International Women's Day (IWD) is celebrated annually on 8 March. This is a global day that celebrates the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. This year, the campaign encourages organisations to #EmbraceEquity. Equity is not just a desirable feature of the workplace, but an important part of inclusivity. Equality of opportunity is no longer enough, so understanding what equity is and how to achieve it is critical in ensuring an inclusive workplace. In order to achieve equity, it is necessary to examine how equality alone might actually be exclusionary, rather than inclusionary.

Equality versus equity

The terms equality and equity have often been used interchangeably. In reality, their meanings have distinct and important differences. Understanding these differences and how they contrast is key to ensuring organisations cultivate the fairest workplace possible.

Equality can arguably be summarised as granting access to the same resources and opportunities to all, regardless of circumstance. Equity goes further than equality. It requires that appropriate adjustments are made so the same outcome may be achieved for all. Equity does this by recognising that every individual enters the workplace with different personal circumstances and backgrounds.

Say, for example, there is a sports event you are helping to organise in which the audience must stand behind a six-foot-tall fence to view the game. As the event's organiser, you recognise that viewing boxes will be needed for audience members to be able to view the event. Someone who is 6 foot 2 inches tall would only require a small box to be able to watch the game. However, someone who is 5 foot 5 inches tall would need a much taller box to see. In these circumstances, an approach of equality would require both individuals to be offered a viewing box eight inches tall. Whilst both individuals would be (just!) able to see, in practice this would result in an unfair advantage for the taller individual as they are still elevated to a higher level given that the viewing boxes are the same size. The alternative equity-based approach would be to offer both individuals boxes of different sizes that would elevate them to the same height.

Historically, inequity has marginalised women, the economically disadvantaged, the disabled, LGBTQ+ individuals and people of colour. There is an ongoing conversation that highlights why, instead of having equality as one of the foundations of democracy, equity is a better principle to progress society. As inequality plagues many aspects of society and affects many individuals, championing equity may help change systemic and structural barriers that get in the way of people's ability to grow. In order to overcome these issues, equity-based solutions would help take account of the diverse individuals that make up our communities, helping adapt services and policies according to these differences.

What is the legal position?

The Equality Act 2010 established a duty on employers to provide reasonable adjustments for disabled employees who suffer a substantial disadvantage compared with non-disabled people or people who do not share their disability. Substantial means more than minor or trivial. These reasonable adjustments could take the form of changes to policies, working practices, physical layouts or providing extra equipment or support. Failing to make reasonable adjustments may result in discrimination claims, which all employers want to avoid.

Now, more than ever, employees value a healthy work-life balance. All employees have a right to make a flexible working request after 26 weeks of employment. However, employers can take a proactive approach to promote equity through creating their own flexible working policies. This is likely to be of particular importance to female employees who statistics show are more likely to have caring duties outside work and for whom flexible and family-friendly policies can be key to allowing them to manage their domestic and work commitments. Flexible working practices provide employers with an opportunity to promote equity over equality as each employee can request a flexible working practice that suits their unique needs, including part-time working, compressed or flexible hours and job sharing.

What are the benefits of equity for employers?

A more equitable workplace requires employers to recognise and invest in their employees' unique needs, enhancing the practices of equality already in force. This can lead to increased employee retention and engagement. A recent study has shown that there is a strong, unmet demand for more flexibility within the workplace – 87% of people want to work flexibly to accommodate their individual needs, but only 11% of jobs are advertised as being flexible. This presents organisations with an opportunity to stand out from their competitors by implementing equity-based solutions, such as flexible working, to attract the best candidates. In our globalised world, such practices would enable employers to widen their horizons and dip into the global talent pool. In embracing equity and tailoring working practices and policies to individual requirements, organisations future-proof themselves. Research from Purdue University states that, when employees stay, companies avoid "brain drain", the expense of training replacement employees and watching former talent escape to competitors.

An equity-based approach encourages cognitive diversity in decision-making. The World Health Organisation found that women make up 70% of the global healthcare workforce, but "too few women" make decisions and lead this work. In encompassing a more equity-based approach to decision-making, organisations can ensure that a diverse team is responsible for their strategic direction, thus making the organisation more agile and resilient. Fundera recently reported that diverse teams are 70% better at entering new markets and 120% more likely to reach key financial targets.

How organisations can implement equity and support IWD today and beyond

In order to "level the playing field" and give every employee the unique resources they need to have access to opportunities, organisations could implement various measures to demonstrate that they #EmbraceEquity.

The most effective way to #EmbraceEquity is by promoting discussions and increasing understanding around the concept of equity. In starting conversations around equity, organisations can identify areas in which individuals might have different needs or requirements to the general working population and offer the appropriate adjustments. In having these discussions, it is important to speak up against insensitive comments and give everyone a voice. This is important to promoting inclusion and truly understanding how to make workplaces equitable.

Pay transparency is key to ensuring fair equity compensation. Wage discussions have previously been a taboo subject, but transparency around wages and openly discussing links between performance, position and pay are essential to establish female equity as well as closing the race and disability pay gaps. The government is looking to pilot a new pay transparency scheme, with the aim to address the gender pay gap that increased from 7% in April 2020 to 7.9% in April 2021. The implementation of this scheme should encourage discussion of inequality and promote change by way of equity to address the unique pay disparity between women and men.

Education is key to embracing equity. Organisations could implement an education programme to provide traditionally marginalised employees, such as women, with a potentially life-changing resource that would enable them to advance their career within your company. InStrive has developed an education programme specifically for this in order to pave the way for adult learners from a variety of different backgrounds to gain equal access to resources and career-driven learning experiences. Organisations could create their own unique education programme for those returning to the office; this could include those who have been out of work for health reasons or women returning to the workplace after a break to have a family. The latter in particular would demonstrate awareness of this year's campaign.

National Work Life Week, led by the charity Working Families, suggested that change needs to be led from the top down in organisations. This IWD, CEOs and senior leaders should visibly #EmbraceEquity to demonstrate their support for the campaign and what it stands for. Leaders should proactively seek to institute equitable measures and strategies to help their workforce, allowing for innovative solutions and encouraging positive change.

If you have any questions about how you can implement equitable measures, please do not hesitate to get in touch with a member of the team.