New guidance on gender-neutral drafting has been published by the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel and the Government Legal Department. Although the guidance is specifically aimed at the legal profession, it is useful for all employers to consider when drafting employment documentation, such as employment contracts and staff handbooks, as it is aimed at promoting gender equality and equality across the gender-identity spectrum.

The guidance gives examples of how sentences can be rephrased to avoid gender-specific pronouns and nouns, such as “he/him/his” or “she/her/hers”. It also advises to avoid nouns that might appear to assume that only a person of a particular gender can do a particular job or perform a particular role, e.g. “chairman”.

Source: New feed