El Corte Inglés is awarded the Bequal seal for its commitment to disability in employment

El Corte Inglés, Viajes El Corte Inglés (under its brands TourMundial Operadores and Club de Vacaciones) and Supercor have received the Bequal Plus Seal, which rewards organisations that are socially responsible with disability in essential areas such as strategy, leadership and human resource management.  With this recognition, Fundación Bequal supports the inclusion, non-discrimination and equal opportunities policy that defines the El Corte Inglés team.

Seven strategic corporate categories were assessed during the process to obtain the Bequal seal: strategy and leadership, HR management, physical accessibility and website, responsible procurement, social action and communication.

The company’s Corporate Equality and Diversity Policy sets forth relevant and effective measures to prevent discrimination or preference based on reasons such as gender, age, religion, race, class, birth, social origin or disability, among others. The organisation has an annual work plan to achieve these goals, including monitoring actions with entities representing the disability sector. Furthermore, the Evacuation Protocol for People with Disabilities details how to proceed and offer assistance to people with a disability in the event of evacuation.

The El Corte Inglés Comprehensive Plan for the Inclusion of People with Disabilities indicates that the supplier approval questionnaire must include items related to contracting employees with disability.

In terms of customers, with its “Comprehensive Plan for the Inclusion of People with Disabilities”, El Corte Inglés has implemented a service to help customers with disabilities at its self-service tills (department stores, hypermarkets and supermarkets). Along this same line, the company’s certified centres have tools such as magnetic loops, beepcon technology, adapted signage, tactile routing and structural conditions to enable safe and accessible shopping, as well as information points for special needs, all provided for in the AIS 1/2018 standard certificate.

Employees have also been given specific training such as “I’m Your Customer, I’m Your Colleague” —in collaboration with ONCE— which serves two purposes: to raise awareness on the positive impact that employees with disability bring to the company, and to understand customer service guidelines for this group when they visit our shopping centres. Another course was given on accessibility in shopping centres to explain the certification system to employees.

Bequal certificate

The Bequal certificate is a third-party assessment that determines the level of commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility and Disability in essential areas such as strategy and leadership, senior management commitment to people with disabilities, human resource management, regulatory compliance, and inclusive and equal opportunities policies in all recruitment, access to employment, promotion and training procedures. 

Organisations with the Bequal Certificate also demonstrate their commitment and contribution to compliance with the SDGs, especially SDG 8 on decent work and SDG 10 on reducing inequalities, among others.

Fundación Bequal, the entity that manages the award of the certificate with the same name, is the result of conduct carried out since 2011 to design a systematised model of certifiable indicators that combines all the history and experience of its founding entities: the Spanish Committee of Representatives of People with Disabilities (CERMI), Fundación ONCE, FEACEM and Fundación Seeliger y Conde.

These actions are part of the El Corte Inglés commitment to society and its spirit of listening closely to the concerns of citizens.