Shetland Islands Council has today received its bronze accreditation after taking part in the innovative ‘Equally Safe at Work’ pilot scheme.
This is the first accreditation programme to be run in the country which focusses on gender equality at work and the prevention of violence against women, and has been developed by ‘Close the Gap’, Scotland’s expert policy advocacy organisation working on women’s labour market participation.
Shetland Islands Council is one of the first four local authorities to be recognised in this way, along with Aberdeen City Council, Midlothian Council and North Lanarkshire Council.
Maggie Sandison, Chief Executive of Shetland Islands Council: “I’m really pleased that we have been recognised for the work we’ve done over the past couple of years on promoting gender equality within the Council.
“After consulting with our staff back in 2019, we set out on a range of tasks. We delivered new training on Violence against Women and Flexible Working, and developed a new Violence against Women policy. That’s supported by new procedures and guidance which helps make it possible for our employees, for example, to talk to us about their experience of domestic abuse, and for us to provide them with help and support.
“We’ve updated our employees Code of Conduct to highlight issues around gender inequality, and set out the standards of behaviour we expect from our employees, as well as the consequences of failing to do so.
“We are clear that we have a zero-tolerance approach towards employees who commit violence against women, and we look forward now to progressing our work on gender equality at work and to prevent VAW both in the workplace and in the wider community”.
Notes to editors
‘Equally Safe at Work’ is an innovative employer accreditation programme which enables employers to advance gender equality at work, and prevent Violence Against Women. The pilot ran from January 2019 to November 2020. More at www.equallysafeatwork.scot
‘Close the Gap’ is Scotland’s policy advocacy organisation working in Scotland on women’s labour market equality. We work with policymakers, employers and employees to influence and enable action to address the causes of the gender pay gap. Close the Gap has been operating since 2001. More at: www.closethegap.org.uk.