Back in 2006 the Women and Work Commission produced a report called ‘Shaping a Fairer Future’ (opens as .pdf). Various things happened as a result of the recommendations put forward in the report, and periodically the government produces a long document updating people on the progress made towards implementing all those recommendations. Reading through some of the reports since then, they are taking their obligations seriously.

Unfortunately, most of what they want to achieve is cultural change – getting girls to choose non-girly careers and shifting the focus of employers towards flexible working and opportunities for women returners. It’s hard to measure culture shifts and frankly they are difficult to write about. Press releases on equality reps or leading by example are bound to come across as just a load of buzz words strung together.

There is something concrete: the Exemplar Employer Initiative. Launched by the government with the help of Opportunity Now, the list of employers tackling gender inequality has grown from 8 private sector companies in February 2006 (nothing in the public sector? shame on you) and now stands at 113 (both private and public sector). You can read the full list here.

This list of companies was released two weeks ago and represents the organisations deemed “best employers for women in the country”. These employers have a raft of women-friendly policies like equal pay and flexible working. The ‘Towards a Fairer future’ report also highlights some vague and patronising things that these employers are doing like ‘helping women to develop management and leadership skills’ (page 51, opens as .pdf). I hope they mean relevant women and not a scheme whereby all women from the officer cleaners to the CEO go on leadership training.

The downside to the Exemplar Employer Initiative is that it appears any company can be part of it. I couldn’t find a reference to the selection criteria anywhere. On the Government Equalities Office website I found an implication that companies can just sign up:

She [Ruth Kelly, who was Minister for Women at the time] announced that more than 100 companies and organisations have signed up to the Exemplar Employer initiative.

Having your company on the list is great publicity and a good recruitment tool. But it would be useful to know about how companies were selected and if anyone has ever had their application rejected, otherwise it just becomes a list of media-savvy organisations who keep an eye on the latest government schemes and are good at filling in application forms.

Not that I’m against employers doing their bit to address the pay gap. According to Opportunity Now, the pay gap is pretty impressive. Full-time working women earn up to 17% less than their male counterparts and in my opinion equal pay is the subject that affects working women the most. Child-friendly policies only affect mothers (and can apply to fathers too). Return-to-work policies are the same. Flexible working is the same, although these will also be relevant to carers. Child-care policies affect lone parents (male or female). But all working women, regardless of their other circumstances, get paid. And in many cases, not enough. The 2008 Exemplar Employer list is a start and if it acts to name and shame those companies not on it, then that’s a step in the right direction.

If your employer isn’t on next year’s list, perhaps you should be asking why.

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