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‘Insufficient support’ for the LGBTQ+ community in employee benefits
14 April 2022 Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
A third (33%) of employers think there is insufficient support in employee benefits for the LGBTQ+ community, according to new research.
Sixty-three per cent of employers think that it can be hard to get senior management to buy in to benefits that do not support the majority of employees, but 34% strongly agree that employee benefits play a key role in fostering diversity and inclusion within the workplace.
In fact, two thirds (65%) believe that besides the moral and societal imperative, there is a strong business case to provide employee benefits that demonstrate diversity and inclusion.
Sixty-four percent of employers say they regularly engage with their employees about which employee benefits might be beneficial to specific employee groups or demographics, and 62% of employers believe they must actively seek employee benefits for minority groups within the workplace to demonstrate their diversity and inclusion.
However, 65% say their organisation does not have employee benefits for specific minority groups, as they believe their benefits are broad enough to support all their employees.
Dr Mridula Pore, CEO of Peppy, who conducted the research, said: “It’s important to bear in mind that not everyone in minority groups or the LGBTQ+ community wants their private life to be known within the workplace, and some employees will be on a journey to determine their own identity.
“With this in mind, it’s important not to label certain benefits as only being appropriate for certain employees as this could prevent people from accessing help when they most need it.
“Not all employee benefits may meet the needs of the LGBTQ+ community but many will, whilst also offering comprehensive support to the wider employee community too. Employers need to be selective about which employee benefits providers they choose to partner with and should raise the issue of support for different minority communities when looking at who to work with.”