Spain: government to reward companies’equal policies when granting public contracts

Businesses can be evaluated by the government to get a certification of the extent of equality criteria in their recruitment policy. If validated, the company will receive a label it can then use during trade negotiations. The label could be an advantage to get public contracts against a company with similar competencies but without the label. “This label can be the tiny difference which makes us win or loose sometimes. We evaluate many administrative criteria before granting a contract, and the economic aspect is only one parameter” Mrs. Diaz said went presenting the draft royal decree. When the labels are given, the government evaluates “the balanced participation of men and women in decision making, senior positions, or remuneration criteria which are a fair way of evaluating the positions filled by men and by women.” Mrs. Diaz also said that, to get that label, businesses must have an equality plan (mandatory in businesses with over 250 employees) and provide all documents necessary to accredit its good functioning, notably with a report validated by staff representatives. The label, valid three years, will have to be validated again each year to ensure that the company still meets the initial requirements.