At the iFood, the Primer “Cultivating Respect and Equality: Action Guide against Harassment” was born out of a need for the Public Policy team to give its collaborators, especially women FoodLovers women, security and autonomy to deal with situations of harassment or discrimination in their daily activities in interaction with external actors, as the company does not have full management over these forms of relationships.
It was realized, however, that such a demand would be in the interest of all FoodLovers that interact with third parties. After all, in addition to harassment, many prejudices and discrimination can occur with FoodLovers (or be witnessed by them). The document was therefore born as a powerful tool to reaffirm iFood's commitment to respect and diversity.
Given this situation, the team Compliance was fundamental in understanding the existence of a gap in dealing with situations of harassment and prejudice involving FoodLovers and third parties. The team then hired a specialized consultancy to prepare the Guide, which complements the company's Code of Ethics and Conduct. Afterwards, it was reviewed by the Legal and People, who made valuable contributions regarding the gender and diversity perspective.
In short, the Booklet seeks to guide FoodLovers to identify situations of harassment and discrimination, indicating what actions can be taken in interactions with public agents or third parties and how to make a report through the appropriate iFood channels, in addition to clarifying the role of managers and leaders when a FoodLover make a report of harassment, sexual harassment or any situations of discrimination made by public agents or third parties.
At iFood, harassment, sexual harassment and any form of discrimination are not tolerated, whether for reasons such as gender identity, race, age, origin, religion, class, gender expression, ethnicity, sexual orientation, physical appearance, health, disability , political opinion, nationality, family situation or any attitude that may embarrass or defame someone —FoodLover or not. In this sense, the company always seeks to interact with partners who share the values expressed in its Code of Ethics and Conduct and with the “iFood way of doing the right thing”.
iFood understands that this type of practice affects professional relationships in which there is, naturally, an imbalance of positions – such as in the relationship between its employees and public agents or customers. Therefore, the Guide came not only to raise awareness, but also to protect the entire iFood team against any behavior considered disrespectful, hostile, degrading, humiliating, discriminatory, offensive and/or that represents an intimidation to life or physical, psychological and moral integrity of any collaborator.
If one FoodLover finds herself in one of the situations mentioned, she is empowered to adopt measures such as saying “no” to the harassing person, requesting the end of that type of conversation or approach, as well as requesting the end of the meeting, video conference or meeting , as such attitudes will not be accepted by iFood. Most importantly, the FoodLover will not, in any way, be harmed by offensive attitudes from external agents, who do not respect the same principles and guidelines as the company.
Finally, the Booklet “Cultivating Respect and Equality: Guide to Actions Against Harassment” represents a strong and innovative positioning of iFood in the fight of so many people against harassment and various forms of prejudice. It is not possible to find any similar type of guidance in other companies in the Government Relations sector. The Guide represents not only iFood's courage to fight for a more equal and healthy working environment, but also an invitation to join forces by other companies that want to join this cause.
Per:
Luíza Jacobsen – Senior Public Policy Analyst;
Tayara Calina – Public Policy Coordinator;
Marina Merlo – Public Policy Specialist and
Brenda Gonçalves – Public Policy Analyst.
