Lawyers given equality standards in new Society push

New equality standards for the solicitors' profession have been published today by the Law Society of Scotland.

The 10 point plan, along with a guide on carrying out an equal pay audit, furthers the Society's work under its revised Equality and Diversity Strategy, launched last month.

The Society seeks in particular to target the continuing gender pay gap in the profession, which survey data reveal remains at up to 42%.

Currently voluntary for firms and organisations, within the next year the standards may move to the more formal status of guidance, which is taken into account if a complaint is made, and will be reviewed in three years' time to see if they need to be written into professional rules.

Among the 10 points are:

• having a named "equality lead" at law firms and within in-house legal teams;
• publishing an equality strategy with measurable objectives;
• equality and diversity training;
• reporting on the equality strategy and protected characteristics
• producing a statement on equal pay and gender pay gap figures for organisations with more than 150 employees;
• providing information on accessibility options for disabled people and other service users.

Janet Hood, convener of the Society’s Equality & Diversity Committee, said the Society could not ignore the fact that there was still such a pay gap after 45 years of equal pay legislation and 10 years of Law Society guidance.

She commented: “Employers already have legal responsibilities in relation to equality and we hope these standards clarify the key issues for the legal sector. We also think it will bring benefits for firms as they will not only be viewed as being equality leaders by their clients, but also by their employees and as an organisation can attract and retain talented individuals.

“The latest research we carried out also showed strong support for the development of a more prescriptive set of standards to compliment the guides on equality we have already published. We will continue to provide information and support which will enable employers to reflect on the issue and what factors might be at play in their businesses. We also want to empower individuals with information about equal pay in their workplace. It is hard to provide assurance on equal pay without some form of audit, so we made the decision to provide specific guidance on how firms can do this."

She also welcomed the current emphasis in public sector tendering on achieving equal treatment. 

For an article on the new standards and the equal pay drive, see the February Journal.