The gender equality index, a way for companies to improve their image

This is a date that HRDs put in red each year in their diary: every year on March 1, the law requires companies with more than 50 employees to make public their index of professional equality between women and men, calculated on the past year.

We will have to wait a few days to find out if all the companies have complied with this obligation, but some did not wait for the deadline to communicate their index for the year 2020.

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Indeed, companies that have a good rating are in a hurry to make it known, such as Coca Cola France (99 points out of 100), IBM France (95), Schneider Electric (94), La Poste (95) or even Arcelor Mittal ( 89).

The steelmaker also specifies that he has gained seven points in one year.

The list is not exhaustive, but this eagerness to communicate shows that in many companies, professional equality between women and men has become a decisive element in improving their image.

Among the indicators taken into account, the pay gap between women and men

So much the better, because it was one of the goals of the "professional future" law of September 5, 2018 which established this index.

Companies with more than 50 people must since establish their index every year based on five indicators: the pay gap between women and men at comparable position and age, the distribution of individual increases between women and men, the distribution of promotions (only for companies with more than 250 people), the number of women whose salary is increased on their return from maternity leave and the number of women among the ten highest paid companies.

For each of these indicators, points are awarded, and the overall score must be equal to a minimum of 75. The companies which are below are asked to correct the situation quickly.

Staying three years in a row below the 75 mark will expose them from 2022 to a fine of up to 1% of the payroll.