Introduction (preface)

1. The public administrative activities of the Georgian National Energy and Water Supply Regulatory Commission (hereinafter - the Commission) is based on mutually beneficial, long-term and mutually respectful relations between employees of the Commission, that shall be achieved through Diversity, Equality and I
2. The Commission undertakes to promote Diversity, Equality and Inclusion and to encourage diversity of the Commission's employees regardless of age, sex, language, race, skin color, ethnic and cultural affiliation, social status, marital status, property or titular state, place of residence, gender identity, religious confession and belief, sexual orientation, national and geographic origin, physical and mental expression, political conviction and others characteristics.
3. The Commission aims to introduce and implement new policies and procedures to achieve Diversity, Equality and Inclusion and institutionalise these values.
4. The purpose of the Commission is to develop and implement diverse, equal and inclusive programs and projects that will connect and unite employees of different experiences or abilities for a common goal. According to this approach, experience of the Commission's employees will become more multilateral and shall lead the Commission to a more inclusive unity.
5. The Commission's organizational vision and values stipulate respect for diverse, equal and inclusive values. Alongside with regulatory acts of the Commission and other relevant guiding principles, Diversity, Equality and Inclusion helps the Commission to define its relations with employees.

 General provisions

1. Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Policy (hereinafter - DEI Policy) shapes the identity of the Commission's employees along with other institutions such as social status, moral-ethical or worldview particularities.
2. Through DEI Policy, the Commission maintains the formation of a cultural society of professionals that subserves the Commission's activities defined by Georgian legislation and is essential for creation profound, reliable, mutually beneficial relationships. DEI Policy shall strengthen the Commission's reputation, role and appointment in the public administrative space.
3. DEI Policy enhances outlooks and implements various approaches to improve diversity, equality and inclusion in the Commission's work.
4. Priorities of the DEI Policy are determined through the needs and requirements of the Commission's employees, that is an important direction of the Commission's sustainable development.
5. DEI Policy is a complex of high corporate culture, responsibility and trust mandate, that is achieved by fair and equitable allocation of human resources. It ensures proactive and consistent integration of diversity in the Commission’s work.
6. DEI Policy is part of the Commission's non-discrimination policy and, together with the internal acts of the Commission, such as Internal Labour Regulations, Rules on Sexual Harassment Prevention and Response, Gender Equality Strategy and the Human Resources Management Policy, serves to attract, retain and professionally develop highly qualified and diverse human resources.
7. DEI Policy aims to create safe and healthy work environment and prevent any form of violence, harassment and discrimination. DEI Policy strictly dissociates from such revelation of violence such as domestic, against women, gender-based, sexual and workplace violence.
8. One of the priorities of DEI Policy is to create balance between official activities and personal life of the Commission's employees.
9. DEI Policy is fully supported by the Commission's management, that is ultimately responsible for its implementation. All employees, regardless of rank or position, are required to ensure compliance of their behavior with DEI P

 DEI Policy objectives1

• Implementation of DEI Policy principles is important for relationship between the Commission and its employees as well as for the corporate culture of the Commission, whereby the Commission ensures:
• recognition of Diversity, Equality and Inclusion;
• respect to Diversity, Equality and Inclusion and enhance the Commission's image from this point of view;
• maintenance and public sharing of Diversity, Equality and Inclusion;
• elaboration of relevant knowledge, skills and experience among employees;
• fair and equal treatment, care and appreciation to the employees of the Commission, stable labor relations;
• giving the employees the opportunity to use their abilities and talents;
• maintaining a harmonious working atmosphere and achieving larger scale of dynamism, sustainability and actuality through the inclusion of diversity in the Commission’s activities;
• maintenance creativity, innovation, pliability and revelation of new opportunities for employees through inclusive approaches;
• efficient risk management, adjustment and expansion of policies, strategies, practices, programs and measures to employees, increasing inclusion and, as a result, reducing potential discrimination, injustice or bias;

         achieving a high level of information security and confidentiality in labor relationships.

