MNC Bank Offers Medical Cover To Same-Sex Partners Of Staffers

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) in India has extended medical hospitalisation benefits to same-sex partners of its employees in India. This is a step taken in the direction of creating an inclusive workplace. RBS has become one of the first companies to take the progressive step.

The policy comes into effect from this April 1. RBS India will bear the cost of this liberal move from its profit and loss account.

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According to Vikas Goel, lead (diversity & inclusion LGBT stream) and head of engineering transformation, core banking & payments, RBS India, the objective behind their move is to mainstream the LGBT community and to protect them from the various challenges they face in society. More such initiatives are in the pipeline, he added.

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“We are all aware of the social issues that the LGBT community faces. The attempt is to make them inclusive. We want to encourage our employees to come out freely on their orientation with no reason for fear, judgement or reservation. At the same time, we will ensure that privacy and confidentiality is maintained. Our endeavour is to ensure that we do the right thing and that all our policies treat all our employees equally and give them a fair opportunity to grow,” said Goel.

An employee at RBS India gets a health insurance of Rs 8 lakh covering his/her spouse, children and aged parents. In fact, the new policy expands the definition of family to cover the partners of LGBT employees as well.