MERLIN Properties Annual Report 2023

126 | Annual report | 2023 Professional category 2022 2023 Middle management 1 1 Other professionals 6 5 Total 7 6 Diversity and equal opportunities MERLIN promotes equal opportunities, especially in access to employment, training, promotion and working conditions. As stated in its Code of Conduct and its Protocol against Sexual Harassment, MERLIN rejects any and all discrimination in the workplace on the basis of race, colour, nationality, social origin, age, gender, marital status, sexual orientation, ideology, political opinions, religion or any other personal, physical or social condition of an individual. The Group provides professionals with a whistle-blowing channel to report any discriminatory conduct or harassment in the workplace. In terms of gender equality, in 2022 MERLIN worked on its Equality Plan in compliance with Royal Decree Law 6/2019. The Equality Plan was finally approved after a process of analysing the Group’s situation in terms of equality and the negotiation and drafting of the Plan by the Negotiating Committee, and came into force on 18 January 2022, with its validity extended for a period of four years, until 17 January 2026. The Equality Plan was registered by the Directorate General for Employment on 18 August 2022. The Equality Plan applies to all MERLIN Properties employees and lays down the guiding principles of the Group’s conduct in this area, along with a series of objectives and metrics, some of which include addressing the under-representation of women throughout the organisational structure, promoting women’s participation in training activities to enhance leadership and compensation by MERLIN for sick leave and parental leave. MERLIN is also committed to promoting equal parental leave for both parents.