For one firm, it is the 20th straight year in which the firm received this citation
Baker McKenzie, Maddocks and Holding Redlich are 3 of the 115 employers to have received the Employer of Choice for Gender Equality (EOCGE) accolade from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) this year.
For Maddocks, this will be the 20th straight year in which it has received this citation; for Holding Redlich the 16th; and for Baker McKenzie the 15th.
“We are incredibly proud to have reached 20 years of continuous recognition by WGEA for the work we have done over the years to advance gender equality at Maddocks and in the broader legal community”, said Anna Scannell, chair of the Gender Equality Network at Maddocks. “Our consistently strong focus on gender equality and diversity has seen us continue to improve across a range of metrics including gender composition in leadership and reducing our gender pay gap. By using the Employer of Choice for Gender Equality citation as a high benchmark, we have been able to continue to advance our approach to diversity and inclusion”.
Maddocks’ head of diversity, inclusion and wellbeing, Marita Pascoe, pointed to the firm’s progress over the past five years when it came to closing the gap across genders in terms of median total remuneration.
“Through ongoing reporting and detailed analysis during the remuneration review process, our efforts have seen us improve our gender pay gap ahead of the national average for the professional services and legal industries”, Pascoe said.
Meanwhile, Holding Redlich upped the benefits it provided to parents and incorporated greater flexibility throughout the firm.
“Over the past two years, we have increased paid parental leave to 26 weeks for primary carers, expanded training and development opportunities, and continued to embed flexibility at all levels of our firm. At the end of the 2023/24 financial year, over 60% of our people worked flexibly”, national managing partner Troy Lewis said.
Baker McKenzie established global gender targets of 40% women, 40% men, and 20% flexible (women, men, or non-binary persons) by 2025.
“These targets apply to partners, senior business professionals, the firm's committee leadership and candidate pools for recruitment by 1 July 2025, and whilst we have made significant progress, there is still much work to do,” national managing partner Anne-Marie Allgrove said. “I am deeply committed to ensuring our firm provides equal opportunity for both men and women, and there is no sex-based harassment and discrimination”.
