The community of signatory companies in the Diversity Charter is growing!

On 13/12/2022, a ceremonial meeting of new signatory companies of the Diversity Charter took place in the European House building under the title: "Diversity & Inclusion - Bridges across Society". The hosts and partners of the meeting were the Representatives of the European Commission in the Czech Republic, with the direct participation of Monika Ladmanová, Head of the Representation of the European Commission in the Czech Republic, and also Adela Šípová, Senator of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. The ceremonial meeting was also a part of the Diversity & Inclusion MasterClass project. During the meeting, ten new signatory companies joined the Diversity Charter.

Monika Ladmanová, Head of the European Commission's representation in the Czech Republic, spoke at the beginning of the program about the perception of diversity and inclusion at the level of the European Union. "Diversity and inclusion are two qualities that are part of an important value framework for the European Union, which is currently permeated by the dramatic war events in Europe". Diversity is becoming more and more a necessary part of the functioning of companies and employers; it is prescribed in company strategies and processes. It is no longer just about the activities of the HR department, but diversity and inclusion are part of companies' business strategies and part of short-term and long-term strategic goals. "We are very happy that interest in the Diversity Charter is increasing and, along with it the number of new signatories as well as member companies is also increasing. Especially in the last year, we have seen increased interest from employers in joining the Diversity Charter, and in the topics of diversity and inclusion in general," emphasized Pavel Štern, director of Business for Society, at the beginning of the meeting.

During the main discussion panel, the head representative of the EC in the Czech Republic, Monika Ladmanová, as well as senator Adéla Šípová, spoke mainly about three priority topics in the context of the European Commission's diversity and inclusion agenda. About equal representation of women and men in leadership positions, reconciliation of work and family (work life balance directive) and equal remuneration (gender pay gap). Balanced representation of women and men in leadership positions:

A few weeks ago, the "Directive on gender balance in the management and supervisory bodies of companies" was finally adopted by the European Commission. The European Commission obliges the member states of the European Union to adopt internal legislation by 2026 which will ensure that by this date women and men are represented in the supervisory bodies of listed companies by a ratio of 60 to 40. https://www.consilium.europa.eu/cs/ policies/gender-balance-corporate-boards

"The opinions of employers and businesses are absolutely essential for society. The percentage representation of women in management or on supervisory boards is already a matter of corporate reputation," said Senator Adéla Šípová in the discussion.

The problem with balancing the representation of women is a complex matter concerning maternity/parental leave, especially for women/mothers. The senate is currently debating the revision of the "Barcelona goals", which are recommendations that should lead member states to increase the capacities of pre-school facilities so that 33% of children under the age of 3 have the opportunity to be in some kind of pre-school facility. In the Czech Republic, the number of children under 3 years old in preschools has been decreasing in recent years, they are currently approximately 6%, according to the Ministry of Education and Culture. On the basis of available statistics and data, it has also been clear for a long time that women/mothers are not "included" in the work process, i.e. their professional and career development is essentially limited, among other things mainly due to the lack of places in pre-school facilities or their overall low availability . "The Czech Republic suffers from a lack of qualified employees. I mean, we have them, but they're at home. This problem needs to be solved," says Adéla Šípová.

Responsible companies that subscribe to the Diversity Charter represent the best practice of innovative and inspiring programs for diverse groups of people on the Czech labour market. The most widespread and successful are precisely those inclusive programs that support "parents at work, mothers and fathers". https://diverzita.cz/cs/akce-detail/konference-matky-a-otcove-vitani

Balancing work and family:

In the 2019 Work Life Balance Directive; https://www.mpsv.cz/smernice-work-life-balance; the European Commission set the rules for parental leave, they also legislated for the obligation of paternity leave and at the same time introduced the concept of "caring leave". The directive also deals with the flexibility of working conditions and introduces the practice that parents of a child under the age of eight can apply for a flexible form of work, for example work from home (home office). At the same time, however, it does not establish an obligation for employers to provide this flexibility. However, the directive gave an important stimulus to the member states to map the practices and needs of different groups of employees on the labour market and appropriately set the conditions and opportunities for work flexibility, whilst also taking into account the nature of the activities of companies and employers.

