Romanian policies for fighting gender gaps on labour market STUDY VISIT UNDER THE PEOPLE TO PEOPLE PROGRAMME (P2P) "SOCIAL DIALOGUE AND EMPLOYMENT POLICY" REF: P2P December 2008, Brussels Alexandra Nemes Councilor for European Affairs National Agency for Equal Opportunities between Women and Men Romanian Ministry of Labor, Family and Equal Opportunities

Gender gaps on labour market What are gender gaps? - differences in the incomes that men and women achieve on the labour market - the percentages of men and women in the labour force, the types of occupations they choose, and their relative incomes or hourly wages - The gender pay gap measures the relative difference in the average gross hourly earnings of women and men within the economy as a whole. It is one of the structural indicators used to monitor the European Strategy for Growth and Jobs.

Main causes of gender gaps gender stereotypes within attitude and culture of society horizontal and vertical occupational segregation on labour market unequal treatment for men and women in matters of social security - the type of public pension scheme and the pension age and conditions of retirement for women the lack of policies regarding the conciliation between working and family life the lack of accessible, affordable and good quality childcare reinforces this lack of balance (due to family responsibilities almost a third of women work part-time, compared to only 8% of men), Insufficient women within decision-making process, on high level of decision, despite of the higher level of educational background of women than men have unequal pay for women and men sexual harassment, Unequal access to jobs, professional promotion, professional training

Horizontal and vertical occupational segregation Women are concentrated in a much smaller number of sectors and professions than men. Most women and men work in a different range of economic sectors (horizontal segregation). Women are predominantly employed in education, health, etc. Metallurgy and the construction are examples of sectors dominated by men. - lower pay levels of women’ s jobs than those in which men predominate. There is also a significant difference in the positions either gender occupies within the same sector. Only few women are found in managerial positions from middle management and upwards, these positions are filled mainly by men (vertical segregation). This segregation makes the labour market more rigid. It limits the scope for applying the full potential of talents available in both men and women, thus threatening the economic performance and competitiveness.

Gender pay gap The observed gender pay gaps could be due to a whole range of factors, including: personal characteristics such as age, educational background, family background, presence of children, experience in the labour market, previous career interruptions and tenure on the job; job characteristics such as occupation, working time, contract type, job status, career prospects and working conditions; firm characteristics such as sector, firm size, work organisation, recruitment behaviour and the firm's compensation and human resources policies; gender segregation by occupation or sector; institutional characteristics including education and training systems, wage bargaining, wage formation and tax and benefit systems, industrial relations, parental leave arrangements and the provision of childcare facilities before and during compulsory school years; as well as social norms and traditions regarding education, labour market participation, job choice, career patterns and the evaluation of male- and female-dominated occupations.

The consequences of gender gaps on the labour market gender gaps affect the social, political and economic equal rights of women and men gender gaps influence negatively employment rate of women which represents a decline in the working population gender gaps influence negatively the demographic process gender gaps affect the social and economic progress

Facts regarding Romanian gender gaps Total employed women – (45% of the total employed persons) Female employment rate – 53,1% vs. male employment rate 66,4% Female unemployment rate – 4,6% vs. male employment rate 6,5% 26% gender segregation in occupations (the average national share of employment for women and men applied to each occupation; differences are added up to produce the total amount of gender imbalance expressed as a proportion of total employment (ISCO classification)) Gender pay gap in 2007 – 13% under the European level of 15% 30% of managers are women 7% of members of Parliament are women (November 2008)

Instruments for reducing gender gaps Institutional framework Legislative framework Programs, projects

Romanian Government Ministry of Labor, Family and Equal Opportunities National Agency for Equal Opportunities between women and men 42 county representatives National Commission in the field of Equal Opportunities between women and men National Council for Combating Discrimination 42 County Commissions in the field of Equal Opportunities between women and men coordinates Central Level County Level Institution of Prefect Approves the components Coordinate Approves the components Parliamentary Commissions in the field of Equal Opportunities between women and men Romanian Parliament INSTITUTIONALFRAMEWORK

Romanian legislative acts on gender equality Romanian Constitution – the right of employees to social protection of work, the social measures regarding the safety and health at workplace, work conditions of women and youth - equal rights of women and men - equal pay for women and men for job of equal value Labour Code – the right of employee to benefit from adequate working conditions, from social protection, from safety and health at work, the respect of his dignity and conscious, without any discrimination. - dismissal of employees is forbidden: a) on gender criteria, sexual orientation, genetic features, age, belonging to a nation, race, color, ethnic group, religious beliefs, political options, social origin, disability, family status or responsibility, trade union activity; b) for exercising the right to strike and trade union rights

Law on equal opportunities between women and men – a set of provisions to ensure equal opportunities and treatment between women and men on labor market -It is forbidden the discrimination by employers by using of practices that disfavor persons on the ground of sex, within the labour relations, relating to: - advertising, organizing, contests of exams - selection of candidates in the public and private sector; - suspension, modification and/or ceasing of the legal labour relations, - setting up or modification of attributions in the job description - establishing remunerations; benefits, other than salary-related, as well as social security; -information and vocational counseling, initiation, qualification, improvement, specialization and recon version programs; -assessment of individual professional performances; -professional promotion; -application of disciplinary measures; -the right to join a union and to access the facilities afforded by it, other conditions of work performance. These provisions are not compulsory in professional activities where, due to the special working conditions gender particularities are decisive and authentic professional requirements. - All orders to discriminate a person based on gender criteria it is considered discrimination. - Maternity cannot be a reason for discrimination.

