About The Times Top 50 Employers for Women
Despite the ongoing challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic and the cost of living crisis, the Top 50 Employers for Women list by Business in the Community shows employers are working towards driving progress towards gender equality. The list is a way to recognise those organisations making progress on issues that are known to affect equality through strategy, policies and culture.
View the list of organisations on The Times Top 50 Employers for Women 2022: taking action on gender equality.
The list inclides organisations of different sizes, sectors and industries are assessed by BITC gender equality experts. The assessment focuses on four key areas:
- an organisation’s overall approach to driving progress
- the role of data in shaping and tracking plans
- specific policies around areas known to impact gender equality at work e.g. parental leave
- broader interrogation of organisational culture.
The 2022 application for included questions around the lived experience of women employees within applicant’s workplaces; asking what women say is working and what should improve.
Despite the significant challenges faced by employers and individuals over the last year, 2022 saw the highest number of applications in the history of the award.
The 2022 questions and scoring criteria were updated to reflect real-time best practices on gender equality.
A new question was added on low-paid women to explore employer action to support this group so heavily impacted by current events. The question on sexual harassment was also updated to recognise and encourage a more preventative approach to ensuring female safety (don’t forget to listen to our podcast episode with Sarah-Jayne Bray of Thames Valley police on sexual misconduct in the police force). This followed the steps we have seen employers make in response to the murders of Sarah Everard, Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman, as well as increased instances of domestic abuse during lockdowns.
Read the report here.