Pinsent Masons named 'Top 50 Employer for Women 2020' by The Times

The 50 organisations were selected following a comprehensive assessment process by gender equality experts at Business in the Community and have been selected for their commitment to transforming the experience of women in the workplace. The organisations are unranked and listed in alphabetical order.

The recognition is further endorsement of Pinsent Masons' market-leading approach to diversity and inclusion and follows their top five ranking, for the fifth consecutive year, in Stonewall's Workplace Equality Index of the most LGBT inclusive employers in Britain.

Pinsent Masons has been acknowledged in particular for its work on increasing transparency around career progression for women and implementing a number of initiatives to promote gender balance across the business. These include a reciprocal mentoring programme between men in senior roles and women in junior roles, gender balanced shortlists for promotion and lateral hiring,  training to support line managers in driving the gender equality agenda, building bias checking in to salary and promotion reviews and their continued commitment to promoting agile and flexible working.

In 2013 the firm launched their gender balance initiative, Sky, which aims to remove obstacles to female career progression and release the full potential of its workforce. Since its launch, the firm has seen an 10% increase in female partners to just under 28%.

Richard Foley, senior partner at Pinsent Masons, said:

"It is fantastic to have been recognised, once again, as an employer dedicated to creating a workplace culture that is truly gender-equal. We know that across the legal sector, gender imbalance at senior levels remains a challenge and its one that we face too.  We must continue to use our position as a business to drive positive change.

"We get the best out of our people when they feel enabled and when they are properly recognised for their contribution.  Creating an environment of inclusivity where everyone is able to flourish is critical to this. Change takes time, but each year I am encouraged by the progress that we have made, the goals that we continue to set ourselves and the organisations around us who share those goals and are striving to effect meaningful change."

Charlotte Woodworth, Gender Equality Campaign Director at Business in the Community said:

“Business in the Community’s Times Top 50 Employers for Women list is the longest running and most widely respected award for employers committed to achieving equality for women at work. This year marks ten years of the awards, and the bar was especially high.

"A decade of expertise and experience underpins Business In the Community’s assessment, which sees organisations reviewed across a wide range of areas  including transparency around pay practices, family friendly policies and to what extent the gender equality agenda is embedded into wider strategy.”