LGBT employees face hurdles at home and abroad

When Pierre Gaubert was a graduate trainee at an IT company in the US, he was offered a relocation to Dubai. It triggered a personal disclosure: “I had to come out. I said I didn’t want to go.” He declined the posting because homosexuality is strictly prohibited in the United Arab Emirates and after talking to a supportive human resources manager, he was sent to Madrid instead.

Working overseas is a chance for employees to experience a new culture and language which might help them climb the career ladder. An article in Harvard Business Review about employees’ international experience found that those who have worked overseas “are better problem solvers and display more creativity” and are “more likely to create new businesses and products and to be promoted”.

Relocation to countries where homosexuality is illegal may leave LGBT employees at risk of arrest and harassment. In those places where same-sex relationships and parental rights of LGBT parents are not recognised, it can create formidable challenges for accompanying partners and children.

As Stonewall, the charity, points out in a report: “Sexual acts between people of the same sex are criminalised in more than 70 countries and only a small minority of states recognise same-sex partnerships, [or the gender identity of trans people].” Additionally, it says, in more than half the world, LGBT people may have no protection from discrimination by workplace law.

One Paris-based gay executive, who prefers to remain anonymous, is preparing for a secondment to a country which prohibits sexual acts between men and does not recognise same-sex relationships. He “wouldn’t dream of being open” about his sexuality with his new colleagues, he says.

While he has a long-term partner, his employer has not inquired about the implications of his move for his home life, such as suggesting additional paid flights home, or the opportunity to work from a distance.

This “casual thoughtlessness” has caused him to reflect that while there have been enormous strides in tackling discrimination, there is still a long way to go “even with people who consider themselves liberal, before real understanding of an employee’s situation comes automatically”.

Patrick Rowe, executive sponsor for Accenture’s UK and Ireland LGBT Network, says many companies make “assumptions that gay people don’t have family ties and are more mobile”. Or that expat packages and conversations start from the assumption that the expat will be a man with a trailing spouse and children.

Western line managers and HR executives, says Stephen Frost, co-author of Inclusive Talent Management, must stop seeing the “white straight male as the default” expat.

Adrien Gaubert, together with his brother Pierre, is co-founder of myGwork, a recruitment and networking platform for LGBT professionals. He says that truly inclusive organisations “warn everyone on every sensitive topic before relocating their employees”.

Continue reading at the Financial Times

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