2. DEI Policy is aimed at strengthening mutually beneficial connections and conditions between the Commission and employees, seeking common interests, reducing tensions, resistances, conflicts, stress, discrimination and injustice at the individual and organizational level.
3. The objectives of DEI Policy are to develop the inclusiveness of the corporate culture of the Commission, to broaden the horizon, perspectives and experiences of employees, to maintain a high representation of women, to reduce unwarranted and excessive hierarchical divisions, to strengthen dialogue and listening at all levels, to implement mentoring and awareness-raising projects, to develop leadership and speaker capabilities, to increase accountability.
4. DEI Policy scope and tasks

4. DEI Policy is the Commission's internal guidline outlining the strategic priorities and directions for the integration of Diversity, Equality and Inclusion within the Commission.
5. DEI Policy applies equally to all the Commission's employees and includes broad strategic directions for implementation, including strengthening Diversity, Equality and Inclusion in the Commission's corporate culture and work.
6. DEI Policy includes monitoring, evaluation, reporting and responsibility, which are essential for the formation of a fair and lawful society, equal opportunities, high moral values, open public awareness, breaking false barriers, incorrect historical factors and prejudices, achieving higher labor-legal status.
7. Through the instrumentalization of DEI Policy, which involves transparent and open activities, identifying gaps and eliminating them, forming an inclusive human resources and work culture, increasing employees' awareness on diversity and equality, etc., in order to achieve global competitive advantage, the Commission ensures an equitable involvement of human resources in all areas of its activities.
8. The task of DEI Policy is to enable individual employee or group of employees to develop professionally and collaborate effectively, by creating a diverse, equal and inclusive corporate culturem, as a fair, more inclusive, socially responsible employer shall favor employees, regardless of diversity, gain maximum access to the labor benefits and develop knowledge, skills and abilities that are critical for well-being of the employees.
9. The task of DEI policy is to create a harmonized, inclusive and constructive working environment in the Commission, which gives all employees the opportunity to fully participate in DEI Policy field and to feel respected, appreciated and supported.
10. The task of DEI policy is to encourage freedom of thought and independent decision-making in order to maintain strong, representative and inclusive culture, as a healthy corporate culture affects the employees motivation, the productivity of activities and quality of provided services, establishment of an atmosphere of trust within the Commission, strengthening of relationships based on the principles of collegiality, teamwork respect, solidarity and conscientiousness.

5. Discrimination
6. DEI Policy is directed against any form of discrimination and is a self-regulatory mechanism to prevent discrimination in the Commission.
7. Unfounded, unwarranted and groundless discrimination, direct or indirect, conscious or unconscious, constitutes a barrier to Diversity, Equality and Inclusion insofar as it favors individual employees or a group of employees, harms the interests of other employees and injures equality control.
8. Unfounded discrimination may not always be carried out due to a conscious decision and may occur unconsciously, such as general and superficial assumptions about an employee's work abilities, professional characteristics and job interests, assigning preferential requirements, conditions or criteria to individual employees or groups of employees, using stereotyped and potentially offensive language and terminology toward other employees and thereby giving them a negative status, regardless being informed maintaining a micro-disparity and ignoring aspects of such disadvantage, not considering of gender and disability quotas.
9. DEI Policy dissociates from stereotypes, prejudices, wrong visions, negative assumptions, which refer to individual employees or groups of employees, causing unfounded, unwarranted, groundless discrimination and such discriminatory manifestations should be carefully detected, considered and
10. DEI Policy distinguishes positive discrimination from the mentioned negative discrimination, which aims to promote the equity of employees to improve the activities and outcomes of individual employees or a group of employees through certain specific encouragement, using special capabilities, additional trainings and educational courses. Positive discrimination is always aimed at ensuring Diversity, Equality and Inclusion.

6. Diversity
7. Diversity is the combination of differences and similarities in the workplace, including individual and general characteristics, values, visions, experiences, education and qualifications, prices ​​and behaviours.
8. Distinction includes race, ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation, religion, socio-economic status, physical abilities and other differences, which can be manifested in various ways:

• demographic diversity, such as race, ethnic origin, gender, age and sexual orientation;
• cognitive diversity, which is focused on differences in thought, problem-solving and cognitive style, in association with different perspectives, experiences and abilities;
• functional diversity includes differences in employees' experiences, skills, and roles.

