European Employment
Lawyers Association
Conference
4-6 June 2015
Limassol, Cyprus
The glass ceiling in Europe –
slow motion?
European Employment
Lawyers Association
Conference
4-6 June 2015
Limassol, Cyprus
Catherine Taylor (moderator)
Karine Audouze
Marianne Granhøj
Glass ceiling
What is it?
• The International Labour Organisation (ILO) definition of the glass ceiling:
“invisible artificial barriers, created by attitudinal and organisational
prejudices, which block women from senior executive positions”
• Reflection of social and economic gender inequality
• Barriers to women’s leadership: cultural, religious and social norms
– Women usually have more family responsibilities than men
– Roles assigned by society to men and women
– Masculine corporate culture
– Women with insufficient general or line management experience
– Fewer role models for women
– Men not encouraged to take leave for family responsibilities
Glass ceiling – the French experience
Where are we?
•
Numerous studies show that significant progress has been achieved to break
the glass ceiling over recent decades:
 In France in the 1960s, women represented 16% of executives, whereas in
2010 the equivalent figure was 39%
 Since the election of François Hollande in 2012, the French government
has achieved parity between the sexes in ministerial roles. Today, 8
Ministers out of 17 are women (which represents 47.1% of the
government). This reflects requirements in respect of electoral candidate
lists which were first introduced by the Law dated June 6, 2000
Glass ceiling – the French experience
Where are we?
•
•
Despite the progress, inequalities persist between women and men in the
workplace, boardroom and politics. In France in 2013:
 30.6% of female workers work under a part time contract, as against only
7.2% of male workers
 15% of female workers are executives or have an intellectual profession,
compared to 20% of male workers
 Women perform less overtime than men
 Women represent 55% of workers within the service sector, 30% of
workers within the manufacturing and agriculture sectors, and 10% of
workers within the construction industry
These figures can be explained by the glass wall phenomenon, which is the
concentration of women in certain types of functions. This segregation by
gender within occupations restrains women from accessing diverse
management jobs and getting varied professional experience
Glass ceiling – the Danish experience
Where are we?
• In Denmark, inequality still exists between men and women in the workplace, in
boardrooms and in politics:
 In 2011 Helle Thorning-Schmidt was elected as the first female prime minister
in Denmark. Today, 6 out of 20 ministers are women. At the last election in
2011, 70 women were elected to the Parliament (which represents 39.1%)
 In 2015, women account for 15% and men for 85% of all board/management
members
 A review in a national newspaper* states that in 2015, 25% of the elected
board members in the Danish C20-companies were women as against only
the half amount in 2011.
 In 2012, 36% of all female workers worked part-time compared to only 15% of
the male workers
 Women have a shorter average working week than men
* The
review in the Danish newspaper (Politiken) states that of the 132 elected board members in
the 18 Danish C20-companies 33 were women and 99 were men.
Glass ceiling – breaking through
•
Addressing the glass ceiling:
1. Quotas on corporate boards
2. Quotas in the civil service
3. Quotas in politics
4. Measures in relation to parenthood
5. Reduction of the gender pay gap
France
Glass ceiling and corporate boards
•
•
•
•
Quotas on corporate boards 2011« Copé-Zimmermann Law »
Quota system requires 20% female board representation in 2014 (goal
achieved) and 40% in 2017
• Applicable to listed companies and companies employing more than 500
employees (will apply to companies with 250 employees as from 2020)
with a turnover or a balance sheet of 50 million euros
• Sanctions (applicable by 2017): nominations of board members can be
made void and their remuneration can be suspended
The law currently applies to approximately 2,000 French companies
However, it only applies to boards of directors and supervisory boards, not
executive and management boards (coDir and comEx)
France
Glass ceiling and corporate boards
• Is it working?
