The employers’ organisations, representing small businesses and given sectors, being Beci, the FBB, the UCM, the UWE, the Voka, the Unizo, the Unisoc and the Boerenbond are taking action on diversity.
They jointly launched, on Tuesday, the first phase of an inter-professional plan aiming for greater workplace diversity.
The objective of this initiative is to “demonstrate to companies the positive benefits of a voluntary diversity policy.”
These employers’ organisations say that Belgium “has nothing to be ashamed of regarding diversity” with one of “the lowest [wage gaps between men and women] in Europe,” and a rate of employment of older workers, which went from an average of 34.4% to 46.5% in the first quarter of 2017, over a space of ten years.
Although “many companies have already integrated a policy of high diversity within their business strategy,” some figures remain insufficient, such as the rate of employment of foreigners. The figure has reached 48.1%, compared to 67.7% for Belgian workers.
The employers’ organisations said in a communiqué, “Although other factors explain this reality and mean that certain groups are less able to find their place in the employment market, we cannot deny the potential share of workplace discrimination suffered by individuals.” The organisations go on to say, “The employers are uniting to do better persuaded that discrimination, in whatever form, has no role in the workplace.”
The employers’ action plan occurs in three main phases: informing, awareness-raising and inspiration.
Beci, the Boerenbond, the FBB, the UCM, the Unisoc, the Unizo, the UWE and the Voka state being convinced that their action plan “will lead to greater diversity within the employment market.”
