Bengaluru, December 13, 2024: Tata Steel has been recognised as a Gold Employer by the India Workplace Equality Index (IWEI) 2024 for the fourth consecutive year for its unwavering commitment to LGBT+ inclusion. IWEI has honoured Tata Steel for its exceptional performance in embedding diversity and inclusion within its policies, hiring practices, and external communications.
Tata Steel’s journey towards becoming an inclusive workplace has been marked by comprehensive efforts in various aspects of HR policies, practices, and organisational culture. The Company has implemented progressive employment policies such as equal benefits for LGBT+ partners which goes beyond just medical coverage and includes benefits like a honeymoon package, gender transition support for employees, and gender-neutral parental leaves.
In addition to its inclusive hiring practices, Tata Steel has actively promoted employee resource groups (ERGs) to provide a supportive network for the LGBT+ community. The Company has also engaged in outreach programmes, community initiatives, and partnerships to foster a culture of acceptance and understanding.
Atrayee Sanyal, Vice President, Human Resource Management, Tata Steel, said: “We are honoured to be recognised as a Gold Employer by the India Workplace Equality Index for the fourth consecutive year. Over the years, we have introduced not just policies that have evolved with time but also robust mechanisms for sensitisation, allyship, and continuous engagement to nurture a workplace that celebrates individuality. We also believe that diversity and inclusion are not just values, but also key drivers of innovation and business success. This achievement reflects our unwavering commitment to building a truly inclusive workplace where every individual feels respected, valued, and empowered to reach their full potential.”
Tata Steel’s Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) programme started taking shape with the launch of a diversity group called ‘MOSAIC’ in June 2015. MOSAIC facilitates a diversity of gender, hiring & inclusion of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), LGBTQ+, and Affirmative Action groups.
MOSAIC focuses on five pillars, namely, Sensitisation, Infrastructure, Recruitment, Retention & Development and Celebrations. In line with the Company’s vision of enabling a workplace for all diverse groups, in May 2018 Tata Steel launched WINGS, an LGBTQ+ employee resource group.
In December 2019, the Company expanded its D&I policy that allowed colleagues from the LGBTQ+ community to declare their partners and avail all HR benefits permissible under the law. To this end, the definition of partners was expanded to include people of same-sex living as a married couple.
Under the expanded D&I policy, Tata Steel employees and their partners were allowed to avail a host of benefits including health check-up, medical benefits, joint house points, adoption leave, new-born parent leave, child care leave, and inclusion in employee assistance programme. Employees were also given financial assistance for gender reassignment surgery and 30 days special leave for the same.
Further, they are also eligible for the Tata Executive Holiday Plan honeymoon package, domestic travel coverage for new employees, temporary transfer policy, transfer and relocation – that allows partner to travel and familiarise themselves to a new place. Besides, this policy entitles them to be equally eligible to be included in any event, big or small (may be an official gathering or an offshore corporate event) where earlier only spouses of the opposite gender were included.
IWEI is India’s first comprehensive benchmarking tool for employers to measure their progress on lesbian, gay, bi, and trans (LGBT+) inclusion in the workplace. The index measures nine areas: policies and benefits, employee lifecycle, employee network group, allies, and role models, senior leadership, monitoring, procurement, community engagement, and additional work. This is the fifth annual IWEI assessment process where 150 organisations participated.
