Diversity and inclusion policy

The most important thing for a workplace is to provide conditions in which all employees can carry out their jobs and contribute to the best of their ability. In order to succeed in making the most of the potential and benefits offered by a diverse team, Humana endeavours to create a mix of differences at our workplaces but also to manage these differences, while building an inclusive organisation. We aim to achieve both quantity and quality when it comes to diversity at our workplaces. 

Definitions

Diversity

Diversity means that in terms of quantity, we have a mixed workforce when it comes to gender, age, ethnicity and cultural background, disability, transgender identity and expression, educational background, experiences, and so on. Quality is achieved by creating an inclusive workplace with employees of different ages and with varying backgrounds and education, so that their knowledge and experience enrich and influence the development of the business.

Both diversity and gender equality work in professional life is based on principles enshrined in the UN declarations on human rights, as well as in Swedish and EU legislation, such as anti-discrimination legislation.

Gender equality

Gender equality in professional life is defined as women and men having equal opportunities when it comes to recruitment, when employment and other working conditions are adjusted, and in relation to opportunities for professional development. Gender equality is also usually broken down into quantitative and qualitative gender equality. Quantitative gender equality means an even distribution between women and men. Qualitative gender equality means that both men and women’s skills, experiences and values are made use of and allowed to enrich and influence developments.

Discrimination

Discrimination is when a person or group of people make distinctions between different individuals that are not based on qualifications or talents. The word discrimination automatically assumes that the difference has a negative impact on the person affected.

A simplified description of discrimination is given in the Swedish Discrimination Act, which explains that it is when a person is put at a disadvantage or has their rights violated. The disadvantage or violation should be connected to one of the seven grounds of discrimination. Discrimination may be direct or indirect. Inadequate access, harassment, sexual harassment and instructions to discriminate are also forms of discrimination.

• Direct discrimination: when someone is put at a disadvantage by being treated worse than someone else in a comparable situation, and the disadvantage is associated with one of the grounds of discrimination.
• Indirect discrimination: when someone is put at a disadvantage by the application of a rule, a criterion or a procedure that appears neutral, but that may put people who fall within the grounds of discrimination at a particular disadvantage.
• Inadequate access: when a person with a disability is put at a disadvantage because no accessibility measures have been taken to ensure that person can be included in comparable situations with able-bodied people.
• Harassment: behaviour that violates a person’s dignity and that is associated with one of the grounds of discrimination.
• Sexual harassment: behaviour of a sexual nature that violates a person’s dignity.
• Instructions to discriminate: orders or instructions to discriminate against someone in one of the above-mentioned ways, and that are given to someone who is subordinate to, or in a position of dependency to the person issuing the order.

At Humana, we also believe that discrimination is when a person or group of people make distinctions between different individuals that are not based on qualifications or talents. If it emerges that someone within our organisation feels they have been subjected to discrimination in the workplace, this must be investigated and dealt with immediately and action should be taken to prevent it happening again in future. Humana endeavours to create a non-discriminatory workplace culture and an organisation that is characterised at all levels by an open, constructive atmosphere free from prejudice and stereotypical assumptions, and to be proactive based on a norm-critical perspective.

Discriminatory treatment

According to the Swedish Work Environment Authority, discriminatory treatment includes actions that are perceived as injurious by the person or persons subjected to such treatment. Such actions are often perceived as being inexplicable and unfair. These actions may lead to those affected being excluded from the social community. It is even worse if such actions are repeated and continue for an extended period. In the worst case scenario, it may develop into bullying.

Humana aims to create a working atmosphere that promotes a sense of security, job satisfaction and positive solidarity. All forms of discriminatory treatment and discrimination are therefore a breach of Humana’s core values and can never be accepted. Humana is proactive about preventing the risk of discriminatory treatment. A key premise for this work is primarily to review organisational conditions in the workplace. This involves looking at how we organise the business, how we cooperate and communicate and how the work is managed.

Goals

Humana’s overriding objective is to be the obvious choice for anyone wishing to pursue a career in social care, and to help boost the attractiveness of the social care industry. This means that:

• Everyone, including employees, clients, customers and buyers, should feel welcome, and we will provide a workplace and business in which everyone is treated with the same degree of respect and dignity.
• Humana aims to increase the number of employees and managers based on our definition of diversity.
• Humana will endeavour to raise awareness of the advantages of diversity in the company and the opportunities created by having diverse teams in the workplace.
• Humana’s workplaces will be free from harassment, discriminatory treatment and discrimination.

Performance indicators

Humana will be an inclusive company and will measure this in the following ways:

• Humana will have a long-term goal of achieving an even gender balance in senior positions, i.e. ensuring that men and women are represented within the range of 40–60%.
• Humana will work actively to ensure diversity among management positions and set relevant targets to follow up on progress, e.g internal target that 20% of the company’s managers have an international background, yearly review etc.
• Up until the year 2020, Humana will create 500 entry-level jobs on the Nordic labour market for people who are currently finding it difficult to access the job market.

Responsibility

Operations managers are responsible for planning, leading and monitoring the business to ensure that established goals are achieved. Operations managers must engage in long-term business planning in such a way as to prevent prejudice, discrimination and harassment.

All employees who manage staff are responsible for ensuring compliance with this policy. All employees with management responsibility are also obliged to manage, evaluate, review the salaries of and develop their staff based on a norm-critical perspective. As part of this work, the focus should be on objective and factual grounds and there should be an understanding that norms affect our way of assessing the performance of others.

All employees therefore have a responsibility for ensuring compliance with the company’s Diversity Policy, i.e. that employees may not harass or discriminate against any of their colleagues or any client/customer. All employees also share a collective responsibility for taking action in the event that they observe prejudice or discrimination.

Humana will have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to harassment, prejudice and discrimination. In cases of harassment, prejudice or discrimination, the line manager is responsible for taking appropriate action.

Humana provides a whistleblower function on its website, where employees and managers can anonymously report serious deviations.