Scotiabank | A hiring questionnaire that upsets

In the hiring process at Scotiabank, Maryline Lambelin jumped when she was asked to reveal her gender identity and sexual orientation in an online questionnaire. This practice aims to make the company “more inclusive”, says the financial institution.

In early November, Maryline Lambelin, who is a lesbian, applied online for a management position at Scotiabank. In the section on her personal profile, she is surprised to see questions about her gender identity and sexual orientation.

The answer choices leave her perplexed. For gender identity, she can choose from the following responses: “Agender, Bigender, Cisgender, Gender Nonconforming, Intersex, Male, Pangender, Trans/Transgender, Two-Spirit, Female.”

As for sexual orientation, she is offered the following list: “straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual, two-spirited, pansexual, asexual, other”. Finally, a series of pronouns to designate himself is also submitted to him, including the following pronouns: “ei, she, he, ille, lu, ol, ul”.

Answers to questions are optional, says Scotiabank in its form.

“If you agree to provide them, Scotiabank may use them in connection with its special diversity and inclusion initiatives and programs, in accordance with the Employment Equity Act, as well as for other purposes, including to administer its employment practices related to diversity and inclusion. »

This preamble does not reassure Mr.^me Lambeline.

“When we are in the hiring process, we are in a vulnerable situation, she denounces in an interview with The Press. We wonder: if I give this information, or not, will it harm me? I think it really doesn’t belong. »

“Generally prohibited by law”

At Scotiabank, it is stated that the purpose of these questions is “to create a more diverse and inclusive culture and to identify if there are gaps in our recruitment and retention processes”, explains Mathieu Beaudoin, Director of public affairs. Furthermore, the information collected is not “accessible to the people who make the hiring decisions”.

Such a questionnaire could contravene the Canadian Human Rights Actto which banks are subject.

Under this law, it is “prohibited to ask questions in job advertisements, hiring forms and applications, which ask (compulsorily or not) or induce people to reveal information related to protected grounds [par la loi, dont l’identité et l’expression de genre]unless there is a legitimate non-discriminatory professional requirement or justification,” says Véronique Robitaille, communications manager at the Canadian Human Rights Commission.

“Asking a woman if she is pregnant or planning to be pregnant, or asking someone about their race, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity, for example, is generally prohibited,” says M^me Robitaille.

A “clumsy” approach

For Pascal Vaillancourt, general manager of Interligne, an organization that offers support to LGBTQ+ people, it is positive that a bank “have a reflection on its practices”.

“Even today, we know that people from an LBGTQ+ minority are less often in management positions, and that one in two people dare not reveal their sexual orientation or gender identity in their workplace. work, he recalls. They are afraid of being discriminated against or of not having access to the same advantages as others. »

However, inclusion should not be limited to questions on a questionnaire.

LGBTQ+ people are also not among the four groups protected by the Employment Equity Act. This law aims to correct the disadvantages suffered by women, Aboriginal peoples, persons with disabilities and those belonging to visible minorities in terms of access to employment.

“I think that this kind of situation testifies to the fact that we are in an evolving context, on the one hand, and that there are attempts of all kinds put in place by organizations which want to be sensitive to minorities, on the other hand,” says Hélène Lee-Gosselin, professor emeritus at Université Laval and specialist in equity issues.

In his view, the social context has evolved since the appearance of equity laws. “There are groups that are demanding recognition of their rights. And within these groups, there are people who claim their difference loud and clear and don’t want it to play against them. »

That organizations like Scotiabank include LGBTQ+ communities in their equity and diversity measures is groundbreaking, she says. “They are at the front of the law, supports M^me Lee-Gosselin, because they are not protected by provincial or federal law. »