Over 140 major companies commit to improving gender equality in the workplace

The number of companies signed up to government’s Think, Act, Report campaign has more than doubled in the last year, Minister for Women and Equalities Maria Miller announced today.

The Think, Act, Report campaign introduced in September 2011 encourages companies to think about gender equality, take action to promote opportunities in their workplaces and report on what they are doing. The Two Year’s progress report published today, shows that:

• nearly 2 million employees , around 20% of the entire UK workforce in medium-sized or large companies (over 150 staff), are now covered under the scheme
• 66% of companies are doing more to encourage female talent within their company since signing up to TAR – such as introducing mentoring and sponsorship schemes, putting in place targeted development programmes, and encouraging women to take high-profile jobs
• nearly half of signed up companies (48%) have completed an equal pay audit in the last year – demonstrating their commitment to tackling the gender pay gap

Maria Miller said: “This is simply about good business sense. It’s great to see some of this country’s leading employers signing up and doing more to improve opportunities for women in the workplace and being transparent about equal pay.”

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More than 140 major companies are already supporting the initiative. These include BT, Tesco, IBM, Fujitsu, M&S, GlaxoSmithKline, Morgan Stanley, Lloyds Bank, National Grid, Ernst and Young, Eversheds, McDonalds, BAE Systems, and BP. Nearly two million employees work for these companies.

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Think, Act, Report encourages companies to:

• Think – about gender equality in their workforces, on key issues such as recruitment, retention, promotion, and pay.
• Act – where the need for action is identified.
• Report – the steps they are taking and the progress they are making. This information doesn’t need to be included in annual reports – companies may choose to do this on their websites, or in their promotional material.

Find out more about the campaign and sign up now