Papocchio in sight on gender equality policies?
Speech by Alessandra Servidori, professor of labor policies, member of the Steering Council for programmatic activity in the field of economic policy coordination at the Presidency of the Council
Among the measures of these hours, it is good to be aware of how much failure is likely in the field of policies in favor of women. In my personal opinion, there are two initiatives that risk wasting resources for the famous equal opportunities that are so much declaimed but very little realized. The first refers to the 9 million allocated for the establishment and support of programs aimed at male perpetrators of domestic and gender-based violence: it is not the right choice. The Fund, son of the foundation for rights and equal opportunities, plans to build a structural, preventive approach with the establishment of treatment and rehabilitation paths for abused men, and for the year 2022 of the 9 million euros 2 million will go to action by the regions, with which accreditation criteria are defined for the new rehabilitation centers for ill-treating men, and the definition of those standard requirements and guidelines which are then particularly necessary for the effectiveness of the action itself.
This activity should be managed differently depending on whether or not a victim support network exists in the area or whether the woman has already turned to it or has chosen not to do so. And we know that anti-violence centers are rare and the territorial networks that deal with them are even rarer.The presence of a participatory and efficient territorial coordination would be important since it can allow the circulation of information in the possession of each participant and of interest for others. work. The management of these aspects would in fact make it possible to reduce the risk of a utilitarian and manipulative use of participation in a path by the man to the detriment of the woman. The absence of a territorial network or the fact that the woman is not in charge of any service, and presupposes the burden of taking action to contact the police who will be in charge of assessing the risks for the victim. But the problem is that in the absence of an urgent Consolidated Law to effectively combat violence against women, the focus is on the re-education of the perpetrator without however guaranteeing the victim adequate protection: therefore, spot resources without coherence, while violence against women has actually intensified.
The other issue in which I see a substantial if not harmful tool for women is the famous certification process of gender equality which came into force on 1 July 2022 of the dpcm of 29 April 2022, envisaged in mission 5 of the PNRR as a national system of certification that accompanies and incentives businesses. "The voluntary achievement of the certification of gender equality by companies should reduce the existing gender gap in relation to opportunities for professional growth and wage equity and promote the implementation of gender policies and for the protection of motherhood by enhancing diversity ". The first problem is the so-called minimum and compliant parameters that must be ascertained only by accredited bodies with decisive practices identified by areas compliant with UNI / PdR125: 2022 with an overall summary score of at least (only!) 60%. to companies that employ between 10 and 49 workers and that have a kind of quality stamp that gives them the right to benefits and benefits. Concessions and advantages that can be obtained by companies through the certification of gender equality, which will allow to obtain a contribution exemption in an amount not exceeding 1 percent and up to a maximum of 50,000 euros per year for each company and then to obtain a reward score in the participation for European, national and regional calls and funds.
Furthermore, Law No. 234 of 30 December 2021, budget law for 2022, increasing the endowment of the Fund to support gender pay equality (a fund that was already established at the Ministry of Labor with the 2021 Budget Law), allocated resources that can be used precisely for the acquisition of certification by companies. It also establishes an additional fund for all those training activities that will prove to be preparatory to obtaining gender equality certification. Currently, the certification of gender equality is a device that is not fully operational, because there are no implementing decrees. In the meantime, however, the UNI private technical standardization sector has moved and has published the procedure 125: 2022, which has defined a first framework of reference standards that can be used for certification. In detail, UNI practice, in order to measure the effectiveness of the actions taken by the organization to create a work environment inclusive of diversity, has developed a set of indicators divided into 6 areas (culture and strategy, governance, HR processes, opportunities growth and inclusion of women in the company, remuneration equity by gender, protection of parenthood and work-life balance). The PNRR, within mission 5, in fact provides for the definition of a national system of certification of gender equality that accompanies and incentives companies to adopt adequate policies to reduce the gender gap in some dimensions that affect the quality of work . The idea underlying the investment is the creation of a monitoring system on the status and working conditions of men and women in the workplace, with the aim of involving companies of all sizes, particularly encouraging certification. for medium, small and micro-sized companies. However, the intervention is complicated especially for small-sized companies like 93% of Italian companies and risks not encouraging female recruitment because governance is complicated and above all it must be structurally hinged and monitored under penalty of withdrawal of the certification.
For investments, a precise timeline is envisaged which foresees the effective entry into force of the certification system for gender equality and the related incentive mechanisms for companies by December 2022 (growth opportunities for women, equal pay, management for gender diversity, maternity protection) and by December 2026 at least 800 certified small and medium-sized enterprises and 1,000 companies receiving benefits. . The first reference standard is the law of 5 December 2021, n. 162, which modifies the code of equal opportunities, established in 1991, already reformed in 2006, with the legislative decree 198 of 2006, and introduces the certification of gender equality. This first regulatory reference places the issue of gender equality certification in the broader framework of our legal system of the equal opportunities code, this becomes an additional tool within a legislative framework that already provided for an institutional support network for the promotion of equal opportunities. More precisely, the system of certification of gender equality is regulated by adding article 46 of the code of equal opportunities to article 46 bis, which establishes precisely the certification envisaged by the PNRR.
This article, included in the code of equal opportunities, referred to an implementation of implementing decrees and subsequent decrees of the Council of Ministers, on the proposal of the Minister delegated for equal opportunities in agreement with the Minister of Labor and Social Policies and with the Minister of Development. economic, to define a whole series of implementing aspects of this institute: a) first of all the definition of the minimum parameters for obtaining the certification which must concern at least the (remuneration paid, career progression, reconciliation of life times and work); b) the methods of acquiring and monitoring the data that are transmitted by the employers and then made available by the
Ministry of Labor and Social Policies; c) the methods of involvement of the company union representatives on the one hand and on the other side of the directors and advisers of equality; d) the forms of advertising of the certification. The legislation therefore creates a complex network of relationships between the various parties involved, also providing for a role for the trade union representatives and the equality councilors (who hopefully are prepared and well prepared to fulfill this role).
There is therefore a massive business of training especially private by virtue of a very complex management system in charge of companies because the requirements identified by the UNI / PdR 125/2022 practice must be understood that the effectiveness of this system can only be assessed in a broad regulatory context that certainly includes the new model of the report on the personnel situation that the company that employs over 50 employees is required to carry out by providing for the transmission electronically by 30 September 2022 (hence 12 days!) (art. 5 paragraph 1, Legislative Decree 29 March 2022) in order to take advantage of public investments financed with the resources of the PNRR and PNC without which it is excluded from the tenders; The guidelines for equal opportunities for the inclusion of disadvantaged people (dpcm 7 December 2021); the obligation for contracting authorities to insert specific social clauses in the tender notices for mechanisms and bonuses for disadvantaged people, reorganize the institutions referred to the law of 7 April 2022 n.32 to parental leave; the incentive of life and work times , the commitment to hire male and female workers under the age of 36, all harmonizing mission 5 of the PNRR.
But in the near future and with a network of very well prepared professionals. Meanwhile, the latest Istat data denounce a decline in female employment, the INPS data on resignations from work see women still and always among the majority who give up their jobs and workers are not those who are hired on full-time contracts.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/sanita/papocchio-in-vista-sulle-politiche-per-la-parita-di-genere/ on Sun, 18 Sep 2022 06:40:38 +0000.