The Equality Act, in force since March 23, 2007, has hardly paid off. Yet, one of the main strengths of the text was the obligation for companies with 250 or more employees to bargain for a plan encouraging equal treatment and opportunity between men and women. This weakness could be explained by technical problems, which don't necessarily question the effectiveness of the Act, said Esmeralda Sanz, confederal secretary in charge of women's rights at the Workers' Commission union (CCOO), who recently published an analysis in one of the union's journals. (Ref. 080518)
In one year, only eight equality plans like this have been signed. This lean result is easy to understand because of the complexity of the process of gestation, she said, without denying the fact that it represents “truly positive progress.”
- The first obstacle comes from the law itself, which only plans the obligation to bargain for equality plans at the time of the renegotiation of the sectoral or corporate collective agreements. Yet, the number of negotiated collective agreement was include
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