Label would let firms display their 'gender friendly' credentials

A VOLUNTARY labelling system recognising "gender-friendly" companies should be introduced in Britain in to tackle the pay gap between the sexes, a conference heard yesterday.

Delegates were told that the government should award the status to firms providing equal opportunities. The system would function much like "free range" or "fair trade" labels for egg producers and coffee traders. France has such a system and delegates from that country have been using a European Union gender equality conference in Birmingham this week to gather support for its implementation across Europe.

They say the labelling system would help to tackle the EU-wide pay gap, under-representation of women in the workplace and the low number of women in top managerial positions.
The proposition comes a day after a high-ranking European Commission official said Europe will fail to meet its basic economic targets unless it finds innovative ways of bringing women into the workforce.

In a conference paper, the French delegation wrote that a "voluntary equality label" is a "means of setting an example and a new image". It also suggested that the system would help recruitment and retention of staff as a growing number of socially-aware employees enter the workforce.

Story taken from The Scotsman