L'Oréal Canada Becomes the First Company in Canada to Receive the EDGE Gender Equality Certification and the first subsidiary of the L'Oréal Group to have attained - EDGE "MOVE" level of certification.*

MONTRÉAL and GENEVA, Switzerland, June 25, 2015 /CNW Telbec/ - L'Oréal Canada is the first company in Canada 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. 

Furthermore, L'Oréal Canada is the first subsidiary of the L'Oréal Group to have attained the EDGE "MOVE" level of certification.^*

As the global leader in beauty, L'Oréal has a strong commitment to gender equality.  It is part of the company's Diversity strategy and another step in ensuring that L'Oréal is a great place to work for everyone. Over the past several months, L'Oréal Canada 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 Canadian workforce of 1,200 employees. As part of the evaluation, L'Oréal surveyed more than 700 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.

"Diversity and equality has always been at the heart of L'Oréal Canada's values. We strongly believe that diversity is a source of innovation and creativity," - says Marjolaine Rompré, Director of Learning & Diversity. "We are extremely proud of having attained the "MOVE" level of certification and are committed to implementing innovative solutions to further develop gender equality".

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 Canada after an independent verification of the findings by a third-party auditor.

"EDGE is a robust, tested and implemented tool which calibrates progress, confirms success and proposes a customised action plan for companies to explore. By receiving the EDGE Move Certification, L'Oréal Canada shows a gender-balanced structure across the different levels of responsibility. L'Oréal Canada's framework of policies and practices in the areas of equal pay for equivalent work, recruitment and promotion, leadership development and training and mentoring has been favourably put into effect.  In fact, both men and women employees positively rate L'Oréal Canada as an inclusive and progressive workplace", says Aniela Unguresan, co-founder of EDGE Certified Foundation.

As a result of the certification, L'Oréal Canada created a customized roadmap towards continued progress in gender equality, which includes a broader adoption of flexible work arrangements and taking the gender dimension into consideration in its succession planning for some key leadership positions.

About L'Oréal Canada
L'Oréal Canada is a wholly-owned subsidiary of L'Oréal Group, the largest cosmetics company in the world. Headquartered in Montreal, L'Oréal Canada had sales of $1.070 billion in 2014 and employs more than 1,200 people. The company holds a portfolio of 35 brands, encompassing all aspects of beauty, and is present across all distribution networks: mass market, department stores, salons, pharmacies, drugstores, and branded retail.

For more information, visit loreal.ca  or follow us on Twitter @LOrealPress_Can.

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

*L'Oréal USA and L'Oréal Russia both received EDGE ASSESS level of certification earlier this year.

SOURCE L'OREAL CANADA INC.

For further information: L'Oréal Canada: Virginie Hotte-Dupuis, 514-287-4618, [email protected]; EDGE Certification: Joséphine Dunn, [phone], [email protected]