P.INC Privacy and D&I Policy Guide

The Privacy and Inclusion (P.INC) project group of the Utrecht Young Academy has, in collaboration with the Workplace Pride Foundation, set up a guide for D&I officers. In this guide, they can find an overview of the most important rules regarding the collection of information about the sexual orientation and gender identity of employees.

Privacy Regulations

Information about employees’ sexual orientation and gender identity is important for monitoring potential inequality at work and in developing and assessing diversity and inclusion policy. For example, employees can be asked to register this information voluntarily in order to chart how diverse the organisation is or to determine whether efforts to improve inclusion among all employee groups have been equally effective. At the same time, it is important to handle sensitive information about employees with care. Information about a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity is personal data and subject to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and national implementation acts. This legislation is intended to protect people’s privacy.

D&I Guide

When collecting and using any such data, organisations must adhere to this privacy legislation. A data protection officer or privacy lawyer can provide you with assistance if your organisation wishes to request and use information about employees’ sexual orientation and gender identity. This document gives D&I officers an overview of the most important rules to follow in order to avoid pitfalls when developing and rolling out diversity and inclusion policy.

The guide can be found and downloaded here.

For information about reducing unnecessary gender registration, click here.