The Vegan Society issues guidance for employers

Following last month’s landmark ruling that ethical veganism is a philosophical belief protected under the Equality Act 2010, The Vegan Society has issued guidance for employers to help them “accommodate the needs of vegans” in the workplace.

The guidance, “Supporting veganism in the workplace” sets out a number of considerations for employers to better support and their vegan employees and prevent discrimination.

Such considerations include:

• Providing alternative milks if the company currently provides milk in the staff kitchen
• Circulating a ‘dietary requirements’ sheet for catered events, to ensure that vegans can request appropriate food
• Providing designated food storage areas, separate cutlery and preparation areas to prevent cross contamination of vegan and non-vegan food
• Ensuring that vegans do not have to sign off documentation relating to the purchase of non-vegan products
• Ensuring access to a vegan-friendly pension investment
• Providing exemptions for vegan employees to attend corporate events centralising around animals or meat (the examples given are barbeques and horse racing)
• Ensuring any required uniform is made from vegan materials
• Providing training to staff to better understand their vegan colleagues
• Update equality policies to include information or considerations relating to veganism

Matt Turner, a spokesperson for the Vegan Society said: “It’s important that businesses up and down the country take note of these new guidelines and start to include them in their workplace policies and practices as soon as possible”.

If you’d like to speak to the employment team about the above, do not hesitate to get in touch.