The aim of this lesson informs you of sector-specific features of the quality anti-discrimination policy. At the end of this lesson you should be able to list the key features of quality inclusive policies, describe the role of the employer in making workplace discrimination free, identify the role of employer’s internal documents as an opportunity to take additional steps in human rights protection and anti-discrimination, compare key features with the situation in your workplace.

Note: The audio is available below the introduction.

Inclusive policies are the actions that are carried out to ensure that groups that have been socially and historically excluded due to their conditions of inequality or vulnerability can access their rights to participate in society and are treated as equals to other citizens. Designing public policies aimed at the full inclusion of LGBT+Q+ people is very important to advance in the achievement of all their rights and that they can exercise them freely without any fear of expressing themselves as they are.

Inclusive quality policies are those aimed at equal opportunities for all people, or apply to LGBT+Q+ people social interventions aimed at their full social inclusion, ensuring that this is accompanied by a social transformation that brings with it the collective assumption of the rights approach, and of the values of diversity and equality.

Inclusive quality policies should aim to:

• Value diversity as a factor that enriches society.
• Respect each and every one of the rights of LGBT+Q+ people
• Ensure full and effective participation in public decision-making as an instrument of individual and collective empowerment, and of belonging to the community

With regard to the labour market, inclusive policies should favor employment in an open, inclusive work environment and be accessible under conditions that ensure the application of the principles of equal treatment and non-discrimination. For all this, it is necessary to involve political representatives, LGBT+Q+ people, companies and employers who must ensure that all this is possible in our societies.

Listen to a podcast in which we present examples of good practice in creating an inclusive job. Examples from the six countries covered by the project are presented, with an emphasis on the fundamental obligations of the employer in creating an inclusive job and the most common forms of inclusive policies. This podcast is based on a survey we conducted as part of WE PROJECT. If you want to know more, you can find the research here.

Escucha un podcast en el que presentamos ejemplos de buenas prácticas en la creación de un trabajo inclusivo. Se presentan ejemplos de los seis países participantes en el proyecto, con énfasis en las responsabilidades centrales del empleador en la creación de un trabajo inclusivo y las formas más comunes de políticas inclusivas. Este podcast se basa en una encuesta que realizamos como parte de WE PROJECT. Si quieres saber más, puedes acceder a nuestra investigación completa.

Hören Sie sich einen Podcast an, in dem wir erfolgreiche Beispiele zur Schaffung eines inklusiven und offenen Arbeitsplatzes vorstellen. Es werden Beispiele aus den sechs vom Projekt abgedeckten Ländern vorgestellt, wobei der Schwerpunkt auf den Kernaufgaben des Arbeitgebers bei der Schaffung eines inklusiven Arbeitsplatzes und den gängigsten Formen inklusiver Politik liegt. Dieser Podcast basiert auf einer Umfrage, die wir im Rahmen von WE PROJECT durchgeführt haben. Wenn Sie mehr wissen möchten, finden Sie Forschung.

Wenn Sie mehr dazu wissen wollen, finden Sie hier eine Anleitung für ein gelungenes Diversity Management in der Arbeit und hier eine Plattform für Unternehmen mit Informationen zur Inklusion von LGBTIQ-Menschen im Betrieb.

Poslušajte podkast u kojem predstavljamo primere dobre prakse u stvaranju inkluzivnog radnog okruženja. Predstavljeni su primeri iz šest zemalja obuhvaćenih projektom, sa naglaskom na osnovnim odgovornostima poslodavca u stvaranju inkluzivnog radnog okruženja i najčešćim oblicima inkluzivnih politika. Ovaj podkast je zasnovan na anketi koju smo sproveli u okviru projekta “WE”. Ako želite da saznate više, možete pronaći istraživanje ovde.

Vypočuj si podcast, v ktorom uvádzame príklady osvedčených postupov pri vytváraní inkluzívneho pracovného miesta. Uvádzame v ňom príklady zo šiestich krajín, na ktoré sa náš projekt vzťahuje, a to s dôrazom na základné zodpovednosti zamestnávateľa pri vytváraní inkluzívneho pracovného miesta a najbežnejšie formy inkluzívnych politík. Tento podcast je založený na prieskume, ktorý sme uskutočnili v rámci ‘WE’ projektu. Ak sa chceš dozvedieť viac, náš prieskum nájdeš tu.

Aj na Slovensku existujú príklady pozitívneho prístupu k diverzite a inklúzii na pracovisku. Chartu diverzity podpísalo viacero zamestnávateľov na Slovensku. Ak sa chceš dozvedieť viac o diverzite a inklúzii, klikni sem a ak sa chceš dozvedieť viac o tom, čo sa zaviazali dodržiavať spoločnosti, ktoré podpísali Chartu diverzity, tak klikni sem.

Poslušaj podcast u kojem predstavljamo primjere dobre prakse stvaranja uključivog radnog mjesta. Predstavljeni su primjeri iz šest država koje su pokrivene projektom, a naglasak je dan na temeljnim obvezama poslodavca u stvaranju uključivog radnog mjesta te najčešćim oblicima uključivih politika. Ovaj podcast je nastao na temelju istraživanja kojeg smo proveli u sklopu WE PROJECT-a. Ako želiš saznati više, istraživanje možeš pronaći ovdje.

