In a step to reinforce inclusivity and enable equal rights for LGBTQ+ employees at the workplace, Tata Steel, on Monday, declared a new Human Resource(HR) policy that will allow the LGBTQ+ community to declare their partners to avail all HR benefits permissible under the law.

“Partners would mean people of same-sex living like a married couple,” said a press release from the company. LGBTQ+ refers to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and related communities.

“A pioneer in diversity & inclusion space, we’re an equal opportunity employer where every stakeholder is respected & every voice is heard. Our new HR policy will enable LGBTQ+ employees to declare their partners & avail a host of HR benefits,” Tata steel tweeted on Monday.

A pioneer in #diversity & #inclusion space, we’re an #equalopportunity employer where every stakeholder is respected & every voice is heard. Our new HR policy will enable LGBTQ+ employees to declare their partners & avail a host of HR benefits.
Read more: https://t.co/HYgAdlrFSZ pic.twitter.com/jdQuUyZ0Ct

— Tata Steel (@TataSteelLtd) December 9, 2019

Under the expanded Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) policy, Tata Steel employees and their partners will be able to avail a number 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 (EAP). 

Tata Steel will also give financial assistance to employees for gender reassignment surgery, along with 30 days of special leave for the same. 

In addition, the employees will also be eligible for Tata Executive Holiday Plan (TEHP) honeymoon package, domestic travel coverage for new employees, temporary transfer policy, transfer and relocation – that allows the partner to travel and familiarise themselves to a new place. 

Moreover, the new policy also enables the partners to be equally eligible to be included in any corporate event, which was earlier allowed for only spouses of the opposite gender.

“Providing equitable policies and benefits creates a level playing field for all employees and sets common standards across locations. Research shows that people are more engaged with and committed to an organisation that has policies protecting LGBTQ+ employees. In fact, enacting LGBTQ+ inclusive policies have been shown to decrease the instances of LGBTQ+ discrimination at work,” said Mr Suresh Dutt Tripathi, Vice President, Human Resource Management, Tata Steel.

This is not the first time that the company has taken a positive step towards inclusivity. In June 2015, the company had launched a diversity group called ‘MOSAIC’, which facilitated a diversity of gender, hiring and inclusion of persons with disabilities, LGBTQ+ and more. In May 2018, they launched WINGS, an LGBTQ+ employee resource group.

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