Italy: National Recovery and Resilience Plan includes a corporate gender-parity certification scheme

On 30 April the final version of Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan was sent to the European Commission (c.f. article N°12490). This plan includes the introduction of a national certification system that ‘supports and encourages companies to adopt policies capable of narrowing the gender gap in all of the most critical areas,’ namely career development opportunities for women, equal pay for equal work, gender diversity management policies, and maternity protection. €10 million has been made available for this initiative, which is part of the 5th mission, called “Cohesion and inclusion”. This new certification system will be launched in the second quarter of 2022, after the establishment of a ministerial level working group, the creation of a data collection platform, and the drawing up of a list of accredited certification bodies. During the initiative’s experimental phase until the second quarter of 2026, SMEs can access a simplified procedure alongside support services. According to the Minister for Equal Opportunities, Elena Bonetti, cited in the business daily publication Il Sole 24 Ore on 03 May, the certification will produce comparable data on the degree of gender equality in companies, and will reward the most virtuous businesses, both in terms of taxation and access to public tenders and funds.