France/Amiens Court of Appeal holds its first Equality Forum

"This year, the Court of Appeal of Amiens has developed a program of actions, awareness-raising and training around social representation and stereotypes, professional equality and violence against women. In this context, on May 5, the Palais de Justice hosted the first Equality Forum.

Gendarmerie, lawyers, National Police, Rectorat, UPJV, delegate of the Defender of Rights, Departmental Council? all were present at the beginning of May for the first Equality Forum organized by the Amiens Court of Appeal. The objective? To raise awareness and inform students, the general public and professionals. " The subject of equality must be taken up by everyone," said Jean-Claude Ester, departmental delegate for women's rights and gender equality.

In the professional world, this means a greater mix of professions, the reduction of salary inequalities, but also an awareness on the part of companies," he continues, referring to the "gender equality" project. He continues, referring to the professional equality index, which measures wage inequalities in companies with at least 50 employees. " It is a tool that allows managers to reflect on this issue," he says.

Professional equality, the figures

Although it is regularly covered in the media, professional equality remains complex to translate into figures. For example, the net pay gap between women and men has only decreased by 0.8% between 2015 and 2018 in the private sector, and by 1% between 2015 and 2017* in the public sector.

Even more striking, in the private sector, in 2017, only 9% of women were in the Top 1,000 - the 1,0000 employees earning more than 89,530 euros per month -. Proof that equality is also a political choice: since the Copé-Zimmermann law, the proportion of women on the boards of directors of CAC 40 companies has risen from 10.7% in 2009 to 44.6% in 2020.

On a broader level, however, the employment rate for women remains lower than that of men, for example -8.8 points for the 25/49 age group. Women are therefore more likely to be working poor.

They are also in the majority to work part-time - 79.5% versus 20.5% for men - including in female-dominated sectors - 33% for women versus 9% for men. 48% of women who work part-time do so to care for children or dependent relatives, compared to 14% of men.

Awareness-raising

Beyond the figures, professional equality requires awareness. " It's an issue that has been slow to emerge in our country, particularly because teachers' salaries are based on a salary scale," explains Maylis Jeannest, head of the Human Resources department of the Amiens Education Authority. " However, there is room for reflection, particularly on access to positions of responsibility such as principal or deputy principal, which are much more often occupied by men," she continues.

The Rectorat has also drawn up its first Academic Action Plan for Professional Equality between Women and Men, which will run until 2023. This plan is the result of social dialogue between June 2021 and January 2022. It is intended to strengthen equality policies, create the conditions for equal access to jobs and professional responsibilities, address the pay gap and improve the quality of work.It is intended to strengthen equality policies, create the conditions for equal access to jobs and professional responsibilities, deal with differences in pay and career development, and prevent and deal with discrimination, moral and gender-based harassment.

Source: www.picardiegazette.fr