HR: Equity vs. Equality

At Middle, we provide a work environment where listening to each other’s needs and opinions in a respectful manner is at the core of our values. 

It’s on our website, but most importantly, we apply it in our everyday lives. 

When I was hired at Middle, the discussions were a bit out of the ordinary for Karelle, because my context was quite different from that of the other unicorns: I was at the very end of my second maternity leave. As a mother of two young children, my daily life is marked by colds, painful teething, short nights and days at home to take care of another little virus from daycare. 

One of the most important things for me was to have my employer’s trust to perform my duties and the flexibility to do so. 

As my involvement with the human resources department grew, many discussions began to take place regarding the benefits of working at Middle.

We discussed the benefits to be offered, as well as the working conditions and the social and team-building activities to be planned. 

Equity vs. Equality

Two relatively similar terms, equity and equality are both important in a team, although they mean quite different things. 

When we are equal, we offer the same thing to everyone. So all employees at Middle have access to group insurance. Everyone gets benefits, such as snacks in the office, team activities, free merch, and the reassuring presence of our precious Monsieur Petit! 

On the other hand, when we are being equitable, we treat all employees according to their needs. We offer a hybrid work arrangement; some of us are here 5 days a week because that’s what they prefer, while others take advantage of the hybrid arrangement to follow their schedules (or in my case, my mini-me’s schedules!)

Don’t forget to check out all the details of our hybrid work policy in this other blog post!

The Middle Difference

So what makes Middle different? 

From my perspective, as someone who has worked in other organizations and companies at different levels and under different management styles, the difference is in our core values: logic, respect, honesty, and having fun. 

But most importantly, it was not just terms we chose and placed in our employee handbook because they’re trendy. 

They are at the very heart of who we are and how we interact with each other. We use them every day and we all benefit from them.

Interested in our model? Feel free to visit our career page and apply for our available positions!