Let's first look at diversity categories that have been systematically identified in the legal context. These categories are specifically identified and protected by law from discriminatory practices. For example, in France, the legal framework for anti-discrimination applies to 20 elements, origin, sex, family situation, pregnancy, physical appearance, family name, health condition, disabilities, genetic characteristics, habits, sexual orientation or identity, age, political opinion, union membership, ethnicity, nationally, race and finally, religion. In addition, there is a law stipulating a 6% disabilities quota for firms with over 20 employees. What about the US? In the US, the Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination based on race, religion, national origin and later, gender and people with disabilities. In addition, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act prohibits discrimination in hiring and employment on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in firms with over 15 employees. The Equal Pay Act applies to the gender pay gap. Staying in North America, in Canada, the Employment Equity Act addresses four designated groups, women, people with disabilities, aboriginal peoples, and visual minorities, and requires employers to actively engage in proactive employment practices. In Brazil, anti-discrimination laws apply to sex, origin, race, color, marital status, family status or age.The South African Employment Equity Act addresses black people, women and people with disabilities. We can see from these examples from around the world that similar categories are identified, particularly concerning employment equity, that's to say, women and ethnicity or race, though the formulation differs across countries. Many countries also additionally include people with disabilities. For most firms, the legal framework becomes the basis of their diversity and inclusion actions. So that in countries where there is a disabilities quota, for example, in France, Poland, India, and Thailand, firms will include this category in their diversity and inclusion initiatives. Similarly, most firms include gender in their diversity and inclusion roster. In addition, firms may include ethnicity, race, color, origins, sexual orientation, and gender identity, as well as international, intergenerational, and religious diversity. An important caveat concerning which diversity categories are addressed by firms in different countries, is the question of what can be seen and counted. Quota laws are possible because we can count the percentage of women or of differently abled collaborators, For diversity categories that are either not recognized or illegal in a country, not only is it not possible to implement quotas, but more fundamentally it is not possible to measure if there is a problem of underrepresentation and discrimination or not. For example, this applies to the LGBTQIA+ community in some countries in which non-binary categrizations are not recognized, or in which gay activities are illegal and punishable by law. Another example can be found in some European countries where it is illegal to distinguish and identify people based on their race and ethnicity. In both cases, firms face a challenge to quantify the issues to be addressed for these populations, and find it difficult to develop initiatives.
