Burges Salmon pledges commitment to racial equality in the workplace

Burges Salmon has become a signatory of Rare’s Race Fairness Commitment and the Business in the Community (BITC) Race at Work Charter in line with its strategic focus on diversity and inclusion, and in support of the movement for employers to prioritise action on race.

The firm is committed to ensuring it continues to attract and retain the best talent, creating a workplace that is inclusive and welcoming to all regardless of race. In close collaboration and consultation with its internal, employee-led BAME network, BCultured, and its cross-firm Diversity and Inclusion Group, Burges Salmon has committed to the two pledges in order to continue its understanding of best practice and to measure its performance against specific goals.

Rare was founded to bring more ethnic diversity to elite professions – specifically law – and its Race Fairness Commitment mandates firms to calculate specific data points, to have continued conversations on race and racism, and to ensure that junior ethnic minority employees have direct access to senior management.

BITC, the business-led membership organisation dedicated to responsible business founded by HRH The Prince of Wales and with which Burges Salmon has worked closely with on the firm’s responsible business agenda for several years, aims to support employers to ensure that ethnic minority employees are represented at all levels through its Race at Work Charter.

As part of its pledges, Burges Salmon has appointed Senior Partner Chris Seaton as the Executive Sponsor for Race. Chris says: “Diversity and inclusion is integral to our firm-wide strategy and it is hugely important that we made pledges as signatories of the Race Fairness Commitment and the Race at Work Charter to improve equality of opportunity, both at the firm and in the profession as a whole.