The related amendment to our Labor Code, however, goes significantly beyond the scope of the cited European directive, which introduces the right to home office (work from home) only for parents of children under 8 years of age. It is not received positively by employers, i.e. it does not respect the already widespread practice of working from home among many employers, introduced as a result of the "covid experience".

Responsible companies united in the Diversity Charter offer many inspiring examples of good practice in implementing the new "post-covid concept of hybrid working hours" combining and enabling working from home and in the workplace.

Equal pay:

Since 2005, the gender pay gap has also been measured internationally. https://diverzita.cz/cs/aktualita/den-rovne-mzdy-jen-v-zemich-eu-chybi-13 Based on this measurement, it was found that the average difference at the level of the European Union is 13%. The European Commission first tried to issue various recommendations to member states on how they could correct pay inequality. Some states even adopted their own legislation for equal pay even before this European regulation came out. A year and a half ago, the European Commission drafted the "Directive on greater transparency in remuneration", https://www.consilium.europa.eu/cs/policies/pay-transparency/, which does not determine how much someone should pay and to whom, but prescribes that employers should be transparent about how much they pay and to whom. If they come to the conclusion that there is a 5% difference in remuneration in the company, then they should set up internal processes that equalize this difference. This regulation / directive is still being discussed between the EU member states.

Companies and employers in the Diversity Charter are also dedicated to comparing and levelling the differences in remuneration between men and women within the framework of their company practice and culture in a targeted and long-term way.

Popular support for reconciling work and family in responsible companies is comprehensive and generally at a very high level. These programs can be a significant inspiration not only for other companies on the labour market, but also for public administration and the state.

Outputs of the Diversity & Inclusion MasterClass project

In this part of the program, Kamila Čubanová and Pavel Štern of Business for Society presented the outputs of key activities within the D&I MasterClass project.

Diversity Compass – an analytical tool that will help employers with less experience in diversity and inclusion to identify key areas for developing diversity and inclusion in the company.

D&I MasterClass – a set of tools, measures and recommendations that loosely build on the indicative findings identified through the Diversity Compass tool. In particular, it is a series of videos and podcasts with representatives of experienced signatory companies and presentations of their experiences of good practice in D&I. At the end of January 2023, the publication "Guide to the MasterClass" will also be available in electronic form. And in 2023, further networking events and workshops will take place in Prague, Brno and Ostrava together with the signatory companies involved.

Celebrating the accession of new companies to the Diversity Charter.

With the participation of Monika Ladmanová, head of the European Commission's Representation in the Czech Republic, and Adéla Šípová, a senator from the Czech Republic, 10 new signatory companies formally joined the Diversity Charter. On this occasion, Monika Ladmanová emphasized that she perceives the cooperation of the Czech representation of the European Commission with the Diversity Charter and responsible companies as very important and looks forward to further involvement and cooperation within the framework of the Diversity Charter activities in 2023.

The following companies solemnly acceded to the Diversity Charter:

Toyota Motor Manufacturing Czech Republic
FAURECIA Forvia
Continental Czech Republic
Medtronic Czechia, s.r.o.
MALFINI a.s.
NN Životní pojišťovna N.V., branch for the Czech Republic
Siemens Mobility, s.r.o.
Beiersdorf s.r.o.
Sodexo Pass Czech Republic a.s.
National Agency for Communication and Information Technologies, s.p. (JEWELRY)

After the accession ceremony, the meeting ended with light refreshments and networking.

We also offer video recordings of the meeting in Czech and English, a rich photo gallery from the meeting and a presentation with the program and other information. To become part of Diversity Charter's unique community of responsible businesses, please contact:

Kamila Čubanová - BPS Diversity Manager, cubanova@byznysprospolecnost.cz; phone: +420 724 202 626

We look forward to collaboration and new initiatives and topics in the diverse agenda of the Diversity Charter in 2023.