Assembly ranked in top 20 gay-friendly places to work
11 January 2012
The National Assembly for Wales has been ranked 20th in the top 100 best employers for lesbian, gay and bisexual people in Britain, up 22 places from last year.
The Workplace Equality Index, produced by the equal rights organisation Stonewall, looks at a range of markers to measure how gay-friendly organisations are.
One of those measures looks at the staff network available for lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans-gender (LGBT) employees.
This year, the National Assembly has also been ranked number one in Wales for its LGBT employee network.
“The National Assembly must reflect the hopes and aspirations of all communities in Wales if we are to earn their trust,” said Sandy Mewies AM, the Assembly Commissioner with responsibility for equalities issues.
“Attaining such a high position in the Stonewall Index demonstrates the institution is serious about being an inclusive organisation that is able to deliver for every community.
“The fact that we have improved our placement in the index and, in addition, earned top place in Wales for our support network for LGBT staff, is a testament to the Assembly’s staff and management.”
In the past year, the National Assembly has undertaken the following work to make the Assembly a more gay-friendly place to work:
Our LGBT staff network has started a mentoring programme
We continue to work with local partners to celebrate LGBT History Month
We continue to have a presence at the Cardiff Mardi Gras – in 2011, the Presiding Officer spoke on the main stage
We have started to produce a monthly equality bulletin which contains information on LGBT news, publications, conferences etc
We promote LGBT equality internally, through our inclusive staff policies, training and awareness-raising
We have a senior LGBT champion and a number of senior straight allies who promote LGBT equality internally and externally.
“In a period of cuts and austerity the National Assembly has continued to recognise that equality is not an added extra but core to the effective delivery of their services, and that their staff can perform better when they can be themselves,” said Andrew White, Director of Stonewall Cymru.
“We received more entries from Wales than ever before this year and competition was as fierce as ever.
“Through continued leadership they have risen in the rankings by 22 places. This is testament to the dedication and commitment of a number of key staff.
“The National Assembly now ranks amongst the UK's top 20 employers. Congratulations!”