 In France in June 2014, 30.3% of members of boards of directors and
supervisory board members of CAC 40 companies were women. This
figure stood at 23.4% in 2012
 There are no female CEOs
 Women make up just 10.3% of executive and management boards of CAC
40 companies (coDir and comEx)
 In 2013, only 4 women were board chairs of SBF120 companies (Elisabeth
Badinter (Publicis), Vivienne Cox (Vallourec), Danièle Ricard (Pernod
Ricard) and Marie-Hélène Dick Madelpuech (Virbac))
• Observations
• Quotas work when they are mandatory
• The current key battle grounds are the comEx and coDir. There is no
progress on women’s representation in these committees, where
important decisions are made. Quotas are complicated to set up as these
committees are not provided for by law
France
Glass ceiling in the civil service
•
Quotas in the civil service 2012: « Sauvadet Law »
• By 2017, women must represent: 40% of nominations for management
and director positions (which represents 5,000 positions in total)
• Obligatory representation of women in public supervisory roles and
boards:
• 20% from 2013-2014, 30% from 2015-2017 and 40% from 2018
• Penalty: Public authorities which fail to comply can be fined up to
€60,000, rising to €90,000 in 2018
• Is it working?
 In 2014, women represented 32% of nominations at management and
director positions at the national level of the French civil service
 The 20% quota requirement for 2013-2014 has been achieved
France
Glass ceiling in politics
•
•
•
•
•
Since the first parity law of June 2000, many further Acts have been passed
to ensure parity in politics
Obligations include:
• requirement in local elections for parties to present the same number of
women as men on their lists of candidates (non-compliance will make
the list invalid)
• limit on the number of elected positions an individual can hold at one
time (thus freeing up more positions for women)
However, parity is not mandatory in all types of elections
Is it working?
Figures show that whenever there is a strict parity obligation (breach of
which renders candidate lists invalid), parity is largely achieved. Whenever
the parity obligation is not enforced by sanctions for non-compliance or
there is no parity obligation at all, women’s representation drops
 Women represent 43.2% of French Members of the European Parliament
(strict parity obligation)
 Women represent 16% of French mayors (no legal parity obligation)
France
Glass ceiling in politics
•
Next step: the French Council for equality between women and men
recommends:
• extending the parity obligation to every type of organization within
France e.g. to trade unions, associations, magistracy…, which currently
suffer from gender inequality
• strengthening financial penalties against political parties for breach of
the parity obligation in politics
•
This suggests that the current policy of enforced quotas and penalties is
considered a success in the areas where it already applies
Denmark
Glass ceiling and corporate boards
•
In august 2011, the (soft law) Recommendations from the Corporate Governance
Committee introduced a diversity policy. The Committee recommended that at
least once a year the board of directors should discuss the company’s activities to
ensure relevant diversity at management levels including setting specific goals
and accounting for its objectives and progress made in achieving the objectives in
the management commentary on company’s annual report
•
•
•
The statutory “Danish Gender Equality Model” came into force 1 April 2013
No quota requirement for female/minority board representation in Denmark
Instead, it is compulsory for affected companies to
– establish a specific, realistic and ambitious set of goals for the number of the
least represented gender in their boardrooms
– have a policy aimed at increasing the number of the least represented
gender at all management levels
– outline the status of their policy and explain in their annual report how far
they have come in achieving their pre-defined goal
The Gender Equality Model applies to both private and public companies and
affects the 1,100 largest companies in Denmark
•
Denmark
Glass ceiling in the civil service
• Is it working?
