survey, WeCount, to measure gender identity and sexual orientation and aspects of inclusion in the Public Service.346 The report of the survey described participants’ comfort at work, with a clear trend showing greater levels of comfort being out highest among respondents who were gay/lesbian, followed by bisexual, transgender, and then intersex, participants. Research by the ILO indicates many workers hide their SOGIESC due to fear of hostility and rejection.347 This research shows that there is a direct correlation between this secrecy and workers’ stress, anxiety, and loss of productivity.348 44% of WeCount respondents agreed, or strongly, agreed that they avoid collaborating or interacting with workmates who they know or feel have views opposed to SOGIESC-diverse people and communities. More than 20% of the survey respondents felt uncomfortable bringing their whole selves to work. Their qualitative responses indicated fearing harm to their career aspirations if they were to be open about their SOGISC. Issues for trans employees While people with diverse sexual orientations experience issues in the workplace, those with diverse gender identities often experience unique and greater barriers. Trans people can be especially vulnerable to pre-employment discrimination if any required documentation, including references, transcripts, or work history discloses their transgender status. Out@ Work reports that employees who are trans and/or transitioning face the biggest issues in the workplace, with indications that they are subject to the most severe forms of workplace discrimination.349 This can include the inability to obtain identity documents, the reluctance of employers to accept their new sex/gender, and increased vulnerability to bullying by their colleagues.350 74% of participants in Counting Ourselves reported concealing their trans or non-binary status in the workplace due to fear of discrimination.351 Due to high rates of discrimination, many trans people can be frozen out of formal economies and take on precarious or self-directed work in the informal labour market. Some trans people have few employment options other than sex work. This is reinforced by anecdotal evidence that while most sex workers do not stay in the industry long-term, most trans sex workers do.352 19% of Counting Ourselves participants aged 18 or over had engaged in sex work or worked in the sex industry.353 New Zealand inclusion initiatives Promoting diversity makes business sense. In New Zealand, there have been recent attempts in the area of employment to accommodate diverse sexual orientations and gender identities. In 2011, the then-Department of Labour published a resource for people transitioning at work.354 At the time there was little awareness of non-binary transgender people, and as a result their issues were not addressed in the resource. Employment New Zealand has developed guidance for employers on how to accommodate the needs of transgender people who are undergoing a gender transition.355 A 2015 voluntary standard designed by Standards New Zealand established general principles for demonstrating that an organisation can be accredited as an inclusive State Service Commission WeCount 2019: LGBTQIA+ representation in the public service (Wellington, December 2019). International Labour Organization Discrimination at work on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity: Results of the ILO’s PRIDE Project (Geneva, 2015). 348 International Labour Organization “The right to be yourself at work” (media statement, 17 May 2016). 349 New Zealand Human Rights Commission meeting with Out@Work (18 April 2019). This was also the most common form of discrimination described in submissions from transgender people to the Commission’s Transgender Inquiry in 2006 and 2007. 350 International Labour Organization “Message for International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia” (media statement, 17 May 2014). 351 Jaimie Veale and others Counting Ourselves: The health and wellbeing of trans and non-binary people in Aotearoa New Zealand (Transgender Health Research Lab, University of Waikato, Hamilton, 2019). 352 New Zealand Human Rights Commission meeting with Gender Minorities Aotearoa (23 January 2019). 353 Jaimie Veale and others Counting Ourselves: The health and wellbeing of trans and non-binary people in Aotearoa New Zealand (Transgender Health Research Lab, University of Waikato, Hamilton, 2019 354 Department of Labour Transgender People at Work (2011). 355 Employment New Zealand “Transgender employees” (undated) <https://www.employment.govt.nz/>. 346 347 57