According to the reseach, almost two-thirds (61%) of organisations are not aware of the local and cultural environment or legal conditions for LGBT employees in all the locations in which they operate.Moreover, 73% of the cultural training offered to internationally mobile employees does not include information regarding LGBT considerations.

Employer duty of care on international assigments for LGBTQ assignees

“Business executives want to feel safe, secure, and informed when travelling the world on behalf of their organisations,” said Charlene Solomon, president of RW3 CultureWizard, a provider of online, mobile and instructor-led cultural learning for the global business community.“Given the varying cultural situations for the LGBT community in major economic markets across the globe, information about LGBT-specific cultural norms can be difficult to gather and assess.”

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Offering support for private matters

A further aspect to supporting people who are LGBTQ and on assignment is where employees do not want to reveal aspects of their personal life to their employers.“Sexual orientation requires self-identification,” continues consultant Michael Grover, consultant in Mercer’s career business, specialising in global mobility. “Despite recent progress, many LGBT employees may not feel comfortable asking for information about LGBT rights in the country to which they’re travelling and employers do not know who to direct this information to.”

Online cultural training an option

To respond to each of these issues, Mercer and RW3 CultureWizard have developed online support for globally mobile employees, which features country-specific cultural insights. CulturalTrainingPassport offers country-by-country information that sheds light on attitudes towards the LGBT community for more than 100 countries around the world.

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