On 1-2 July, Equinet and the Gender Equality and Equal Treatment Commissioner of Estonia hosted the Equinet Seminar ‘Work-Life Balance and Pregnancy and Parenthood related Discrimination’ in Tallinn.
Background
Equinet’s Seminar ‘Work-Life Balance and Pregnancy Related Discrimination’ was the follow up to Equinet’s Perspective ‘Equality Bodies Promoting a Better Work-Life Balance For All’ (2013). The seminar drew its focus from the work of Equality Bodies and Equinet related to work-life balance and pregnancy/parenthood-related discrimination.
Objectives
- To facilitate exchange of knowledge and working experiences of equality bodies in relation to the field of work-life balance and pregnancy/parenthood-related discrimination. This exchange included facilitated discussions on the future developments needed in the work of equality bodies and in their national contexts related to work-life balance and discrimination based on pregnancy/parenthood.
- To share examples of good practices and successful methods for addressing the issues of pregnancy-related discrimination and absence of work-life balance measures with particular focus on the engagement with employers in promoting work-life balance, achieving legal remedies for victims of discrimination and raising public awareness on the issue in their national contexts.
- To advance strategical thinking among the representatives of national equality bodies on how to improve their work on the issue and how to collaborate with national stakeholders in order to achieve legal and policy developments related to this issue in their national contexts
- To share examples of policy and legal challenges faced when giving support to the victims of discrimination in the workplace related to grounds of gender, pregnancy, family status and access to statutory leave arrangements
The capacity-building activities also aimed at informing the participants about current changes in:
- Legislative and policy framework dealing with pregnancy related discrimination, gender discrimination in the workplace and work-life balance on national and European level. Indeed, the European Commission gave us up to the minute news to say that the Maternity Leave Directive was no longer on the table and that they would be interested in getting Equinet and equality bodies’ feedback on what a possible new strategy/directive/initiative could look like.
The seminar featured presentations by eminent external speakers and experts of equality bodies as well as interactive workshop sessions.
Seminar Booklet
Seminar Summary
Speakers’ Presentations
OPENING
- Opening address (Evelyn Collins, Chair of Equinet, Chief Executive of the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland)
- Welcome address (Mari-Liis Sepper, Equinet Board member, Gender Equality and Equal Treatment Commissioner of Estonia)
- The work of equality bodies – findings from the Equinet Perspective (Niall Crowley, Equinet Board Adviser, independent equality and diversity expert)
SESSION 1 – Discrimination
Chair: Evelyn Collins, Equality Commission for Northern Ireland
- EU legislation and foreseeable changes (Andreas Stein, Head of Unit, Equal Treatment Legislation, European Commission)
- Pregnancy related discrimination – combining litigation with research and communication (Quinn Roache, Equality and Human Rights Commission, Great Britain)
- Pregnancy related discrimination – combining litigation with awareness raising (Liesbet Stevens, Insitute for Equality of Women and Men, Belgium)
SESSION 2 – Workshops on Discrimination
- Combating pregnancy related discrimination in Norway – campaign and survey (Cathrine Sørlie and Knut Oftung, Equality and Anti-Discrimination Ombud, Norway)
- Pregnancy and Maternity discrimination – Challenges and Opportunities (Quinn Roache, Equality and Human Rights Commission, Great Britain)
SESSION 3 – Promoting Change
Chair: Anne Gaspard, Equinet Secretariat
- Shaping public policy on childcare to maximise economic independence (Darren McKinstry, Equality Commission for Northern Ireland)
- Communicating change (Ana Curado and Anita Sares, Commission for Equality in Labour and Employment, Portugal)
- How to bring about cultural change in times of stagnation? (Mary Collins, European Women’s Lobby)
SESSION 4 – Workshops on Promoting Change
- Promoting change in Estonia: from stable kindergarten place allocations to an increase in female bargaining power (Karmo Kroos, Kaire Põder and Triin Laur, Tallinn University, Estonia)
- Work-life balance in Serbia – An urgent need for change (Kosana Beker, Commission for Protection of Equality in Serbia)
- Zero working hours per week. Finnish experiences on tackling discrimination based on pregnancy and family leave (Päivi Ojanperä and Jussi Aaltonen, Ombudsman for Equality between Women and Men, Finland)
SESSION 5 – Workplace Practice
Chair: Theresa Hammer, Moderator of Equinet Gender Equality Working Group, Austrian Ombud for Equal Treatment)
- Awarding the equality mark and supporting telework (Renee Laiviera, National Commission for the Promotion of Equality, Malta)
- Discrimination: the hidden traps for working parents (Agnes Uhereczky, Confederation of Family Organisations in the EU – COFACE)
SESSION 6 – Workshops on Workplace Practice
- Family Friendly Measures at the Workplace – Benefits and Challenges (Renee Laiviera, National Commission for the Promotion of Equality, Malta)
- Discrimination: the hidden traps for working parents (Agnes Uhereczky, COFACE Confederation of Family Organisations in the EU)
- Equality Body’s Social Research As a Part of the Work-Life Balance Support Strategy (Paula Nowek, Human Rights Defender of Poland)
CLOSING
- Anne Gaspard, Executive Director, Equinet Secretariat
- Mari-Liis Sepper, Equinet Board Member, Gender Equality and Equal Treatment Commissioner of Estonia
PHOTOS
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| Work-life Balance and Pregnancy and Parenthood-Related Discrimination |