France: a Diversity and Inclusion Index is now available for use by companies

On 17 November 2021, Élisabeth Moreno, Minister Delegate for Gender Equality, Diversity and Equal Opportunities at the Prime Minister’s Office and Amélie de Montchalin, Minister of Public Transformation and Service announced the launch of a new index that will enable businesses to measure employee diversity according to their social, geographical and cultural situations. Use of the new tool will be entirely voluntary. The index will be able to provide businesses with a snapshot of their teams’ diversity profiles in order to improve relevant HR practices. It will not however produce any scores or requirements. The Diversity and Inclusion Index questionnaire was developed by an inter-ministerial working group that brought various public players, associations and companies together and it was tested in a trial run by nine volunteer public and private organizations. The questionnaire was then sent to nearly 122,000 employees. The total number of returned responses exceeded 38,400, providing data for the survey’s initial feedback. In accordance with CNIL (Commission Nationale Informatique & Libertés, the French Data Protection Agency) and GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) requirements, the Diversity and Inclusion Index upholds rules on volunteerism, anonymity and data confidentiality.