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L’Oréal Russia becomes first company in Russia to receive EDGE gender equality certification

Moscow, Russia/Geneva, Switzerland –April 14, 2015 – L’Oréal Russia is the first company in Russia to be certified with the EDGE (Economic Dividends for Gender Equality) global standard for workplace gender equality. The EDGE assessment is the leading business certification for gender equality in the workplace that is universally applicable across industries and countries.

Published 9 years ago | About a 4 minute read

As the global leader in beauty, L’Oréal has a strong commitment to gender equality. It is part of our mission of “Beauty for all” and another step in ensuring that L’Oréal is a great place to work for everyone. For the past six months, L’Oréal Russia has been participating in EDGE’s certification process, which includes a comprehensive review of the company’s gender policies and practices and a deep analysis of gender data across the entire Russian workforce of 1,500 employees. As part of the evaluation, L’Oréal surveyed more than 43% of employees on gender equality as it pertains to recruitment and promotion, leadership training and mentorship, flexible work, company culture and equal pay for equivalent work. “Gender equality is a strong attribute to the mission of L’Oréal Russia and one of the important elements of our Corporate Social Responsibility. We are proud to be the first company in Russia certified by EDGE.

Gender equality is one of the top local priorities in our Diversity action plan together with Disability and Social and Ethnic origins,” - says Valentina Rumyantseva, L’Oréal Russia Diversity Champion. “We create innovative solutions and manage this with transparency which is extremely important for our employees.”

Since its launch at the World Economic Forum in January 2011, more than 100 companies in 30 countries, and 17 industries use the EDGE assessment methodology and certification process to create an optimal, balanced workplace for men and women.

The methodology and standard enables a company to accurately assess how it performs both at a country and a global level. The EDGE Certification was granted to L’Oréal Russia after an independent verification of the findings by a third-party auditor.

“In addition to being the key global certification system in workplace gender equality, EDGE is a robust workforce analytics tool to inform company’s gender equality strategies and priorities. It is a concrete roadmap for companies to understand the dynamics in their talent pipeline through a gender lens as well as their underlying causes. By becoming EDGE Certified, L’Oréal Russia is adopting a holistic approach to workforce gender equality and is actively working towards building a gender-balanced talent pool at all levels of responsibility in the organization and an inclusive culture”,- says Aniela Unguresan, co-founder of EDGE Certified Foundation.

As a result of the certification, L’Oréal Russia created a customized roadmap towards continued progress in gender equality, which includes a broader adoption of flexible work arrangements and continued leadership development training and mentoring across both genders.

About L'Oréal Russia The story of L'Oréal Russia, subsidiary of the L'Oréal Group, the worldwide leader in beauty, began in 1990. Today L’Oréal is present in all distribution channels in Russia: mass market retailers, pharmacies, beauty salons, perfumery and department stores, as well as own retail boutiques and an exceptional brand portfolio holds leadership in many market segments, such as skin care, hair care, makeup and perfumes. L’Oréal Russia manages 26 iconic global beauty brands, including L’Oréal Paris, Maybelline New York, Garnier, Lancôme, Giorgio Armani Beauty, Yves Saint Laurent Beauté, Biotherm, Kiehl’s, Clarisonic, Urban Decay, L’Oréal Professionnel, Kérastase, Matrix, Redken, Essie, Vichy, La Roche-Posay, SkinCeuticals. In addition to corporate headquarters and Evaluation Centre in Moscow, L'Oréal Russia has Factory in the Kaluga region, which produces hair shampoos, conditioners and coloration for L'Oréal Paris and Garnier, and Training Academies for beauty professionals in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, with a workforce of more than 1,500 employees. For more information, visit www.loreal.com.ru or follow us on Twitter @lorealpress_ru.

About EDGE Certification EDGE is the leading global assessment methodology and business certification standard for gender equality. The EDGE assessment methodology was developed by the EDGE Certified Foundation and launched at the World Economic Forum in 2011. EDGE Certification has been designed to help companies not only create an optimal workplace for women and men, but also benefit from it. EDGE stands for Economic Dividends for Gender Equality and is distinguished by its rigor and focus on business impact. The methodology uses a business, rather than theoretical approach that incorporates benchmarking, metrics and accountability into the process. It assesses policies, practices and numbers across five different areas of analysis: equal pay for equivalent work, recruitment and promotion, leadership development training and mentoring, flexible working and company culture. EDGE Certification has received the endorsement of business, government and academic leaders from around the world.

For more information, visit http://www.edge-cert.org/ or follow us on Twitter @EDGE_CERT MEDIA CONTACTS L’Oréal Russia Valeriya Murygina +7 (495) 258 3191 ext. 4079 [email protected] EDGE Certification Joséphine Dunn +44 7855 953 669 [email protected]