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Adjustments to the Gender Equality Act to ease administration in the public sector – bill sent out for consultation
A draft bill that proposes to abolish gender equality statements and to simplify rules on the gender composition on boards of directors has been sent out for consultation. The new rules are expected to enter into force on 1 January 2025.
Skrevet af
Ditte Luja Aaskov
Forfattere
The Ministry of Digital Government and Gender Equality has submitted a draft bill for consultation, which aims to simplify a number of rules in the Gender Equality Act in order to facilitate administration in the public sector. Among other things, the bill follows up on the “Agreement on local government finances for 2024”, in which the government and Local Government Denmark (KL) agreed a multi-year collaboration programme to support municipalities in their efforts to reduce administrative costs.
Discontinuation of gender equality statements
In accordance with the Gender Equality Act, municipalities, regions and ministries are required to report on their gender equality efforts every three years. The same applies to state institutions and state-owned companies with 50 or more employees.
According to the Ministry of Digital Government and Gender Equality, the administrative burden of producing the gender equality statements does not match the benefits of the statements and, to a certain extent, there is actually double reporting in terms of employees. For instance, this is caused by the fact that the central element of the gender equality statements is considered to be employees and that municipalities, regions and central government are already required under other provisions of the Gender Equality Act to calculate and report on the gender composition of the top management levels.
The bill therefore proposes that gender equality statements be discontinued for all institutions and companies, i.e. municipalities, regions and central government.
Simplification of rules on gender composition of boards of directors
To support efforts to promote gender balance on boards of directors and in management in the public sector, institutions and companies in the public sector are currently required under the Gender Equality Act to pursue gender balance on boards of directors and in the top management levels or other joint management bodies.
Institutions and companies with less than 50 employees are exempted from this obligation for the top management bodies other than boards of directors. However, there is no minimum threshold for when an institution or organisation must pursue gender balance on boards of directors.
In order to simplify the rules, the bill proposes that the same minimum threshold be introduced for the boards of directors of small institutions and companies. Thus, only institutions and companies with 50 or more employees will, according to the proposed scheme, be required to pursue an equal gender balance on boards of directors.
The bill is expected to be tabled during autumn and, if adopted, the amendments will become effective on 1 January 2025.
Norrbom Vinding will follow the legislative process and provide an update when there are new developments.
The content of the above is not, and should not be a substitute for legal advice.
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