In Summer 2012, Queen Mary started recording staff sexual orientation as part of our commitment to equality and diversity. 

Why do we need this information?

We want to gather data which will enable us to measure the representation, progression, recruitment and retention of lesbian, gay, bisexul and transgender (LGBTQ+) staff within the workforce. This information will also help us to identify any obstacles within organisational structures or procedures for LGBTQ+ staff, and modify these accordingly to promote equality of opportunity.

It’s difficult for Queen Mary to ensure that our policies, procedures and services are functional and accessible if we have incomplete data on the number of LGBTQ+ staff at universtiy. As a result, we encourage all staff to disclose information on sexual orientation, including heterosexual staff, and staff who identify outside of the LGBTQ+ community.

Queen Mary wants to promote an environment where staff can be happy and comfortable in expressing themselves at work. Part of this may include an employee’s sexual orientation. 

Sexual orientation is a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010, we therefore need to do more than react to allegations and instances of discrimination.

The Higher Education Statistical Agency (HESA) will be starting to gather data about LGBTQ+ representation.

We collected staff sexual orientation data on the last Staff Attitude survey and received a good response rate of disclosure.

How can I update my details?

You can update your details via MyHR, in the personal details section.

For new starters, the information is collected on the personal details form.

Who will be able to access this information?

Only a small number of staff will access this information. The Equality, Diversity and Inlcusion Team will have access to anonymous aggregated data on staff sexual orientation. Some HR administrators will have access to this information to input it on our computer system when it has been shared in circumstances such a new recruit.

This information is protected under the Data Protection Act (revised May 2018). Queen Mary will not publish data from which the content of the declaration of an employee can be inferred.

The data will not be viewed by your managers or your colleagues and will never be used for job selection or promotion.

What if I do not want to disclose my sexual orientation?

The decision to disclose is a personal choice and staff are in no way obliged to disclose their sexual orientation. We strongly encourage you to disclose, and to encourage colleagues to do the same. A complete data set will ensure that we can fully support our LGBTQ+ staff. 

Where can I get more information?

Stonewall, which is the premier LGBTQ+ charity, has produced a very useful guide on data monitoring and why organisations need this information that you can acces.

Who can I contact about this?

If you have queries relating to the monitoring or protected characteristics, please contact the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Team on hr-equality@qmul.ac.uk