The Government is committed to full gender equality in the workplace, and we are introducing mandatory gender pay gap reporting for larger employers from April 2017.<\/p>
We will support all employers to do this with a £500,000 package including: UK wide conference events, free online software and targeted support for male-dominated sectors. Employers of any size can join the voluntary \u201cThink, Act, Report\u201d initiative which has around 300 members leading the way on gender equality.<\/p>
The Women\u2019s Business Council has an SME representative to ensure good practice is promulgated throughout the wider business community, including a toolkit for businesses to support older women in the workplace.<\/p>
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The Government is committed to ensuring equal opportunities, so that everyone can reach their full potential and is working with business to achieve this. The Government has done so in a number of ways, including: The Hampton and Alexander review of women on boards and the chair of the Women\u2019s Business Council, Baroness Ruby McGregor-Smith will lead a review of issues faced by businesses in developing black and minority ethnic (BAME) talent, and access to the labour market.<\/p>
<\/p>
The Women\u2019s Business Council, established in 2012, has produced a range of products to encourage older women to enter and stay on in the workplace. The Women\u2019s Business Council has also been active in working with the finance sector to address some of the barriers facing some BAME women entrepreneurs. The Government has worked closely with employers to develop a range of measures that will help promote gender equality in workplaces and will require all companies with at least 250 employees to report their gender pay gaps. It is expected that employers will publish the required information from April 2017.<\/p>
This builds upon actions already undertaken by the Government including a series of equality roadshows with the British Chambers of Commerce. These roadshows highlighted the benefits and challenges of diverse workforces for business whilst helping the Government shape guidance for business on older workers, women and disabled people in the workplace to tackle discrimination.<\/p>
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