Spain's New Law Mandates 40 Percent Women Representatives In Company Boards

In a move towards establishing gender equality, the government of Spain will seek to introduce a law that requires at least 40 per cent female representation on company boards. This will also apply to the government cabinet.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced that the gender quota law would be approved on Tuesday at the weekly cabinet meeting before being sent to Congress.

40 Percent Women In Spain Company Board

The prime minister made the announcement during a socialist party rally for International Women’s Day. According to a government statement, the objective of this law is to ensure that company boards have at least 40 per cent of members from the "least represented gender." They also aim to ensure that similar levels of parity exist in top management.

Corporate boards of directors, election lists, and governing boards of professional associations will all be subjected to this gender equality requirement under the equal representation law.

Prime Minister Sanchez said that this move is being taken not just in favour of feminism but in favour of the entire society.

According to this law, all companies with more than 250 employees and an annual turnover of $50 million Euro should have 40 percent female representatives in the management. A similar 40 percent quota has been set for the government as well. The government will also make it mandatory that both male and female candidates be alternated for elections.

Prime Minister Sanchez has repeatedly referred to his socialist-led government as feminist. Laws establishing gender equality are not new in Spain. The country became the first in Europe to grant working women the right to paid menstruation leave. The Spanish government passed a law in February that gave working women the option to take their monthly menstrual leave for three to five days. The law was passed along with a number of sexual and reproductive laws, including abortion rights for women and transgender rights.

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