Equality Mark gains ground among Maltese employers

Nine companies were awarded the equality mark during this conference by National Commission for the Protection of Equality during their annual conference that highlighted the main developments achieved throughout the year.

The Equality Mark is given to companies that take equality into consideration further than is required by law. Parliamentary Secretary for Youth and Sport, Clyde Puli said it made sense for companies to make the most use of Malta’s creative minds. “If we do not take equality into consideration we are throwing away half of the resources available to us,” Puli said.

It is not only laws and legislation that need to be introduced, but a change in culture that takes a long time to ingrain. Statistics show that improvement in labour equality is taking place with more women taking part in the world of work, especially younger workers. 60% of university students are women. Childcare centres and other facilities are making it easier for women to return to the world of work after having children. “Working women add value to the labour market and in turn to the economy as a whole,” said Dr Romina Bartolo, executive director of the NCPE.

Bartolo said the NCPE is working towards a society free from discrimination on the basis of both gender and race. She added that the NCPE’s remit has remained unchanged covering discrimination based on gender and race, with regards to employment and distribution of goods and services.

The NCPE is continuously consulted by companies wishing to make companies more competitive by having  making use of human resources from both genders. During the past year the NCPE has seen the implementation of ‘Strengthening Equality Beyond Legislation’ prokect, during which research carried out has helped NCPE to become more aware of necessary actions to be taken to strengthen legislation and ensure proper implementation and enforcement.

Complaints made to the NCPE include unfair treatment at work due to family responsibilities, allegations of sexual harassment and allegations of unfair dismissal from work due to pregnancy

Racial complaints are fewer than gender complaints though this may be due to lack of awareness though they include complaints such as access to visas and of access to bars and clubs.

Clyde Puli  presented a number of companies with the Equality Mark. Nine companies were awarded the Equality Mark, which brings the total up to 17 companies in Malta. The companies included Alert Communications, Chetchuti Cauchi and Associates, Enemalta Corporation, FTIAS, the Internal Audit Office and Investigation Department, Intercomp Group, Link School of English, the National Audit Office and World Aviation Group.

Maria Filletti, Senior Policy and Training Executive at NCPE, highlighted the problems associated with stereotyping that affects the way we perceive others. “Gender segregated subjects at university often leads to different jobs being populated by different gender which in turn will result in gender pay gaps,” Filletti said.

“Stereotyping happens as a result of the media and family roles, especially if they are repeated often enough,” Filletti said. She recommends the way forward to combat stereotypes in education, the media should promote non-discriminatory and realistic portrayal of different groups, research, and an increase the public’s participation in public and political life.