On 23 May, Rezalliance, a Swiss organisation committed to fighting harassment and discrimination in the workplace, visited BECI. Founder Joëlle Payom invited a range of experts to speak on the importance of inclusion in the workplace.
Discrimination and harassment at work affect one Belgian in three. According to Securex, a company specialising in human resources, 32% of employees have already experienced violence or harassment linked to a discrimination criterion (ethnic origin, nationality, skin colour, gender, disability, age, etc.). In Belgium, the law protects workers against discrimination and harassment in the workplace. Yet this figure remains the same (or changes very little) from year to year, deplores Kris De Meester, Director in charge of safety, health and well-being at work at the Federation of Enterprises in Belgium (FEB).
Internationally, more than 50% of employees have experienced harassment and/or discrimination in the course of their working lives. Joëlle Payom, founder of Rezalliance, a Swiss association committed to fighting harassment and discrimination in the workplace, is not standing by and watching. On 23 May 2024, she visited BECI to discuss the issue at a round table. For Joëlle Payom, tackling discrimination and inclusion in the workplace in Brussels is above all a strategic choice: as the capital of Europe and a crossroads of international politics, it is a tactical way of raising these issues beyond national borders.
Equity put to the test
‘Despite numerous studies and data alerting us to the problem and its impact on health and the economy, none of the 140 international days in the UN calendar was devoted to this scourge. To make up for this shortcoming, we decided to launch an initiative to establish a special day to put the spotlight on this major business and social issue’, says Joëlle Payom. Committed to the fight against harassment and inequality in the workplace, she launched the ‘International Day against Harassment and for Inclusion in the World of Work on 24 May’ in 2022. ‘An initiative like this needed to be endorsed by a large number of people and organisations to demonstrate its relevance’, she continues.
‘To combat harassment, we need to work on prevention’, says Patrick Charlier, Director of UNIA (the Belgian public institution for combating discrimination and promoting equality). During the round table organised by Rezalliance, Lieve Verboven, Director of the ILO (International Labour Organisation) for the European Union and the Benelux countries, explained: ‘Most victims of harassment or discrimination at work have experienced it more than once. In general, they are people who have already been discriminated against in the course of their lives because of their skin colour, disability or religion’.
Define in order to act
Discrimination in the workplace is not always easy to define. It can be intentional or unintentional,’ explains Kris De Meester. ‘Half of employers, and sometimes even employees, think that unintentional behaviour is not considered discrimination or harassment’, he explains.
According to the Federal Public Service for Employment, Labour and Social Dialogue, direct discrimination occurs when, on the basis of one of the protected criteria (ethnic origin, nationality, skin colour, gender, disability, age, etc.), a person is treated less favourably than another person. It is indirect when a remark that may seem neutral causes a disadvantage ‘for people presenting a protected criterion’.
Bernard Clerfayt, the Brussels Minister for Employment and Vocational Training, was present at the round table and pointed out that Belgium was one of the first countries to test for discrimination in recruitment. With Actiris (the regional body responsible for employment policy), ‘we are promoting diversity in companies’, he said, before adding that nearly 300 companies have been rewarded for their inclusion.