This seminar took place in Brussels on 13-14 June. It was co-organised with the European Commission and it was aimed at Equality Bodies’ staff members, and other stakeholders (labour inspectorates and trade unions).
Background
August 2022 was the deadline for all EU Member States to finally transpose the Work-Life Balance Directive into national legislation. Following its implementation, it is now essential to understand the national impact of the EU Directive and how it is affecting the work of various stakeholders, including Equality Bodies, labour inspectorates, and trade unions.
Before the Directive was adopted, Equinet took part in the Work-Life Balance package by co-organising a seminar on dismissal protection with the European Commission. 5 years later, and to follow-up with the adoption of the Work-Life Balance Directive, Equinet co-organised a new seminar on the issue, together with the European Commission. The event took place in the framework of the EU Care Strategy package and will focus on the implementation and impact of the Work-Life Balance Directive.
Objective
To support Equality Bodies in building their capacity in efficiently implementing the Work-Life Balance Directive and ensuring a strong protection of parents and carers.
Agenda
Session I: Setting the scene
Objective: assess the status quo of the Directive, how it came into being, and how the transposition and implementation process is going.
Keynote speech – Family policies and inequalities: What does the Work Life Balance Directive do well and what can it do better? – Professor Heejung Chung, University of Ken
Transposition of the Directive: status quo and ways forward
- Chair: Karen Vandekerckhove, Head of Gender Equality Unit, European Commission
- Transposition of the Directive-status quo and ways forward – Miguel de la Corte-Rodríguez, KU Leuven
- Assessment of the transposition of the Directive in EU countries: Croatia – Kristijan Kevešević, Ombudsperson for Gender Equality of the Republic of Croatia
Session II: Building partnerships. Equality Bodies and Labour Inspectorates
Objective: Support the strengthening of collaboration between Labour inspectorates and Equality Bodies to protect parents and carers from discrimination
- Good practice 1 – Carla Tavares, Commission for Equality in Labour and Employment, Portugal, and Paulo Guerreiro, Portuguese Labour Inspection – Authority for Working Conditions
- Good practice 2: Training Labour Inspectorates – Barbara Ortiz, Institute for equality between women and men, Belgium
Session III: Diving deeper
Objective: Support participants in building their capacity on the WLB Directive and specific examples of discrimination in the workplace.
Parallel workshops:
- Cooperation with employers – Anita Sares, Commission for Equality in Labour and Employment, Portugal & Barbara Ortiz, Institute for equality between women and men, Belgium
Equality Bodies can work with employers to define and implement good practices of work-life balance within the company - Discrimination of working parents – Art-Peeter Roosve, Gender Equality and Equal Treatment Commissioner, Estonia
What are the most common cases of parental discrimination? Parents@Work produced a report on parental discrimination. In this session, they will present their findings and share their experience in fighting parental discrimination. - Flexible working arrangements & leaves – Fred Deven, International Network on Leave Policies and Research
How to ensure gender equality and tackle gender discrimination regarding flexible working arrangements and leaves?
Panel discussion: Ensuring better protection of parents and carers
What are the current obstacles faced by various actors when it comes to ensuring better protection of parents and carers in the workplace? What are the remaining gaps and limitations of the protection of parents and workers provided by the WorkLife Balance Directive?
- Chair: Tamás Kádár, Co-Director, Equinet
- Discrimination experiences of caregivers in the context of pregnancy, parental leave and care for relatives – Antje Wunderlich, Federal Antidiscrimination Agency, Germany
- Work-Life Balance Directive: relevant findings from EIGE’s research– Vytautas Peciukonis, EIGE
- EU Work-Life Balance Directive transposition: A mixed picture – Attila Bohm, COFACE
- Trade Unions’ perspective – Aline Brüser, ETUC