Interviewer: Hello, Laura. Could you please tell us about you and your role?

Laura: Hi Lidia! My name is Laura, and I am a researcher in public social welfare policies at Polibienestar at the University of Valencia. As a social worker, improving the quality of life of vulnerable groups through education on tolerance and respect has been an area of interest for me and I am glad to participate in this project and to be part of the fight against discrimination and stigmatization of people because of their gender identity or sexual orientation.

Interviewer: What are the main findings of the best practice mapping?

The best practices examples collected are aimed at promoting greater respect and tolerance in the workplace, as well as strategies to combat discrimination. In the analysis of these best practice mapping, we found that NGOs implement a greater number of practices and mostly target the labour market. The actions identified are focused on improve companies’ and organisations strategies to deal with and enhance LGBTI diversity in the workplace, also to reduce LGBT prejudice in the workplace, and sharing positive communication on sexuality and gender orientation.

The training or workshops are the most frequent intervention and we also collect practices related to awareness-raising or advertising campaigns, job offers, policy recommendations and business guidelines. We often find awareness campaigns or recommendations for companies, but this does not always materialize in an effective inclusion in all sectors of the labour market, since it is often large multinationals or public companies that allocate the most resources for such equality and diversity based programmes. In many of the practices collected the implementation of these depends on having staff trained in sexual and gender diversity who can give the talks or workshops to raise awareness and inform companies or society in general.

Also, we have identified that in some countries there is little involvement on the part of the Government and statutory organisations to support young people’s adjustment during the labour transition. In many cases, establishing mechanisms to combat discrimination towards LGBTI youth relies on the will of companies or the resources that NGOs can allocate. The case of Serbia is striking due to there being no documented review or case study of the application of recommendations related to discrimination in the workplace or the flow of reported cases of discrimination in the workplace and we were unable to identify an example of good practices in their context.

Interviewer: What would be the fundamental obligations of an employer in creating an inclusive job?

Well, the difficulties in successful integration and adaptation of young LGTB people are often caused by workplace contexts that are commonly heteronormative and cis-normative. Therefore, efforts should be done to build work environments more inclusive and respectful with sexual affective diversity and different gender identities. Employers should create work environments in which people should not hide their sexual orientation and gender identity, they do not suffer discrimination or harassment on the basis of their gender identity or expression, their freedom or integration is not limited and they do not encounter more difficulties than hetero/cisnormative people to access a job or promote in their employment. Also when an act of discrimination or hatred occurs, for example, physical and verbal aggression against LGBTIQ+ people, these should be reported and not normalized. It is also important that companies facilitate access to employment of LGBTI people particularly for the Trans population who appear to have greater difficulty in accessing employment.

Interviewer: Could you describe what are the most common inclusion practices in companies?

The training and/or workshop was the most common intervention carried out in companies, we also identified some practices related to informative talks, job postings, Inclusive benefits for LGBT co-workers and their families. We identified some exemplars specifically aimed at trans people, some with the purpose of reducing the unemployment rate among the trans communities who according to the literature face increased barriers to access employment and also suffer higher rates of workplace harassment and discrimination.

Interviewer: Could you give us examples of the most interesting inclusion policies that we identified?

The inclusive policies that we have identified in general are related to the implementation of awareness campaigns or publicity aimed at informing about sexual and gender affective diversity, but this, as I mentioned before will depend on the political and social context. But I wanted to emphasize that the inclusive policies that we should focus on are those aimed at full social inclusion, ensuring that this is accompanied by a social transformation that brings with it the collective assumption of the rights approach, and of the values of diversity and equality. This obviously requires will and investment on the part of administrations and Governments

Interviewer: Do companies promote these principles and practices in every country where they operate?

No, it depends on the social context in which companies are, for example, when we analyse good practices Slovakian stakeholders pointed out that they would probably have problems implementing some of these practices because there is still social rejection towards support and inclusion measures towards the LGBT+Q+ collective. In addition, they cannot easily access public funding for this type of initiative. They stated that some advertising campaigns resulted in people’s rejection of companies, and this may have caused fear on the part of companies to openly declare themselves LGBT+Q+ friendly and implement these initiatives. And as I mentioned before in the case of Serbia they cannot find good practices to promote labour inclusion of LGTBI people in their context. Also, the evaluators of Croatia also stressed that currently there is a climate of rejection towards the LGBT+Q+ collective and this could complicate the commitment of companies or public entities with the implementation of some of the best practices evaluated.

Interviewer: Who can benefit from this study and how?

This study will help to empower young LGBT+Q+ workers, also help professionals who work with young LGBT+Q+ workers, such as teachers, psychologists, worker council members and so on, and lastly, we want to target policy-makers and political and social stakeholders in different regions what would benefit the whole of society in general terms making it more inclusive and respectful with diversity.

Interviewer: Thank you very much, Laura. This was very insightful. If our listeners wish to explore our study and learn more about quality inclusive policies, consult our website https://we-project.eu/.

Laura: Thank you, Lidia, it was a pleasure.