First Sixteen Companies Signed the Diversity Charter Slovakia

Slovakia is the fifteenth EU country where employers can join the Diversity Charter. It is the first initiative that enables companies, non-profit organizations, and state authorities to publicly declare their support of diversity and inclusion at workplace. On Tuesday, 30th of May 2017, first Slovak companies joined the Diversity Charter.

40% of Slovaks believe that fight against all types of discrimination in Slovakia is either inefficient or non-existent. It was shown by the results of the 2015 Eurobarometer polls. However, Slovak companies decided to take first steps to alleviate prejudice about diversity. “Employees who are diverse in age, gender, nationality, and disabilities adapt to growing demands of the market and customers for the quality of goods and services much more easily,“ says Michal Kišša, the program director of the Pontis Foundation and the executive director of the Business Leaders Forum. This association is the administrator of the Diversity Charter in Slovakia. By signing it, companies declare that they will create a diverse work environment and voluntarily commit themselves to promoting ideas of equality, respect, and inclusion. “It has been proven that companies with an effective management of diversity perform better than other companies,” says Kišša.

First companies signed the Slovak Charter

The voluntary initiative called the Diversity Charter started on Tuesday, 30 May, in the Nedbalka Gallery in Bratislava. The first signatories include sixteen companies operating in Slovakia - AT&T Global Network Services Slovakia, DELL, Heineken Slovakia, Henkel Slovakia, IBM Slovakia, ING Bank, Lenovo (Slovakia), Novartis Slovakia, Philip Morris Slovakia, Topvar Breweries, PricewaterhouseCoopers Slovakia, Skanska SK, Swiss Re, T-Systems Slovakia, domestic employers such as Matador Holding, and non-profit organizations and associations such as AmCham Slovakia (Business Service Center Forum), the Pontis Foundation, and Diversity Pro. Other companies or organizations can apply to become signatories of the document through www.chartadiverzity.sk. The membership is voluntary and free of charge.

About the Diversity Charter

The Diversity Charter is a voluntary initiative supported by the European Commission. The national Diversity Charter is in compliance with the Action Plan for the Prevention of All Forms of Discrimination for 2016-2019 under the auspices of the Ministry of Justice of the Slovak Republic and the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, and Family of the Slovak Republic. The Business Leaders Forum at the Pontis Foundation, which is the administrator of the Charter, organizes professional events focused on topics of diversity and inclusion and publishes practical recommendations for companies in these areas. In the past the association dealt with topics such as active ageing or support of the employment of the marginalized Roma. Recently, the forum, in cooperation with IBM, organized a seminar entitled Diver(SiTy): Women in Business. There are plans for an event on LGBTQ+ in the autumn.

„Diversity in the workplace” is also one of the major themes of the Hi4CSR project.

Authors: Ivana Kullová, Tatiana Čaplová / Pontis Foundation