Hachette UK makes Times list of top employers for women

Hachette UK has been selected as one of the Times' Top 50 Employers for Women 2020, while its Gender Balance Network has won Employee Network Group of the Year (Private Sector) at the Employers Network for Equality & Inclusion (ENEI) Awards 2020.

Hachette UK featured in the unranked Times list as the only publisher, and alongside other companies including Marks & Spencer, Aviva and PricewaterhouseCoopers. In 2019, no publishers made the list.

Hachette UK was commended for equalising shared parental leave pay for all parents, its approach to pay transparency—including the publication of salary ranges—and its commitment to flexible working, which includes waiving the six-month statutory period before applying for flexible working. Last year, Hachette UK also announced changes to the make-up of its board, which now consists of nine women and eight men.

Hachette UK's Gender Balance Network was also recognised at the ENEI Awards, which acknowledge the commitment of organisations to achieving diverse and inclusive workplaces. It won the Gender Balance Network prize for its work on equalising shared parental leave and its campaigning on the gender pay gap. The latter included a movement to mark Equal Pay Day, which involved staff setting their "out of office" message to include statistics on how the pay gap differs for women from different ethnic backgrounds, and facilitating conversations around the pay gap with a series of company-wide workshops.

Melanie Tansey, group HR director at Hachette UK (pictured), commented: "Both awards demonstrate that we are making positive change and show what we can achieve when our leadership and our incredible employee networks work together. We are only at the beginning of our journey to ‘change the story’ and make inclusivity an integral part of our publishing and staff identity. We will be going so much further to improve representation of all people at all levels of our business; to improve pay and bonus transparency; to close pay gaps; and to continue to cultivate our special culture to ensure everyone thrives and achieves their full potential at Hachette UK."