 From 2013 to August 2014, the percentage of female board members
elected at shareholders' meetings increased from 8% to 11%
 From August 2014 to January 2015, the percentage decreased from
11.22% to 10.84%
• A report* from the Danish Business Authority shows:
 In 2015, 17% of all companies have an equal gender distribution
 52% of the companies that do not have an equal gender distribution have
no female board members at all
* Source: Survey conducted in 2015 by the Danish Business Authority among 170 companies
Denmark
Glass ceiling in politics
• The Danish Act on Gender Equality requires public authorities to seek to promote and
incorporate gender equality in all planning and administration
• All ministries must prepare a report on gender equality, describing i.e. whether they have
formulated a policy on gender equality. The same applies to state institutions and stateowned enterprises (with more than 50 employees) and to municipal and regional
councils
 From 2009 to 2011, the number of women holding top positions in governmental
bodies increased by 11 percentage points. In 2011, women accounted for 25% of all
top positions in governmental bodies compared to only 14% in 2009
• According to the Act on Gender Equality, public committees, commissions and similar
bodies should have an equal gender balance (for this purpose 40% of one gender and
60% of the other is considered equal – “40/60”)
• Authorities or organisations nominating a member for a committee etc. must suggest
both a male and a female candidate
• According to the Act on Gender Equality, the public administration should also have an
equal gender balance on their boards (40/60). All state institutions and state-owned
enterprises must set goals for the number of the least represented gender in their
boardrooms
Conclusions - quotas
•
•
•
•
The French experience suggests that quotas are an effective method of
breaking the glass ceiling and softer models leaving discretion for companies
to define their own targets like in Denmark may support more diverse
management structures but the development is slow
When analysing the development in Europe it appears that where quotas are
not mandatory, representation of women is still low but not necessarily the
only explanation
A 2014 study by Credit Suisse states that if quotas have positively impacted
boardrooms, they have failed to improve female participation in senior
management more broadly
Some studies argue that quotas might have led to “tokenism” i.e. have
forced companies or political parties to appoint women just in a symbolic
way (e.g. coDir and comEx)
Glass ceiling – family responsibilities
• Is the glass ceiling the practical result of parenting
responsibilities?
• How can the law address this?
France
Parenthood
•
•
•
•
•
•
Recent legislation in France aims to encourage a more equal division of
childcare by protecting the father from dismissal during the first four weeks
following the child’s birth
An official report by the French Social Affairs Inspector from 2011 states that
professional equality cannot be achieved without an equal division of
domestic and family responsibilities
The same report concludes that companies gain a major competitive
advantage when their workers have a balanced professional and family life
As part of this, the report finds that a more equal approach to parenthood
will boost the performance of both companies and the economy in general
(improving efficiency, productivity and loyalty among workers)
The ILO suggests employers invest in childcare assistance to help recruitment
and retention of talented women
Figures show that there is much to do to before equality is achieved in this
area: Parental leave is available in France, but in 2013, out of 530,000
beneficiaries, only 3.5% were men
Denmark
Parenthood
•
No legislation on equal division of parental leave has been introduced in
Denmark
•
Various political discussion have taken place, i.e.
– to introduce 3 months earmarked paternity leave, or
– to introduce a tax “bonus scheme” that rewards families with a more
equal division of parental leave
•
By the end of 2013, the current government withdrew both proposals
despite the fact that they were part of the coalition agreement
 Both men and women have the right to parental leave in Denmark. An
official report states* that 99% of all women take parental leave whether
or not the father takes his leave. In comparison, only 40.2% of men take
parental leave where both mother and father take their leave and only
46.4% where only the father takes his leave
* Source: Report prepared by a Committee under the Danish Ministry of Employment
Glass ceiling – gender pay gap
• Pay is a fundamental part of the employment
relationship, yet inequality between the pay of men and
women remains
• What can the law do to address this?
France
Gender pay gap
•
•
Negotiation obligation on gender equality and gender pay gap at both
industry and company levels since 2001
In addition, larger companies (50+ employees) must report every year on
their progress in tackling gender inequality
• Companies must either negotiate a company agreement with trade
unions or draft a unilateral plan ensuring professional equality, which
needs to be sent to the French Labour Administration
• Failure to comply with the above is sanctioned by a fine of up to 1% of
the amount of the total payroll
 Since January 2013, 1,356 companies have been given formal notice by
the French Administration either
• to set up a unilateral plan or negotiate a company agreement; or
• to make the plan or the company agreement compliant with French
regulations
 As of February 15 2015, the authorities had imposed financial sanctions
on 48 occasions
France
Gender pay gap
•
•
•
But there remains a pay gap e.g.