3. The value share of diversity is expressed:

• in innovation, when employees provide more prepared new ideas and solutions containing different perspectives and experiences;
• in problem solving, when a diverse team of employees analyzes the problem from different angles and finds more effective solutions;
• in inclusiveness, when the recognition and acceptance of diversity promotes inclusion and equality, thereby creates a more tolerant and fair work environment for all employees;
• In legal and ethical regulations, when the Commission implements an anti-discrimination policy and requires all employees equally to promote diversity and prevent discriminatory manifestations.

4. Diversity means creating an environment that is supported by practice and that is mutually beneficial for the Commission and the Commission's employees.
5. Diversity takes into account the fact that employees, while similar in many ways, are also different. Such differences include, among other things, sex, age, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion and belief, education, socio-economic status, individuality, health condition, communication style and approaches, also, how employees think and act. Diversity can have a significant impact on equality and inclusion.
6. Diversity includes initiatives such as a recruitment strategy that actively seeks out individuals from vulnerable and limited groups, training programs and a corporate culture that appreciates ​​and respects differences, creating an environment where all employees are given the opportunity to demonstrate their capabilities equally.
7. The proper assessment, analysis and management of diversity leads to beneficial engagement at the individual, team, organizational and corporate levels, significantly contributing to the formation of inclusive aspirations.

7. Equality
8. Equality is an effort to ensure consistent and systematic fair and impartial treatment of all employees.
9. The mark of Equality is to eliminate unfounded discrimination on inappropriate grounds and to assist the protection of human rights and social justice.
10. Equality means treating employees fairly and impartially and creating a work environment and conditions that promote and value diversity and inclusive approache.
11. Equality needs to be explanated where it is necessary, where practice and normative provisions allow it and where it is inevitable to meet the requirements of the legislation.
12. Equality in a broad sense means a state of equality, fairness and objectivity. It is the idea that all employees have equal labor rights, opportunities and access to resources without discriminatory or biased treatment. It is a fundamental principle in various contexts, including social, legal and gender fields. The basic aspects of equality are:

• Social equality means an equal treatment and opportunities for all employees, regardless of their race, age, physical and mental abilities, behavior, personality, thinking style, geographical origin, cultural being, nationality, ethnicity, citizenship, language, manner of speaking, accent, family, upbringing, ideology, morality, political opinion, social status, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, education, income, socio-economic status, life experience, privilege, marital status, parental status, military experience, criminal history, religious and spiritual beliefs, unions membership, work experience, skills, job status, functions and other personal characteristics. Social equality aims to eliminate discrimination and prejudice;
• Legal equality means when all employees are subject to the same labor regulations and have identical legal protection;
• Gender equality is focused on achieving equal rights and opportunities for male and female employees. Gender inequality is disparity in wage, gender violence and underrepresentation in leadership positions.

6. Equality does not mean treating all employees equally. Equality takes into account recognizing imbalances and redressing them through a differentiated approach where necessary and sensible.

8. Inclusion
9. Inclusion is engagement in a work environment where all employees are treated fairly and with respect, where they have equal access to labor opportunities and resources, and can fully contribute to the common success.
10. Inclusion is an active process that aims to create conditions for all employees to contribute to the work of the Commission. Inclusion serves to create a basis for employees to feel valued and recognized, avoiding marginalisation or under-representation in the Commission's activities.
11. Inclusion is encouraging more employee involvement so that everyone feels respected and personally needed, which develops a sense of belonging, strengthens relationships between management and subordinates, and builds mutual trust.