-Harassment and sexual harassment of a person by another one at the workplace or at the place where an activity is carried out it is considered gender discrimination. -It is forbidden to adopt decisions regarding a person based on agreement or rejection by the respective person of a harassment or sexual harassment behavior. -It is considered gender discrimination any behavior defined as sexual harassment, intended to create at the workplace an intimidating, hostile or discouraging environment for the affected person; to negatively influence the situation of an employee as vocational promotion, remuneration or benefits or the access to vocational training, in the case of his/her refusal to accept an undesired, sexually behavior. -It is considered discrimination and it is forbidden any unilateral modification by the employer of the labor relations and working conditions, including the dismissal of the person who submitted a complaint -In order to prevent gender discrimination within labor field, it is compulsory that the collective labor agreement at national level, the collective labor agreement at company level to stipulate provisions in order to forbid discrimination acts and specific measures of solving the complains made by victims of discrimination.

Law regarding the maternity protection at workplace – 2004 Law regarding the safety and health at workplace – 2006 It foresees that the sensitive groups at risks - pregnant women, women who have recently given birth or who are breastfeeding, youth, persons with disabilities must be protected from the specific dangerous at work place.

National Strategies and Programs with gender component The National Strategy on Equal Opportunities between Women and Men Economic life Improving awareness of women’s situation on the labor market Supporting equal access of women and men to the labor market Work - life balance Supporting the principle of equal opportunities between women and men in professional promotion Facilitating the insertion on the labor market of women being in social exclusion situation or at risk

Social Life Promoting of equal participation of women and men in the community Promoting of equal participation of women and men in the family life Men’s involvement in promoting the principle of equal opportunities between women and men Supporting measures for preventing and fighting against women trafficking Supporting measures for preventing and fighting against gender based violence Preventing of sexual harassment

Participation to decision-making process Enforcement of legal provisions for ensuring equal participation of women and men in the decision-making process Encouragement of equal participation of women and men at all levels of the decision-making process Gender Roles and Stereotypes Ensuring the gender mainstreaming in programming, preparing, implementing and assessing all public policies Combating the stereotypes and the gender roles in the educational system Promoting the principle of equal opportunities between women and men within culture and mass media

The National Plan for Combating the Poverty and for Promoting the Social Inclusion Encouragement of equal access of women and men on labor market by elaboration of programs regarding the equal access of women and men to initial and continuous professional trainings, programs for promoting the access of women to traditional masculine jobs Ensuring of the work - life balance, the development of community social services programs for children and dependent persons, the improvement of legal provisions regarding the flexibility of work time Facilitating the insertion on labor market of women being in social exclusion situations or at risks- the women over 45 years, women victims of domestic violence, women victims of trafficking, women with HIV/AIDS, drugs addicted women, women liberated from detention Initiating programs for raising awareness of Roma population on the importance of educational participation and professional trainings of Roma girls and women

The National Strategy for Improving the Roma’ s Situation elaborating and implementing of an inclusive approach program emphasizing on Roma’ s employment, especially of the Roma women drawing up a community development program which enforces the entrepreneurship abilities of the Roma, as well as revitalizing the traditional trades Development and implementation of certain programs for financing the small family and community enterprises, including the ones lead by Roma women Encouraging the development programs for creating jobs for Roma women Elaborating and implementing of medical informative programs, medical assistance and family planning for the Roma women Ensuring the nondiscriminatory access of Roma women within protection and educational programs for their children Identifying, preventing and solving of the conflict situations raised from domestic violence

The National Program for the Development of the Entrepreneurial Culture of the Manager Women The objectives of this program are promoting an informational and training system which will provide women’s mobility on the labor market and the development of their entrepreneurial abilities in order to involve them in the private economic field, such as: Stimulating self-employment and raising the number of the women entrepreneurs in the business community Developing the entrepreneurial abilities of women Efficient using of human resources of potential women entrepreneur Improving of economic performances of the existing enterprises managed by women by raising the professional level of their staff The equal access to economy based on knowledge Exchange of experiences and good practices between women entrepreneur and managers An improved civic participation of women entrepreneur

The National Strategy for Preventing and Fighting against Domestic Violence The general objectives of this strategy are: Improving of the legislative framework in the field of social services for preventing and combating the domestic violence Improving the institutional capacity of the central and local public administration in order to develop and implement programs and social services provided to the victims of domestic violence Developing of a partnership and social solidarity culture in the field of preventing and combating domestic violence Raising awareness of the Romanian society concerning domestic violence Participation and active involvement of the state in international activities in the field of preventing and fighting against domestic violence

The National Development Plan Key issues: facilitating access for women to economic sectors that were less accessible to them - facilitating access to professional development, counseling, support for managing independent activities, promoting the modern employment methods, especially by means of using the IT technologies, studies and analysis on the situation of women on the labor market, identifying and eliminating the prejudices with regard to traditional professional the decreasing of the salary gap and the other differences between men and women the professional and family life re-conciliation activities – the importance of development of the childcare services elimination of sexual harassment in the workplace decreasing the forms of domestic and social violence against women

European acts and policies tackling gender gaps Treaty of Rome – 1954 Council Recommendation of 2 December 1996 on the balanced participation of women and men in the decision- making process European Employment Strategy of the Lisbon Council of March 2000 Roadmap for equality between women and men ( ) Directive 2006/54/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 July 2006 on the implementation of the principle of equal opportunities and equal treatment of men and women in matters of employment and occupation (recast) [Official Journal L 204 of ]