On 1 July 2022, the 29 April 2022 Decree of the Ministry of Equal Opportunities was published in the Official Gazette, providing the parameters for obtaining the gender equality certification under Article 1, paragraph 147, of Law 234/2021.
This provision delegated the Government to establish (a) the minimum parameters to obtain the gender equality certification, particularly for the remuneration paid and work-life balance, and (b) the procedures for the involvement of company trade union representatives and the Equality Advisor for monitoring and verifying compliance with the requirements necessary for their maintenance.
According to the above Decree, the reference parameters are set out the UNI/PdR 125:2022 Reference Standards, published on 16 March 2022, containing “Guidelines on the gender equality management system which requires the adoption of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for gender equality policies in organisations.”
These guidelines identify six areas pertaining to the different variables that can distinguish an inclusive and gender-equal organisation such as (i) Culture and strategy; (ii) Governance; (iii) HR processes; (iv) Opportunities for growth and inclusion of women in the company (v) Gender pay equity and (vi) Protection of parenthood and work-life balance.
The Decree states that certification is issued by conformity assessment bodies, accredited under Regulation (EC) no. 765/2008, and must comply with the parameters set out in Uni Cei Iso/Iec 17021-1 specifically for Uni/PdR 125:2022.
Company trade union representatives and other local bodies are assigned with the control and verification of compliance with the requirements necessary to maintain the minimum parameters for gender equality certification for companies. To implement this control, the employer must provide an annual company report on gender equality.
Any anomalies or critical issues must be reported to the conformity assessment body that issued the certification, giving the company 120 days to resolve them.