Lawyer offers tips to avoid LGBTphobia at work

The celebration of LGBTQIA+ Pride Day this Wednesday, the 28th, is an important date to promote diversity and the fight for rights and equality. The month of June is dedicated to reflection by society and especially by companies that need internal diversity and equality policies.

Prejudice against LGBTQIA+ people is still something latent in the work environment and according to data from the TST (Superior Labor Court), in 2022 alone, 28,300 labor lawsuits were filed involving compensation for discriminatory acts on grounds of racism and other forms of violence such as homophobia and transphobia.

Another worrying data that proves discrimination against LGBT people at work is from DIESSE (Inter-union Department of Statistics and Economic Studies). According to the Department, in 2019, clauses related to LGBTQIA+ workers were agreed in 736 negotiating tables, which corresponds to 2.5% of all tables. Although the percentage is still small, it was significantly higher than that recorded in 2010, which was 0.7% of 33,355 trades.

Given this scenario, the main difficulty for LGBT+ people is precisely to assume their sexual orientation at work, fearing reprisals, violence and homophobia. In Brazil, according to data from the Center for Talent Innovation, a specialized institution whose objective is to carry out research in the area of ​​gender, 61% of LGBT professionals do not admit their sexual orientation at work to colleagues and managers. Already 49% say they do not hide their sexual orientation, but do not speak openly at work. More than twelve thousand workers were heard in several countries, including Brazil.

The partner and lawyer at LBS Advogadas e Advogados Fernando Machado warns of this situation and emphasizes the importance of reporting cases of LGBTphobia at work. “If you feel harassed or discriminated against at work, in the exercise of your function, in your social work relations or even during a job interview, it is important that the fact be reported, so that companies no longer commit such attitudes and are warned or even punished in relation to such facts. Complaints can be made, for example, to the union representing that respective category of workers, Public Defender, association for the protection of the LGBTQIA+ population, specialized lawyer, that is, where you feel more comfortable and confident to report “, warned Machado.

Four tips to avoid LGBTphobia at work:

Lawyer Fernando Machado, who is coordinator of the Working Group on the rights of LGBTQIA+ people at the LBS Advogadas e Advogados office, highlighted five important tips so that LGBTphobia can be avoided at work, for companies and employees.

Well-structured diversity and inclusion policies

Measures to educate and reprimand LGBTphobic people are essential. The LGBTQIA+ theme must be present in the continuing education of professionals, in training, in lectures and in any internal educational action. The best way to combat prejudice is to provide quality information. Your organization’s guidelines should prioritize an inclusive and respectful environment. Violence is not something normal, nor even tolerable, even if veiled. LGBTphobic conduct should be investigated and reprimanded, making clear the seriousness of the situation so that it does not happen again.

Technical training of sectors against LGBTphobia

First, the human resources (HR) sector needs to be well trained to know how to proceed with complaints. In addition, the legal department must be aligned with compliance practices and employees must be well informed about LGBTQIA+ rights. It is advisable to structure mechanisms of good practices and legal advice to avoid conflicts within the company.

Structuring of internal systems

Internal systems must be structured to allow inclusion and respect for LGBTQIA+ rights. From the selection process, the registration forms must be completed with an opening for insertion of the social name, the gender in which the person identifies and treatment pronoun. There must be tolerance and coherence in the approach, especially with questions related to gender identity, sexual orientation and use of the social name. Currently, making affirmative vacancies available to LGBTQIA+ people is also an indispensable measure.

Construction of legal solutions

Try to bring legal solutions to employees that go beyond the formalism of the law, going beyond the repeated idea that discrimination is a crime. Empathy concepts should be worked on, bringing practical examples. The legal body must clearly understand the impacts of LGBTphobia at work.