9. Admission to work
10. Diversity, Equality and Inclusion are an important part of the Commission's new human resource selection and recruitment policy. All authorized decision-makers on the selection of human resources should have relevant skills and have undergone appropriate trainings. At all stages of the selection and recruitment process, the Commission considers the necessity of promoting Equality, encouraging Diversity and strive for more Inclusion.
11. In the case of internal and external competitions' announcement, any form of intent to unjustified discriminate must be avoided, which means that recruitment requires care and consideration in defining and applying selection criteria, so there should be no unfounded and disproportionate restrictions.
12. All the Commission's demands and statements for recruitment are based on the Commission's commitment to DEI Policy.
13. In the recruitment process the Commission supports all presented candidates, especially the candidates with disabilities on the basis of non-discrimination. All disabled candidates who meet the basic criteria are guaranteed an interview. The Commission is proud to be a bearer of disability confident employer status, recognizing the necessity of the progressive social model popularization for people with disabilities. Accordingly, the Commission welcomes pragmatic discussions on adjusting specific requirements or criteria to ensure more inclusiveness.
14. In recruitment the Commission is not guided by any different, exclusive policy and pays particular attention to the inclusive protection of gender balance.
15. In implementing of DEI Policy the Commission considers bullying, official misfeasance and harassment as threat that contradicts to the commission's labour-legal order and practice. The Commission encouragements an employee to freely express his opinion on similar cases.

10. Responsibilities
11. To fulfill principles and obligations declared by the DEI Policy, the Commission takes into account contemporary practices, approaches and cultures and defines adequate responsibilities.
12. In order to ensure Diversity, Equality and Inclusion, the Commission upholds the requirements of labour legislation and established behaviour standards and, as a general principle of labour law, recognizes that the burden of responsibility for facts of unwarranted discrimination in labor-legal relations is shared by all subjects equitably.
13. Each employee shall be responsible to implement DEI Policy. Any employee, including those who works on-site, remotely, on a full-time, part-time, indefinitely or on a temporary labour contract, regardless of their tenure of service, is responsible for fully fulfilling his or her shared obligation to protect DEI Policy.
14. Implementation of DEI Policy and prevention of unfounded, unwarranted and groundless discrimination is impossible without human resources. Accordingly, in order to ensure Diversity, Equality and Inclusion and to protect the work environment, each employee shall understand and realize personal duties and responsibilities, respect corporate cultural relations and the dignity of each employee, appreciate ​​diversity and differences.
15. All managers are responsible for the implementation of DEI Policy in their subordinated structural units. They shall prevent unfounded, unwarranted and groundless discrimination, harassment and bullying, respond to complaints in atimely and adequate manner and treat such cases of harassment
16. The Commission is obliged to introduce the DEI policy to the employees and the obligations arising from it. The employees shall strictly follow the principles of equality and equal opportunities, exercise interventions in a timely manner and hold relevant discussions, if necessary.
17. An employee who discriminates initiates or instigates of discrimination, who refuses to participate in the implementation of DEI Policy and who does not respect Diversity, Equality and Enclusion, is subject to disciplinary action established by internal regulatory acts of the Commission.
18. The Commission dissociates from any behaviour or activity of the employee that is contrary to DEI Policy or is related to matters covered by DEI policy that damages the reputation and image of the Commission or other employees.
19. Considering the growing polarization in the field of discrimination, the Commission assumes responsibility for the observance of DEI Policie in accordance with the requirements of the Code of Ethics and the internal regulatory acts of the Commission.

11. Monitoring and evaluation
12. Monitoring is important to assess the effectiveness of DEI Policy and to determine its legal compliance mechanism
13. All Commission's employees are obliged to be familiar with DEI Policy and to consider individual and corporate responsibilities to achieve Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, to participate in relevant trainings, educational courses and consultations.
14. Data analysis on DEI Policy is carried out through comprehensive and collective mechanisms, which involve monitoring process, reviewing and managing risks, recording complaints, investigating issues, conducting dialogue and evaluating results, forming a diversity, equality and inclusion information base.
15. The Administrative Departments of the Commission’s office shall determine strategic objectives and agenda of DEI Policy monitoring, select and involve the employees in monitoring process, determine a level of responsibility for reporting and submit the final report to the Commission.