Laing O'Rourke becomes Workplace Gender Equality ambassador

Gender equality in the workplace is conversation that many companies across many industries across the globe are having, as more and more work is required to create a true, gender equal representation of the current workplace.

In Australia, the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) is a Commonwealth Government agency created to promote and improve gender equality in Australian workplaces.

One element of the agency is the Pay Equity Ambassadors, a network of business leaders committed to pay equity and gender equality.

The latest ambassador has been announced – Cathal O’Rourke, Managing Director Australia Hub, Laing O’Rourke.

The British-based company is a young construction company, but over the years it has expanded, working on several high-profile projects in the last decade, including Ascot Racecourse and Heathrow Airport Terminal 5.

Cathal joins more than 100 CEOs and directors across Australia who have all taken the pledge and confirmed their commitment to shrinking Australia's gender pay gap.

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“I am proud to represent Laing O’Rourke as a Pay Equity Ambassador and I look forward to doing what we can to ensure this issue is addressed by businesses across Australia,” Cathal said.

“Last year we conducted a gender pay gap review across Australia and I am proud to say we now have pay parity across the organisation and have filters in place to ensure men and women’s salaries do not diverge.

This comes as part of a number of initiatives that the company is committed to, including:

• Inspiring STEM+ - a school engagement programme designed to encourage more girls into STEM courses at university and ultimately careers in construction and engineering
• Keep in Touch and Return to Work coaching programs for all staff on parental leave
• A Connecting Women network – a program of events designed to build engagement and greater visibility of our female leaders and to provide a forum for connecting our women, role modelling careers, and building new networks for support and advice; and
• Flexible work programs.