 In 2013, male executives’ average gross fixed salary was 8.5% higher than
that of women with identical profiles (i.e. same age, seniority, role,
qualifications)
 The pay gap between male and female executives with a board role is
14.1%
 Across the workforce, there is a gender pay gap of 9% which cannot be
explained by external factors such as different levels of experience or
qualification.
This suggests that further measures are required to achieve full equality
within the company
The ILO suggests that companies review their HR management arrangements
to ensure that gender biases are not slowing down women at work
Denmark – gender pay gap
•
•
On 1 January 2007, the existing legislation on equal pay to men and women
was amended (and in January 2015 the new rules were tightened)
– Companies with 10 employees or more of whom at least three are men
and three are women must prepare pay statistics based on gender
– The statistics must show the gender pay gap
– The employees may ask to receive a copy of the statistics
– The statistics are meant as a tool to examine the gender pay gap at
corporate level
In spite of the legislative attempts to ensure equal pay, the gender pay gap
remains on average between 17-18 % between men and women at the
Danish labour market.
 In 2013, there was no external factors explaining 4-7% of the
gender pay gap (i.e. different levels of experience or qualification).
 Remarkable limited litigation on claims for equal pay.
Global perspective
Conclusions
•
Women and education
• Women are surpassing men in their degrees at bachelors’ and masters’
levels
• The IMF argues that improved professional and educational opportunities for
women will boost progress in developing countries
• Women represent a pool of underused talent
Global perspective
Conclusions
•
Women and business
• The participation of women in the labour market has been a major
engine of global growth and competitiveness
• Several studies show that gender balance in management teams and
boards makes financial sense
• A worldwide study by Credit Suisse released in September 2014
found that companies with more than one woman on their boards
have had superior returns amounting to 3.7% on average since 2005
• The same study found that companies with more women in leading
management roles perform better in various other economic
measures
• A Catalyst study from 2007 shows even more remarkable results for
companies which promote women to their decision making level.
Such businesses make 42% more profit on sales and enjoy 66%
improved returns on capital investment
• An equally balanced board would be more focused on the
management and control of risk
The Glass Ceiling
The perspective of the legal profession
• Is the legal profession any better/worse?
• Are quotas for gender equality in partnership effective?
The Legal Glass Ceiling
The French perspective
•
Women now make up a large majority of those entering the legal
profession:
 In 2014, 54% of all lawyers in France were women, according to National
Bar Council figures
 In 2013, 66.4% of graduates of the Paris Bar School, which trains around
half of France’s future lawyers, were women
•
But there is still a substantial gender gap in favour of men in terms of pay
and seniority:
 In 2012, only 32% of partners in Paris law firms were women, despite
the fact that they made up 64.4% of associates
 The median average wage of female lawyers at the Paris Bar in 2011 was
€44,251, as against €75,000 for their male colleagues
 According to Paris Bar Council figures published in March 2013, around
40% of women will have left the profession 10 years after qualification.
The equivalent figure for men was around 20%
Global perspective
Breaking the glass ceiling
•
•
Overcoming stereotypes
• For the ILO, overcoming stereotypes is one of the main areas to tackle if
women are to have the same chance as men to progress to top positions
• The ILO also suggests
• Implementing sponsorship of women to help them work on bigger
projects and show their skills, in addition to mentoring them
• Supporting networking for women inside and outside the company,
to provide better learning and support for women
Widening participation
• The IMF recommends increasing the participation of women in the
active population using the following measures:
• Financial incentives (tax breaks for companies which employ
women)
• Improving access to childcare
• Managing working hours, for example changing attitudes towards
flexible working
•For more information
please contact:
Catherine Taylor
Olswang LLP
Marianne Granhøj
Kromann Reumert
+44 20 7067 3588
catherine.taylor@olswang.com
+45 38 77 46 80
MRG@kromannreumert.com
Karine Audouze
Olswang LLP
+33 1 70 91 87 70
karine.audouze@olswang.com