Cornwall Council has seven active Employee Forums, which are run by employees for employees. They provide a safe space for mutual support and to discuss key issues that affect staff.
Where there is interest in establishing more forums, the Council is keen to do so.
Here are some key projects that our forums have working on:
Women’s Forum
- Hosted menopause support cafes and trainings sessions for employees.
- Developed fertility guidance policy for employees and held support sessions.
- Forum members play a key role in contributing to the Gender Pay Gap Working Group and looking at ways to reduce the Gender Pay Gap.
Race Equality Forum
- Developed a Tackling Racism Toolkit for staff and a Race Equality Action Plan.
- Championed solutions from Race Equality Matters, including Tea Breaks, safe spaces to have honest and open discussions.
- Rolled out the #MyNameIs campaign to employees. A campaign to introduce phonetic spelling of names in email signatures.
Disability Forum
- Presenting to leadership and wider services on the Social Model of Disability.
Collaborating with HR to improve our policies and practises for disabled employees. - Working with departments to improve our technology and where we work.
Men’s Forum
- Holding sessions to discuss men’s mental and physical health
- Hosting specific sessions on men’s health with specialist speakers
LGBTQ+ Forum
- Supported local LGBTQ+ art exhibitions
- Hosted social events such as walks, lunches and specific sessions with guest speakers
Early Careers Forum
- Provides a space for new starters to meet a wider range of people across the council.
- Hosted lunch and learn sessions on a range of topics to support career development.
- Promoted events on different careers available in the council.
Armed Forces Forum
- Contributed to the new Reserve and Cadet Forces Policy
- Promoted the ‘Service Premium at Schools’ and how armed forces families can receive this support.
- Raised awareness of the protections afforded under the Armed Forces Act and what is on offer through the Armed Forces Covenant.
- Supporting the preparations for the national ‘Armed Forces Day’.