On 8 March 2022, the Minister for Women, Baroness Stedman-Scott, announced two new initiatives to support women in the workplace.

Returner Programme for STEM Roles

Following research which demonstrates the challenges faced by women after periods spent taking care of loved ones, a new returners programme aims to help employers to recruit and retain women when returning to STEM roles.  The programme will include training, development and employment support to women who have taken time away from their careers.

This programme will build on 25 previous returner programmes throughout the private and public sector, and comes after the 2021 STEM Returners index survey revealed that 61% of returners found the process of returning to the industry difficult or very difficult.  The programme is set to run for a minimum of 2 years.

Pay Transparency Scheme

A pilot scheme will be trialled by the Government in which participating employers will provide salary details on job adverts and will not ask about a candidate's salary history during the recruitment process.  It is hoped that this will help to reduce the gender salary gap, and allow salary negotiations to become fairer. 

Evidence from the Fawcett Society has shown that 58% of women felt that they received a lower salary offer when asked to disclose their salary history.  In addition, research from the United States has shown that a ban on asking about salary history has been an effective way to improve pay equality for women, people of colour and disabled people. 

You can read more about these initiatives in the Government's announcement here.

If you need any advice on what these initiatives might mean for your business, please contact Kelly Brown.