India Workplace Equality Index (IWEI), India’s first-of-its-kind comprehensive benchmarking study to measure and enable efforts for LGBT+ inclusion, has named Tata Steel, among other organizations, as a Top Employer for LGBT+ inclusion, recognizing the company’s commitment to advancing equality for LGBT+ people.

IWEI Top Employers is the definitive list showcasing the best employers in India for lesbian, gay, bi, and trans employees. This is the inaugural IWEI Top Employers list, featuring 52 organizations that have been recognized as ‘bronze’, ‘silver’ or ‘gold’, depending on their final score. Organizations participating in this Index make it clear that they support equality for LGBT+ people at work.

Tata Steel is one of 18 organizations featured in IWEI’s Silver category.

Commenting on the achievement, Atrayee S Sanyal, Vice President (Designate), Human Resource Management, Tata Steel, said: “At Tata Steel, we believe a diverse and inclusive environment enables employees to express themselves openly thereby adding to the perspectives and collective wisdom of the organization. In our experience, workplace diversity not only attracts the best talent, widens the talent pool but also adds to the organizational culture and business results.”

Sanyal added, “We are proud to feature among the IWEI 2020 Top Employers for LGBT+ inclusion. This recognition reaffirms our commitment to foster a culture of allyship to actively promote LGBTQ+ empowerment and build a benchmark workplace.”  

In line with the company’s vision of enabling workplace for all diverse groups, in May 2018 Tata Steel launched WINGS, a LGBTQ+ employee resource group, and in 2019, the company rolled out a new HR policy that enables colleagues from the LGBTQ+ community to avail all HR benefits permissible under the law for their partners (people of same-sex living together) like coverage for child care leave, new born parent leave, medical benefits, joint house points, employee assistance programmes, domestic travel policy, health check-ups, transfer and relocation benefits, honeymoon package and more, reinforcing the culture of inclusion.

Tata Steel’s vision is to be a truly world-class organization that respects the uniqueness of individuals to create a diverse and inclusive atmosphere. The company’s diversity and inclusion charter started taking concrete shape in 2015, with the launch of ‘MOSAIC’, a diversity group. Focusing on five key pillars: Sensitization, Infrastructure, Recruitment, Retention & Development and Celebrations, MOSAIC facilitates a diversity of gender hiring and inclusion of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), LGBTQ+ and more. 

In keeping with the changing times, the company has introduced several path-breaking policies, practices and initiatives for various segments of the workforce like five-day workweek, menstrual leave, sabbatical policy, Take Two to enable second careers, onboarding policy for person with disabilities, special conveyance benefits for person with disabilities and more. Tata Steel has also made significant progress in the field of gender equality and is working towards its target of having 20% women officers in the workforce by 2025.

Ushering in a new era where inclusion is the standard, Tata Steel is leading the agenda on living and celebrating diversity.