The latest news on workplace equality and gender-lens investment
Firstly, the Equileap team hopes all our readers are safe and well.
During this time of global health and economic crisis, we understand that gender equality in the workplace may not be the first thing on everyone’s minds. People are dealing with tremendous financial instability, as well as a period of prolonged uncertainty that can profoundly impact our physical and mental wellbeing.
However, in many ways, the crisis has exacerbated gender inequality from the top down. That was clear when the British government dropped the obligation forcompanies to report their gender pay gap figureslast month. Or when the UN called for a “ceasefire” to thehorrifying global increase in domestic violencesince the lockdowns started. Both incidents are harsh reminders that neither pay equity nor safety at home is guaranteed to all women.
And yet, it is women who are called upon during this crisis to be the silent backbones of our economy: from the teachers educating the children of our key workers, to the parents juggling work with home-educating their children. Women continue to make up the majority of the low-wage workforce. In the USA, for example, 69% of those holding jobs that pay less than $10 per hour are women, and globally, women represent 70% of the frontline healthcare workers but earn on average 11% less than meneven after occupation and working hours are accounted for. They are the heroes keeping us safe in this time of crisis.
I believe the aftermath of the virus may prompt us all to reconsider how we work and how that work is valued. We may see, for example, renewed calls for flexible work options, improved pay and work conditions, enhanced parental leave for both women and men, and better sick pay policies.
The case for investing in equitable workforces is now stronger than ever, as investors aim for long-term financial returns and a resilient economy. Sustainable investing is a tool for all of us, private and professional investors, to take one more step towards the kind of world we want to live in. Out of darkness, a large-scale investor movement in this direction could be a silver lining.
At times of crisis comes great change, at the workplace, at home, and in our lives in general. Equileap will continue to provide investors with gender equality data and insights, not only for employee wellbeing and morale but also for the world and the economy at large.
Only three in 10 European companies publish their gender pay gap
In our latest report, Gender Equality In Europe, which looks at 255 companies across 10 European indices, we found that not even a third of the companies publish their gender pay gap. Even fewer (one in 10) have a strategy to close their gap.
The positive news is that there are several companies with no pay gap at all, or a mean gender pay gap of less than 3% — including energy companies Enel in Italy, and Iberdrola and Red Electrica in Spain.
“Two points become clear - one is that legislation in favour of gender equality brings results, and second, that we have a long way to go before we can turn that data into action,” commented Diana van Maasdijk, CEO at Equileap.
Mass women walk-outs in Mexico
Tens of thousands of women, including factory workers and bank managers, disappeared from Mexican classrooms, subways and public spaces earlier this month to protest gender violence in the country. One business group estimated that if all women had participated in the strike, it would have cost the economy $1.37 billion.
While President Andrés Manuel López Obrador politicises the strikes, people are angry that more than 1,000 women were killed in 2019, up 10% from the previous year. Every day, 10 women are killed in Mexico.
The day after the strikes, the women protested in the streets. Activists say they were inspired by the MeToo movement and recent brutal murders of 25-year-old Ingrid Escamilla and seven-year-old Fátima Cecilia Aldrighett. More in thisarticle by the Guardian.
Country focus: France scores top for gender equality in Europe
France has outstripped its European counterparts when it comes to gender equality in the workplace, with higher numbers of women represented at both the top and lower levels of companies.
The national quota requiring 40% women at board level has brought positive change, with 44% women on boards – a higher result than across Europe. Although France needs to improve the percentage of women at executive level (just 17% on average) and senior management (25%), it does much better with women at the workforce level, who make up 39%.
Five French companies stand out for having achieved gender balance within senior management — L'Oréal, Kering, Danone, Hermes, and LVMH. In France, six in 10 companies publish an anti-sexual harassment policy, higher than the European average.
In the spotlight: SAP
Software company SAP is the top performer in the German DAX 30 Index, with an Equileap score of 63%. Out of 255 European companies, which Equileap analysed, SAP came ninth and was the only non-French company in the top 10.
What makes SAP stand out in Germany and Europe?
For example, their SAP Women Forward initiative empowers women, and they use machine learning to weed out gender bias at every point in their company.
They have a gender-balanced board of directors, offer employees flexible work opportunities and have published seven out of eight policies recommended by Equileap to promote gender equality at work.
They are also a signatory of the United Nations Women’s Empowerment Principles and are the first multinational tech company to have undergone the EDGE gender audit and be awarded global gender equality certification.
Investors are asking more questions about employee benefits, supply-chain management and other environmental, social and governance priorities, analysts say.
The coronavirus pandemic is impacting everyone from our economy, businesses, families & loved ones. Here's an article reminding us how women are disproportionately affected by this unprecedented crisis.
Research has found that when certain Canadian provinces required universities to disclose anyone whose salary was over a certain threshold, it reduced the male-female gap by as much as 30%. More recently, the European Commission has been urged to introduce new laws to improve salary transparency, which is lacking in larger companies and the private sector.
Do you have news on gender equality or investing with a gender lens? Please email us!