Effective Equality between Men and Women in the scope of the Company

On 14 October 2020, Royal Decree RD 901/2020 of 13 October on Equality Plans and their Registration was published in the BOE, which develops the LO 3/2007 of 22 March for Effective Equality between Men and Women in the scope of the Company.

The third final disposition includes the entry into force three months after its publication, that is, on 14 January 2021.

In accordance with the published regulations, the company is obliged to have an Equality Plan which must be the result of negotiation with the workers’ representatives and which, without imposing new administrative burdens, aims to be an effective instrument for combating gender discrimination in the company environment. Highlights of the law:

1. Obligation to draw up the Equality Plan, its registration, deposit, and access for companies of fifty or more people. Regarding the counting of workers, the entire workforce of the company shall be considered, regardless of the number of workplaces and regardless of the form of hiring, including discontinued permanent contracts, fixed-term contracts, and contracts of availability. In addition to this number of persons, fixed-term contracts which, having been in force in the company for the previous six months, have expired at the time of the calculation, must be added. Once the threshold that makes the Equality Plan compulsory has been reached, the obligation to negotiate, draw up and register it will arise. This obligation will be maintained even when the number of workers is less than fifty and until the end of the period of validity of the agreed plan or for four years.

2. The Equality Plans shall be subject to compulsory registration in the public register, for the purposes of granting the “Equality in the company” label.

3. The Equality Plans shall report on the determination of the parties that negotiate it, their personal, territorial, and temporary scope, shall contain a Report on the diagnosis of the situation of the company or group of companies, the results of the pay equity audit or the implementation calendar.

4. As regards their validity, the plans already existing at the time of the entry into force of this law shall be adapted within a maximum period of twelve months.

5. The periods for implementing the Equality Plans depend on the number of workers. Thus, based on the aforementioned LO 3/2007, the Equality Plan is compulsory for companies with 50 or more employees, although with the following transitional period for its approval:

• Companies with 151 to 250 workers, from 7 March 2020,
• Companies with 101 to 150 workers, from 7.3.2021,
• Companies with 50 to 100 workers, from 7.3.2022.

Dr. Frühbeck Abogados is at your disposal for any questions you may have regarding the implementation of such plans or any other matter related to labour matters.

The author of this article is Elena Bello from Dr. Frühbeck Abogados in Barcelona.