New report: Findings from the evaluation of Equally Safe at Work in local government, NHS and third sector

At Close the Gap, we’re always keen to understand what works in creating change for women in the workplace. One area where we’ve seen success in our work is Equally Safe at Work, our innovative employer accreditation programme that supports employers in local government, NHS and third sector develop gender- and VAW- sensitive employment practice. The programme was first piloted between 2019 and 2020. Over the past 18 months, we’ve been working with a new cohort of councils and introduced a pilot in the NHS and third sector. As a result of the recent roll out, we’re delighted that 14 new employers have become accredited.

To measure the effectiveness of Equally Safe at Work, developing an evaluation framework was a core element of the work. We collected qualitative and quantitative data throughout the accreditation process which included disseminating employee surveys, holding focus groups with women working in lower-paid roles, and conducting semi-structured interviews with staff leading on Equally Safe at Work in their organisation. Collecting this data is integral for understanding whether changes being made as part of Equally Safe at Work are reaching staff at all levels in the organisation. It also provides Close the Gap, and participating employers, with a greater understanding of the experiences of women working across the public and third sector in Scotland.

Our recently launched Equally Safe at Work evaluation report highlights the positive impact the programme has had on local government employers and also provides details on the effectiveness of the pilot in NHS boards and third sector organisations. The reports includes key findings from the data collected through the programme and celebrates the wide variety of activities and initiatives introduced by employers that will make a real difference for women in their organisation.

Evaluation methodology

While a variety of data was collected throughout the programme, the employee survey and focus groups with women working in lower-paid roles provided helpful insight into women’s experiences of work. The employee survey captures data on access to flexible working, access to learning and development opportunities and barriers to reporting VAW. The survey also asks questions on attitudes towards and behaviours around gender equality and VAW, and staff experiences of VAW. Across the three sectors, 7,575 respondents completed the survey. The data collected in each organisation is shared with employers with recommendations that link to the criteria of the programme. One council lead shared how useful they found this:

“The employee survey presented questions to staff for the first time. We will be keeping some of the questions in our employee survey that happens every three years. It will start to give us data about the picture for people and their experiences.”

Another fundamental element of our data collection is conducting focus groups with women working in lower-paid roles. It’s important to hear the voices of these women because they work in jobs which are undervalued in the economy, are among the lowest grades in each organisation, and they report feeling excluded and omitted from discussions happening in their organisation. In total 62 women catering workers, cleaners, care workers, admin, library assistants, and nurses shared their experience of work. The survey and focus group data provides us with a rich picture of women workers’ experiences in Scotland. The focus group data is particularly important as women working in lower-paid roles are routinely ignored by policymakers and employers in action to tackle the gender pay gap.

What the evaluation told us

As a result of the programme, employers across the public and third sector have improved their employment practice to be more gender and VAW sensitive. This was highlighted by a variety of changes made to the workplace which includes:

• Developing a VAW policy.
• Developing a sexual harassment policy.
• Sharing video with all staff of the Chief Executive explaining what occupational segregation is and how it impacts the council.
• Implementing new systems to collect data on women returning from maternity leave and other returners.
• Including a question on the availability of flexible working in internal vacancy control forms for recruitment managers.
• Introducing new systems to collect data on experiences of VAW, including whether victim-survivors were satisfied with how their disclosure was handled.
• Setting up a staff women’s network to provide insight and consultation on changes happening in the council.
• Collating and analysing data on flexible working refusals and reasons for refusals and using this to inform practice.
• Reviewing and updating their equality policy to include information on occupational segregation, VAW, sexism, misogyny, and intersectionality.
• Reviewing and updating policies on flexible working, recruitment, and organisational change.
• Third sector organisations analysed and published data for the first time on mean pay gap data, median pay gap data, and occupational segregation.

Challenges and opportunities across sectors

The evaluation identified a number of opportunities and challenges that arose during the accreditation period. The pilot in the NHS and third sector provided valuable learning on implementing Equally Safe at Work in new sectors. Importantly it has continued to be an effective mechanism for supporting employers to change policies and practice. For example, we learned in the previous pilot with councils that organisations were most successful when introducing new policies or practices, rather than updating and reviewing previous work. For the third sector, since many of the activities undertaken during the pilot were new, employers were able to make substantial changes to the workplace in a relatively short period.

Some of the challenges faced by all employers included budget constraints, and issues with recruitment and staffing. This resulted in two organisations withdrawing from the programme due to a lack of staff to drive the work forward. This also meant that those leading work on Equally Safe at Work had conflicting priorities and in some cases, the work was led by a graduate intern. Another contributing factor was the impact of Covid-19. Through the Covid-19 pandemic, VAW and gender equality became deprioritised as many key staff were redeployed into crisis management. As a result, many organisations are catching up on key equalities work from that time, which means that progress on gender equality and preventing VAW has slowed.  

Through the pilot with NHS boards and third sector organisations, Equally Safe at Work has been an effectiveness mechanism for facilitating change in different sized and types of organisations across Scotland. The prescriptive nature of the programme provides a clear framework for employers to work through within a specific timeframe. For some employers, this is the first time they have had a focus on progressing work on gender equality and VAW, and they have told us that the programme has created momentum for further change.

“I think development level is a good overall first step in the journey to improving awareness and ensuring positive experiences for staff in the organisation around gender equality and violence against women.”

Third sector lead

“I would definitely recommend the programme. It’s well run. Goals are tough but achievable. Would recommend it to organisations of all size and even if they can’t complete everything, there is so much useful learning.”

NHS lead

“My advice would be to be open. Lots of organisations would want to make it political, gender equality benefits everyone. Do exactly what’s in the manual and to not just tick boxes, to really dive deep into each standard. Don’t do the bare minimum.”

Council lead

The evaluation of the pilot in the NHS and third sector has highlighted key learning that we will be embedding into the programme over the next few months. We will then be inviting new employers to join the programme in Spring 2024. In the meantime, you can read more about Equally Safe at Work on our website, www.EquallySafeatWork.scot