The September 2018 judgment of the Supreme Court decriminalizing homosexuality was a historic event. Corporate India after section 377 feels that fetters placed on it have been removed and it can do a lot to include and protect the interests of employees of the LGBTQ community.
The LGBTQ community has been facing social ostracism, repressive criminal laws, inequality and exclusion for a very long time, a legacy of our British masters. The rest of the world marched ahead in assimilating them into mainstream and in making LGBTQ friendly laws. We took our own time in dismantling the repressive section 377 of the Indian penal code that criminalized consensual homosexual relationships. The historic judgement deemed criminalization of consensual homosexual relationships as “irrational, indefensible and manifestly arbitrary”. Justice Deepak Misra termed the 158 year old law “an odious weapon” to harass the LGBTQ community with. In Justice Misra’s words, “It is time to move from darkness to light and towards a more inclusive society”.
Corporate India was buoyed up by the progressive judgment. It has long been feeling helpless in taking concrete steps to ensure more inclusive workplaces and to protect the LGTBQ workers’ interests. Business world was always alive to the economic cost of homophobia in workplaces. According to a World Bank study in 2016, the GDP loss in the Indian economy amounts to 1.7% due to exclusion of LGTBQ community. A lot of highly qualified LGBTQ professionals move to other countries that are more inclusive and have better laws to safeguard their interests. After 377, corporate India feels that creating an inclusive, safe, respectful and sensitive work spaces makes eminent economic sense. Inclusion and sensitivity help the employees to be better motivated and thereby increase productivity. Diversity in the workplace brings different perspectives as opposed to the dominant majority view. It is very useful for businesses in exploring newer markets directed at the LGBTQ population. Above all, inclusive organizations earn dividends in terms of goodwill and good brand image.
All these considerations made corporate India after section 377 actually erupt with joy. Most companies celebrated the judgment in interesting ways. Google showed support by displaying the pride flag on its homepage. Facebook and Youtube followed suit. Microsoft said, “Come as you are, do what you love”. Filpkart said, “Here is to celebrate the canceled order that has delivered the dignity, equality, individualism and freedom”.
Apart from the celebratory messages, corporates have been laying the groundwork for a more inclusive workplace in India with a sure footed grace. Major corporate such as Godrej, Intuit and Barclays very quickly put policies in place. The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group is at the forefront for making inclusivity and diversity in the workplace a priority. The company has concrete policies for recruiting transgender workers. Its policies reiterate anti discrimination stand in recruitment. The company also has a dress code policy as well that allows its employees to dress in accordance with their expressed gender preference. These are path-breaking policy initiatives that will go a long way in making workplaces safe and welcoming for all. Apart from these, the group organizes sensitization workshops for all its employees. It has gender neutral restrooms and uses gender neutral communication. They also have community outreach programs as well.
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Large corporates like Godrej, Tata Steel, IBM, Accenture and Cognizant are offering medical insurance coverage to the same sex partners of their employees. Some comanies like IBM, Tata Steel and the Lalit Suri Group also pay for sex reassignment surgeries for their employees and offer special leave for such medical procedures. More and more corporates are making gender neutral restrooms a reality. E-commerce companies like Myntra and eBay are offering LGBTQ themed advertising and content on their websites. Companies are encouraging and starting support groups for their LGBTQ employees.
Apart from hiring trans people, some of the companies are also engaging with the LGBTQ community at large to train and up-skill them.
This change in mind sets and resultant efforts at bringing about more inclusive work spaces has percolated down to smaller organizations and startups as well. These organizations are working towards building gender neutral, safe, inclusive and equitable work spaces. They are modifying physical work spaces, conducting sensitization programs and effecting changes in their policies. In fact, smaller organizations are able to effect changes in a much quicker way due to openness and fewer processes and approvals. They are more flexible in their approach. They engage with NGOs to understand the changes that they need to make towards giving their LGBTQ workforce a better employee experience and to sensitize their other workers.
Companies like Nestaway, a home rental aggregator, has made rapid strides in being an inclusive employer. With active help from NGOs, they have been hiring transgender people. They are holding workshops to make their office culture and other employees more sensitive. They have redesigned their offices and made washrooms gender neutral. Other companies like Kolapasi Takeaway in Chennai and DropTaxi (Chennai) and Bro4U home cleaning service (Bangalore) have also been hiring trans employees aggressively.
Well begun is half done, as the saying goes. There is much more that needs to be done still. A lot depends on how quickly laws are put in place that provides health, marriage and inheritance rights to the LGBTQ population as a whole. Corporate India after section 377 will need to have more specific policies in place governing payment of PF and gratuity dues to same sex partners in the event of death of an employee. All the benefits that a hetero normative family enjoys will need to be extended to the families of same sex partners. The quest for an inclusive and equitable workplace right now remains a work in progress.
References:
- After section 377, what is corporate india doing? Swati Thakur, Apr 2, 2019
- How companies celebrated after section 377, Anwesha madhukalya, Sept 7, 2018.
- After Section 377, Manak Matiyani, Jan 4, 2019
