Gender identity in the workplace

You may have seen the recent Instagram snap of Elliot Page following his top surgery, which he describes as “life-saving”. In December last year, Elliot confirmed he was transgender and there is no doubt that Elliot’s announcement and recent post is bringing much needed attention and education around gender identities.

Demi Lovato also recently announced that they were non-binary and confirmed the pronouns that they would now be using. A non-binary person is someone who understands their gender in a way that goes beyond the identification of either male or female. Demi confirmed that this has come after “a lot of healing and self-reflective work” and that they are “still learning”. This is likely to reflect the feelings of a lot of people who potentially don’t yet feel ready to announce their true gender identity, or perhaps don’t feel safe or supported enough to do so.

A real concern for many will be uncertainty as to how their employer or work colleagues may react to this. Many workforces, particularly larger ones, will employ people who do not identify as the gender to which they were assigned at birth. In many cases, those employees may be unsure about how to approach their employer with regard to their gender identity or they may be unaware of what support is available to them if they do.

Employers should have appropriate measures in place to support any staff who are affected by this and should not wait for a worker to communicate this to them before taking action. Employers should instead be taking a proactive approach by putting in place policies that provide their staff with information on who they can go to for support and what measures can be put in place to support workers with their gender identity. The aim should be to create a work environment which enables a change or confirmation of gender identity to be a positive and safe experience throughout. This will also be an opportunity to educate all staff on gender identity and provide training on diversity and inclusion, including obligations under the Equality Act 2010.

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