The Advantages Of A Single Parental Leave Policy Over Separate Maternity And Paternity Leaves
The transition to parenthood changes any parent's physical and mental health drastically. Paid leave from work helps parents navigate these changes and shift their focus from making a living to bonding with their newborn.
Many companies think they are progressive enough by boosting their maternity leave packages when there is a better option: parental leave or offering paid time off for parents, regardless of gender. After all, both parents should be given ample time to adjust to parenthood, take care of their newborn in their first few months, and bond with their partners as they navigate this transition.
The unseen consequences of all male panels (#Manels)
Can we support all-male panel events and still expect to be successful in advancing gender equality? With such events deterring 1 in 4 women participating perhaps we need to re-think what our panels look like.
In this article, I discuss #Manels, their unseen consequences and positive steps we can each take in the relentless pursuit of living and working inclusively. I note that factors such as age and race were not considered in the scope of this article, however I am interested to understand if similar conclusions could be drawn from equivalent investigations.
PA Consulting brings ingenuity to life for truly inclusive working for all
PA Consulting brings ingenuity to life for truly inclusive working for all with the Speak Out Dashboard.
In this article, we speak to the team who co-created the Speak Out Dashboard to accelerate Speak Out Revolution’s mission to cancel the culture of silence on harassment and bullying in our workplaces.
View global insights on workplace harassment & bullying and the route to resolution for targets, and add your experience to the Speak Out Dashboard (on desktop) here.
Speak Out Story: Why higher education funding remains inaccessible for disabled students.
The Speak Out Stories are a series of anonymous blogs which provide a voice to those who have been silenced, raise awareness of the challenges which others face and empower everyone to advocate for truly inclusive workplaces.
How Punks With Purpose sparked the Speak Out Revolution
For anyone that may have missed it, BrewDog and their alleged toxic culture has dominated social media this last week. What’s surprising is how unsurprising the contents of the Open Letter to BrewDog actually are…
Which makes us wonder, did Punks With Purpose just spark the Speak Out Revolution?
The real threat to free speech on campus
Professor Mark Geoghegan speaks out about the unethical use of non-disclosure agreements in higher education and calls for staff, students and academics to anonymous share their stories in a bid to drive reform.
Why your company needs a comfort room, now
Can we really expect to advance gender equality in our workplaces when we continually overlook the fundamental needs of our female employees.
In this article, our founder Marie Hemingway shares her experience of returning to work after maternity leave, the widespread lack of provisions for women who choose to breastfeed and best practice solutions companies are implementing to create truly inclusive workplaces.
Speak Out Story: Discriminated Against for Becoming my Real Self
The Speak Out Stories are a series of anonymous blogs which provide a voice to those who have been silenced, raise awareness of the challenges which others face and empower everyone to advocate for truly inclusive workplaces.
This story is about Rachael’s journey to becoming her real self, and the challenges along the way.
I’m calling bulls**t on the Times Top 50 Employers for Women list: This is why you should too…
Is it responsible to assert claims on who is a ‘Top Employer’ for women, while women simultaneously speak out about their poor lived experiences in said workplaces? With the extensive reach and heavily promoted prestige of inclusion on the Times Top 50 Employers for Women list perhaps we need to rethink how responsible such claims are…
In this article, I hope to challenge the perception that inclusion on lists such as these mean that these workplaces are great places for women.
Speak Out Story: Feelings of being forced to take ill health retirement!
This is the second in the series of our Speak Out Stories.
The Speak Out Stories are a series of anonymous blogs which provide a voice to those who have been silenced, raise awareness of the challenges which others face and empower everyone to advocate for truly inclusive workplaces.
This story is about Rhona’s fight against inequality, social injustice and the abuse of power and authority within Police Scotland.
Speak Out Story: There is hope after workplace harassment.
This is the first in the series of our Speak Out Stories.
The Speak Out Stories are a series of anonymous blogs which provide a voice to those who have been silenced, raise awareness of the challenges which others face and empower everyone to advocate for truly inclusive workplaces.
This blog shares unique insights into one person’s experience of workplace sexual harassment, the challenges of reporting and the impact on their mental health.
How paternity pay (or lack thereof) drives discrimination against women in the workplace
Can organisations promote gender equality effectively while providing relatively meagre enhanced paternity vs maternity packages? Without equal enhancement of parental packages companies reinforce outdated views on acceptable gender roles in society and perpetuate the discrimination experienced by women who choose to have a career (whether they have children or not). Perhaps we need to rethink the accepted inequality embedded within our parental packages?
In this article I discuss the accepted differences in enhanced paternity vs maternity packages, how they drive inequality and what progressive companies are doing to cultivate truly diverse and inclusive workplaces.
6 lessons from starting a Not-For-Profit during a global pandemic
People keep asking Frances and I ‘What is it like to run a Not-For-Profit?’ to which I frequently respond ‘I’ll let you know when it feels like we’re running one!’. In the first 3 months of establishing Speak Out Revolution I’d characterise what we've been doing as operating at the edge of chaos with a very agile team of volunteers.
In this article, and away from the chaos, we share our top 6 lessons from starting a Not-For-Profit during a global pandemic which we wish we would have known before setting out.
Why we need to stop saying: “You don’t look like a... {Insert profession}”
With entire professions falling victim to the ‘male, pale, stale’ label, can we really diversify workforces while it remains acceptable to say that women don’t look like they should be doing their jobs?
When the first statement we make to a woman who shares her profession in a traditionally male field is: “You don’t look like a {Insert profession}” we verbalise society's unconscious bias that acts to constrain women to acceptable gender based roles. Perhaps we need to stop telling women what they do and don’t look like when it comes to their jobs and start asking ourselves why we care to comment at all?
In this article I share my views on this commonplace throwaway phrase, it’s negative implications and steps we can each take to live and work more inclusively.
The silent killer of truly diverse and inclusive workplaces
Can we create truly inclusive working environments without addressing how we handle harassment and bullying complaints in the workplace? A recent anonymous survey highlighted that it is TWICE as likely that speaking up and reporting harassment and bullying to your organisation will make your situation worse, not better.
In this article, I share my views on the accepted culture of silence around harassment and bullying, the practices which perpetuate the problem and why we need a Speak Out Revolution if we’re committed to achieving fair and safe working environments for everyone.