process of rebuilding their lives.
In a just society, all public bodies should be safe havens for women and we should lead by example in offering women the best possible place to work. We also know that supportive workplaces have higher levels of colleague satisfaction and lower attrition. That is why I am urging you to join me in calling for all public bodies to follow City Hall’s lead and commit to the following:
- Robust provision for colleagues who are victims of domestic abuse. This should include training for managers in how to identify and signpost victims as well as access to mental health support and emergency interest-free loans where possible.
- A clarification or, where necessary, a strengthening of sickness and absence policies to ensure that gynaecological pain is affirmed as grounds for reasonable adjustment or leave without penalty. We must no longer be indifferent to women’s suffering.
- A clear strategy for the development of women into positions of leadership in order to generate a pipeline of talent. This will not only equip individual colleagues with essential skills but ultimately build resilience within the wider organisation.
- The implementation of a comprehensive policy to support colleagues during the menopause and perimenopause. It is high time we broke the taboo that still exists surrounding this aspect of women’s occupational health.
- The experiences of women and the potential impact on women must be considered ahead of major policy changes both internally and for public-facing interventions, not as an afterthought.
This is by no means a complete list and the pursuit of a fairer society will remain an ongoing task for us all but I believe that implementing these changes - as a baseline - would go some way toward making our taxpayer-funded public organisations more inclusive and ultimately more effective.
Finally, I will be hosting a delegation of women and allies at City Hall on Monday 6 March for our first gender policy forum to examine the disproportionate impact of the skills and employment gap, the cost of living crisis and the housing crisis on women. The findings of this summit will be compiled and used to inform future policy. I would be delighted to send you and the Minister for Women and Equalities a copy of the report.
Yours sincerely,
Sadiq Khan
Mayor of London