Tochka Opory, Ukraine’s biggest LGBT charity organization and a human rights watchdog, together with its partners presented on Nov. 25 the results of its Ukraine Corporate Equality Index-2016, naming the employers that have introduced the best equality policies in their offices.
ManpowerGroup, the British Council Ukraine, LUSH Ukraine, Retail Auchan Ukraine, and TemplateMonster topped the list this year.
A total of 151 companies participated this year, compared to 98 in 2015. The anti-discriminatory policies of the companies were assessed under 30 indicators, designed to estimate discrimination on grounds such as gender, disability status, sexual orientation, and gender identity.
The organizers, however, only revealed the results of companies that gained at least 50 points of the possible maximum of 100.
Bogdan Globa, the head of Tochka Opory, said the purpose of the rating was not to shame businesses, but to “motivate the companies to achieve better results.”
He noted improvements, saying that while last year only 10 percent of the participants passed the threshold, this year it had risen to 30 percent.
Shell, Danone, EY, JYSK and the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine are also among the best performers in this year’s survey.
Olena Surhai, a brand manager at LUSH Ukraine, a company that produces handmade cosmetics, said that an equality policy was introduced by the company’s founders 20 years ago. Since the very beginning, LUSH has been hiring people based on merit only, she told the Kyiv Post.
“We have gays, lesbians and even a transgender person among our employees,” Surhai said. “We have also internally displaced people from Donbas and Crimea, mothers with many children, and people with disabilities. What difference does it make who they are? The most important thing is that they are talented people.”
She said it was much more interesting to live and work in society in which all people are different.
“Plus, our customers are different people. They are, as well, gay and straight people, people with and without disabilities, old and young,” Surhai said.
Olya Boyko, communications officer at Auchan, also said that the most important criterion for her company is the quality of employee’s work.
Auchan is among the few companies in Ukraine that hire deaf people on a regular basis. Its more than 200 deaf employees work alongside 3,800 Auchan workers in 11 locations. They work as cashiers, personnel inspectors and team leaders.
“Now we will expand, and people with other physical disabilities and mentally challenged people will be able to work at Auchan,” Boyko said. She said there will be jobs in the bakery and meat departments of the stores.
Globa believes that some companies might take part in the Corporate Equality Index for commercial reasons: “Let’s say they want to get into the top five, as it is good for their business reputation.”
“That’s not a problem. That’s a normal way of thinking for business. The important thing is that a person from a vulnerable group will be able to get a job at that company,” Globa said. “They will do that first because they have to, but as a result, they will understand that this is just the right thing to do.”
However, if every Ukrainian company underwent the Corporate Equality Index evaluation, not many would pass the 50 percent threshold, Globa said, as now many businesses are focusing just on surviving.
“The policies of equality and diversity are philosophical. Companies start thinking that way when they are confident,” Globa said.
But Globa added that even though progress is slow, it is obvious, and positive.
Kyiv Post staff writer Alyona Zhuk can be reached at [email protected]
