Companies with more than 50 employees must comply with the establishment of an equality plan. The approval of the equality plan must be accomplished according to the number of employees:
From 7 March 2020, companies with between 151 and 250 employees.
From 7 March 2021, companies with between 101 and 150 employees.
From 7 March 2022, all companies with more than 50 employees.
Our previous post offered preliminary details on this topic Equity Plans (EP) – SME enterprises catching up with large companies.
Article 45 of Organic Law 3/2007, dated 22 March, for effective equality between women and men, establishes that companies are obliged to respect equal treatment and opportunities in the workplace. To this end, they must adopt measures aimed at avoiding any type of discrimination between women and men in the workplace. These measures must be negotiated and, where appropriate, agreed with the legal representatives of the workers in the manner determined by the labour legislation as the case may be.
One of these measures is the drawing up of the aforementioned Equality Plan, but
What is an Equality Plan for companies?
An Equality Plan is an ordered set of evaluable measures aimed at eliminating the obstacles that prevent or hinder effective equality between women and men and gender discrimination in companies.
How is an Equality Plan structured?
An Equality Plan is structured after a prior diagnosis, negotiated with the legal representatives of the workers, and drawn up in the negotiating committee of the Equality Plan.
Equality plans must:
Set the objectives to be achieved.
Establish the strategies and practices to be adopted to fulfil them.
Include the establishment of effective systems for monitoring and evaluating the objectives and measures set.
What is the applicable legislation for drawing up equality plans?
Organic Law 3/2007, of 22 March, for the effective equality of women and men.
Royal Legislative Decree 2/2015, of 23 October, approving the revised text of the Workers' Statute Law.
Royal Decree-Law 6/2019, of 1 March, on urgent measures to guarantee equal treatment and opportunities between women and men in employment and occupation.
Royal Decree 901/2020, of 13 October, which regulates equality plans and their registration and amends Royal Decree 713/2010, of 28 May, on the registration and deposit of collective bargaining agreements and collective labour agreements.
Royal Decree 902/2020 of 13 October on equal pay for women and men.
Royal Decree 713/2010, of 28 May, on the registration and deposit of agreements, collective bargaining agreements and equality plans.
How to find out the number of workers to determine if there is an obligation to draw up an Equality Plan?
As indicated at the beginning of this post, companies with more than 50 employees are obliged to have an Equality Plan. However, the question then arises as to how to For calculation of the numerical requirement of the workforce, companies will have to calculate the number of employees on 30 June and 31 December of each year.
The reference unit and all of its work centres must be taken into account. This calculation will be made on the total workforce of the company, regardless of the type of contract. In fact, it will include staff on permanent contracts, fixed-term contracts and on stand-by contracts. In the case of people with part-time contracts, they will also be counted, regardless of the number of working hours.
Those persons with fixed-term contracts in any of their modalities that have been in force in the company during the previous 6 months, even if they have already been terminated at the time of the calculation must be added, as well.
What happens if the number of employees reaches a level that makes the Equality Plan compulsory?
As soon as the number of employees exceeds the limit, the obligation to negotiate, draw up and implement the Equality Plan arises. The procedure will then begin with the constitution of the Equality Plan negotiating committee and the diagnosis.
How to make an Equality Plan for your company in 2021-2022?
The steps to create an Equality Plan for your company are as follows:
Constitution of the Commission.
Carrying out a diagnosis of the situation.
Drawing up and approving the plan.
Implementation of the planned measures.
Registration of the Equality Plan.
What are the consequences of having the obligation to draw up an Equality Plan and those resulting in neglects?
Failure to draw up an Equality Plan or to do so without complying with the terms of the commitment is considered a serious offence. This is because it is a breach of the obligations regarding Equality Plans and Measures established in the Organic Law 3/2007 of 22 March for effective Equality between women and men, the Workers' Statute or the applicable collective bargaining agreement.
Failure in compliance with Equality Plans may also be considered as a very serious infringement. This will be the case when the obligation of such a Plan is in accordance with the provisions of section 2 of article 46 of the aforementioned Law. In fact, the amount of the sanction, as indicated in article 40 of the Law on Infractions and Sanctions in the Social Order (LISOS) can range from €626 to €187.515, depending on the case. It should be noted that, if the offence is classified as very serious, the company will automatically lose the aid, bonuses and benefits derived from employment programmes, as well as the suspension of access to these programmes for six months.
Our team at Carrillo Asesores can assist you with the implementation of your Equality Plan. We may also assess you with your Salary Register, which is required by RD. 902/2020 of 13 October.
Visit our website in case you need to hire any of the services on this page. Do not hesitate to contact us if you have any queries. Our Consultancy Department will be delighted to help you.
