These days, the Social Affairs Committee of the Parliament is discussing a Draft Law of the Ministry of Social Cohesion and Family, for the incorporation of Directive (EU) 2022/2381 of the European Parliament and of the Council, which concerns the measures to be taken for the balanced representation of genders in management positions of listed companies, unlisted public limited companies and public enterprises.
Written by Anna Apergi Konstantinidis *
This specific Directive marks a historic “turn” in the European Union’s equality policy, regarding the improvement of gender balance in management positions of listed companies.
The presentation of the problem that the Directive was called upon to address was the real and disheartening data presented by the International Labor Organization.
Some of them: that women mainly occupy managerial roles in sectors that are traditionally considered (allow me to use the expression) “female-dominated”. For example, 89% of managerial positions in childcare services and 78% of managerial positions in aged care services are women. In contrast, only 1% of managerial positions in mines are women, let alone managerial positions in the merchant marine sector.
The above findings reflect the reduced opportunities and inequality of women, and femininity in general, to advance professionally by achieving managerial and high-prestige positions.
If we add to these figures how many femininity, e.g. trans women or gender diverse individuals with feminine gender expression, generally hold managerial positions in all professional sectors, then the findings we will have in our hands will not only be heartbreaking, but extremely shocking. But not only trans women but also trans men, because these individuals, despite being men, also experience exclusion, discrimination and inequalities in the workplace, due to their gender, their gender identity.
The preamble to this directive makes a very important assumption: that achieving gender equality (all genders, let me add) in the workplace requires a comprehensive approach, which will also include promoting gender-balanced decision-making within companies at all levels, as well as bridging the gender pay gap.
Ensuring gender equality in the workplace is also a basic prerequisite for reducing poverty among women and femininity in general, who belong to the most vulnerable population groups.
A very important point of the Directive is that it increases the percentage of representation of the underrepresented gender on the boards of both listed and unlisted public limited companies, as well as public enterprises, from 25% to at least 33%. In this way, the participation of women in decision-making centers is strengthened.
Nevertheless, I consider it more than important to establish a specific quota for the stable representation of women and femininity in general who belong to the most vulnerable groups, such as people with disabilities and LGBTQI+, so as to promote inclusion and diversity.
Also, with regard to Article 8 (Sanctions), the measures should be implemented horizontally, so that over time our country will come even closer to the European average.
Furthermore, the regulation of article 14, which concerns incidents of harassment and violence, is very important, as it is a horizontal provision aimed at coherence with the existing relevant legislative framework on violence and harassment in the world of work.
Finally, something also very positive that I noticed is that in general the language used in the bill is more gender-neutral, as required by the law passed by the Greek state, Law 4604/2019, to promote real gender equality, as until now in most draft laws the language chosen was oriented towards references only to the masculine gender.
*Anna Apergi Konstantinidis is a Special Advisor at Diversity Charter Greece .
source: avmag.gr
