Prevention of Discrimination at the Work Place

ITC acknowledges that every individual brings a different and unique set of perspectives and capabilities to the team. A discrimination-free workplace for employees provides the environment in which diverse talents can bloom and be nurtured.

Policy: ITC's approach to its human resources is premised on the fundamental belief of fostering meritocracy in the organisation, which promotes diversity and offers equality of opportunity to all employees. ITC does not engage in or support direct or indirect discrimination in recruitment, compensation, access to training, promotion, termination or retirement based on caste, religion, disability, gender, age, race, colour, ancestry, marital status or affiliation with a political, religious, or union organisation or a minority group.

Implementation: The policy is communicated to all employees through induction programmes, policy manuals and intranet portals. The custodian of this policy is the Divisional Chief Executive or the SBU Head of each business.

The speedy resolution of formal complaints is premised on the freedom of employees to approach higher officials in case the issue is not settled at the level of his/her immediate superior. The salient features of the issue and steps taken towards its resolution are minuted. For the unionised employees, compliance with the policy is ensured through a robust grievance handling procedure and the presence of a union that is expected to bring violations to the notice of the unit HR Head.

Monitoring & Auditing: The accountability for the application of this policy rests with the Unit Head who reviews anti-discriminatory complaints annually or on a case-by-case basis. The HR department of the Division/SBU reports annually on incidents of discrimination, if any, to the SBU Head or the Divisional Chief Executive. Corporate Human Resources conducts non-discrimination reviews annually on a sample basis with Unit Heads and through on-site assessments.

Compliance during 2005-06: Compliance with the policy is evident from the transparent system of recruitment and the practice of exit interviews, which are undertaken by a manager not directly connected with the employee.

During 2005-06 no incident of discrimination in any of the ITC units was reported.