Insurance benefit plans will be extended to LGBTI, single parents, live-in partners and their dependent children
Novartis India has introduced a gender neutral insurance benefit plan for all its employees. Employees will now have the option to include either a same-sex partner or live-in partner. Coverage extends to children adopted through a legal process by employees, including single and same-sex LGBTI employees.
The plan which comes into effect from January 1, 2020, reaffirms the Novartis India commitment towards diversity and inclusion. The broad framework of the insurance benefit plan is a uniform cover for all employees. Coverage extends to all dependent children up to 23 years with no age bar for differently-abled children.
“Novartis is a science-led, people-driven organisation where people are key to its success. As a progressive employer, Novartis is committed to the Diversity and Inclusion that the organisation offers in line with the UN LGBTI Standards of Conduct. We believe that this will certainly enrich our workplace. As a company, we stand up for greater inclusion of LGBTI people because when each of us feels included, we all benefit,” says Sanjay Murdeshwar, Country President, Novartis in India.
According to Anusia Pillay, Country Head People & Organization, Novartis in India, “At
Novartis, we view diversity and inclusion as the impetus for driving innovation and business performance. We look to embed it in everything we do. Our aspiration is to honor our commitment to uphold human rights and ensure we have a more inclusive workplace. We are focussing on understanding inclusion barriers and taking action to address them by demonstrating active support through policy changes.”
Earlier this month, Novartis in India was certified as a Top Employer by the Top Employer Institute, India for its exceptional employee conditions and for always striving to optimise its employee practices and develop its employees. The Top Employers Institute is the global authority on recognising excellence in people practices.
In July 2019, Novartis introduced a gender neutral parental leave policy of 26 weeks leave with retrospective effect to employees who became parents on or after January 30, 2019. It applies to birthing and non-birthing parents in the case of birth, adoption and surrogacy.