The European social partners, ETUC1, BUSINESS EUROPE, UEAPME and CEEP, are committed to and have a key role to play in enhancing gender equality on the labour market and in the workplace.
Equality between women and men is a fundamental principle on which the
European Union has been built. Over the years, equal treatment legislation has grown to form a coherent legal framework. This is the backbone for more equal participation of women and men in Europe’s economies and societies.
A one-stop online facility promoting a selection of a wide range of practices initiated at workplace level or by national social partners.
Priorities Areas
- Addressing gender roles: Traditional gender roles and stereotypes continue to have a strong influence on the division of
labour between women and men in different spheres: at home, in the workplace and in society at large. Cultural barriers andlabour market segregation need to be tackled. - Promoting women in decisionmaking: Women are under-represented in positions of responsibility in all fields. Increasing women’s proportion in decision-making positions and leadership will ensure fairer and better performing labour markets.
- Supporting work-life balance: There are persistent difficulties to reconcile family and private responsibilities with employment. Successful policies to support work-life balance need to be tailored to the needs of the employees and enterprises, bearing in mind different situations in the life course.
- Tackling the gender pay gap: The gender pay gap has narrowed in the last decade in terms of average at EU level. In 2012, it stood at 16.2%. There are important variations between the Member States (from 3% to 30%). The pay gap has multifaceted underlying causes which provides to social partners a broad range of possibilities to address it at national, sectoral and/or company level. Further progress is needed.
The toolkit
You can download this toolkit for free here.
