Managing Gender Reassignment

• intends to undergo, are undergoing or have undergone gender reassignment
• identifies that their gender is not the one assigned at birth. This is both someone who is planning, or has had medical interventions, as well as someone who does not plan or has not had medical interventions
• is non-binary, meaning they do not solely consider themselves to be male or female. They may or may not have had medical interventions to align their body with their non-binary gender identity.

Definitions

1. Bi-gender
   A person who considers themselves to be both male and female at different times
2. Cis/cisgender
   Where the person’s sex assigned at birth and gender identity are matching.
3. Deadnaming
   Calling someone by their birth/pre transition name after they have changed their name
4. Gender dysphoria/incongruence
   Where the person experiences distress due to the mismatch between the sex they were assigned at birth and the gender they identify with.
5. Gender fluid
   Someone who changes how they feel about their gender from time to time, and may identify as a woman on some days, as a man on others, or as a combination of both.
6. Gender neutral
   Someone who does not identify with any gender but may embrace aspects of both man and woman and may possibly fall on a spectrum between the two.
7. Gender neutral pronouns
   Gender neutral pronouns such as they, per, zie, ze, fey may replace binary pronouns (he/she, his/her).  And a gender neutral title such as Mx may replace Mr, Mrs, Miss or Ms.
   per – gender neutral pronoun alternative to he/she
   zie – gender neutral pronoun alternative to he/she
   ze – used instead of he/she to refer to a person of unspecified or non binary gender
   fae – is a gender fluid alternative pronoun
8. Gender reassignment (or ‘transitioning’)
   Processes by which a person aligns their life and physical identity to match their gender identity.
9. Gender recognition certificate (GRC)
   A certificate enabling an individual to be legally recognised in their affirmed gender.
10. Intersex
    This is a physical medical condition that describes someone whose anatomy or physiology differs to what constitutes either male or female. In some intersex conditions, it can mean that the person’s anatomy or physiology is neither male nor female.
11. Non-binary
    A person who has a non-binary identity, means they neither identify as male nor a female. They may say they are neither gender, or may have some other sense of gender such as:
12. Pan-gender
    Individuals who feel that they cannot be labelled as female or male gender
13. Poly-gender
    Individuals attracted to people of multiple genders
14. Third gender
    individuals who do not identify as male or female, but rather as neither, both or a combination of male and female genders.
15. Sexual orientation
    This is term is used to describe a person’s sexual attraction between one person and another such as, heterosexual, gay, lesbian, bisexual or a-sexual. It is separate to gender identity.
16. Transvestite
    According to Acas, this term is generally viewed as inappropriate and likely to cause offence
17. Transgender
    Someone who has a gender identity which differs from the sex that they were assigned at birth.

Transitioning

People may change gender with or without any medical intervention, so therefore the time taken for the process is different for every individual and may involve:

• changing the name via deed poll and changing pronouns socially
• a legal change of gender, and changes to details on official documents, eg driving license, ID, birth certificate
• changing the way the person dresses
• adopting mannerisms consistent with the new gender
• medical interventions
• counselling
• coming out with family and friends
• coming out at work.

For those who do have medical intervention, treatment is multidisciplinary and may involve any or all of the following:

• psychotherapeutic support
• endocrine treatment
• surgery – 12-18 months of endocrine treatment is usually required prior to surgical intervention. Surgical treatments include:
  • chest surgery – breast augmentation or mastectomy
  • genital surgery
  • facial surgery – particularly feminisation surgery
  • vocal surgery – to change the pitch of the voice
  • speech and language therapy to help develop gender-appropriate voice and communication skills
  • hair treatments – including hair transplantation, hair removal, hairpieces
  • exploration of fertility implications of treatment, and gamete storage.

Managing absence for these employees is therefore commonly a key part of the discussions.

Managing the transition process

What should be included in a transition plan?

• Identifying a single point of contact who will act as support for the employee and who will agree and sign off the action plan
• Clarify how and who will inform colleagues and the organisation and what information will be communicated and when
• Agree with the employee how confidentiality will be maintained and whilst considering the employee’s wishes
• Confirm any new name, title, and pronoun that the employee would like to use moving forward and the date it will become effective from
• Establishes which workplace records will need changing and from when
• Whether any external third party needs notifying, such as HMRC, pensions
• An expected timeline of the transition process including a date from which the employee will take up their new identity (if known)
• Any anticipated time out of work for medical appointments and planned absences
• When the employee wishes to use the toilet facilities associated with their new identity
• Any dress code or uniform requirements
• If Occupational Health should be involved, or other professional support such as from their own GP or specialist consultant or via the Employee Assistance Programme.
• Whether any refresher workplace training may be beneficial for colleagues to support the employee’s transition.

You can download your own trans and gender equality template from our HR Doc Shop, here.

Considerations

Dates:

Treatment:

Does your absence policy allow paid time off for absence?

Reasonable adjustments?

Dress:

Records:

Communication:

Facilities:

Policies and culture:

Job role:

Personal life:

Actions to take for employers

1. ensure that your application forms (and any other documentation that asks for titles) allow applicants to define how they wish to be addressed, so offer the option to put “other”.
2. warn candidates of any checks that you make for new recruits such as a DBS check, credit reference check etc. Where you require previous names, ask for this in a sensitive way and ensure that it is preferably dealt with by a nominated person who will be aware that the names on the checks may not match and who will store the data in a confidential and secure place. Note that the DBS has a specific process for trans applicants, who should contact the DBS sensitive applications line on 0151 676 1452 or email [email protected] for further advice about completing the form.
3. equal opportunity monitoring – if you intend to monitor gender and gender reassignment, ensure that you give a written assurance that this is for equal opportunity monitoring purposes and remove the data from the application form prior to shortlisting, so that the risk of bias is removed. Asking appropriate questions about gender identity and trans status does indicate that you take this seriously – but ensure that any questions about gender identify are asked separately from ones about sexual orientation. When asking for gender, you could include “T” as an alternative to male and female, or give the option “prefer not to say”.
4. ensure that your equal opportunities policy covers gender reassignment and that employees and managers are all aware that gender reassignment is a protected characteristic. You may wish to also have a diversity policy, or a policy on dignity at work.
5. regularly review your policies and procedures and consider whether the proportion of any minority who can comply with any requirement or condition is considerably smaller than the proportions of persons not of that group. Are there any areas where indirect discrimination may occur? If there is a disproportionate impact on one group, consider whether the requirement/condition is justifiable and proportionate.
6. encourage a culture of zero tolerance for bullying, harassment or banter which is unacceptable and offensive. Train your staff and managers to uphold this.
7. consider introducing a set of core values which set out the importance of treating colleagues with dignity and respect.
8. address trans employees as they would wish to be addressed – check which they would prefer, discreetly, as soon as possible. Mistakes in gender address can cause offence and distress.
9. if asked for a reference for someone who has transitioned since leaving your employment, do check with the ex-employee whether you should refer to their previous name and gender or not. Ensure the content refers to the correct name and gender.

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