Study on non-legislative initiatives for companies to promote gender ...

Gender equality initiatives 77
services were cut and women were relegated into traditional roles. In Hungary and the
Czech Republic measures combating gender inequalities in the workplace are often
connected with the reconciliation issue. There are the following prizes for companies
which are active in the field of reconciliation of family and work.
In Hungary, by establishing the prize “Családbarát munkahely díj” pályázat (family
friendly workplace award), the government realised that the fulfilment of work-life
balance is not simply an individual goal, but also a societal target. The award was
announced for the first time in the year 2000 by the Ministry of Family and Social
Affairs. Since 2006, the working group ‘Reconciliation of family and work’, operated by
the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour and consisting of NGOs, is also actively
participating in the evaluation and development of the competition. The Ministry of
Social Affairs and Labour publishes the call for application each year.
The call for application concentrates on the following categories of companies and
institutions: micro enterprises, small enterprises, medium-sized enterprises, large
companies, public institutions and non-profit organisations. Until 2007, the following
fields were evaluated by the experts: working time, training, reintegration (women) after
parental leave, subsistence of childcare institutions, available allowances, and
employees’ security. In 2008, the call for application became more comprehensive, and
now includes gender (in)equality in the workplace.
The questionnaire for the applicants is about the enterprises’/institutions’ family friendly
measures in the following areas: employee-related information, equal opportunities in
the workplace (e.g. knowledge of legal duties, use of affirmative actions), family friendly
policies and practices (flexible organisation of work, measures for creating work-life
balance), organisational strategy for setting up family friendliness and appearance of
family friendliness in the company communication. The submission of the application is
completed by an examination on the spot that entails an interview with the (top)
manager of the company or the leader of the organisation, and also with employees. An
independent team of experts selects the best enterprises/institutions. Final decision is
made by a committee, and since 2008, local monitoring is also part of the decision
making process. A detailed list regarding the evaluation process and dimensions is
downloadable together with the application form. The winners of the competition are
entitled to keep the ‘Family-friendly workplace’ title and award for a year.
The Czech Republic seems to face similar challenges like Hungary, as child care
facilities were disappearing in the 1990s and it became common for women to spend
many years on maternity leave which until now has an enormous effect on their
professional careers.
The Czech prize is called “Firma roku: rovné příležitosti” (company of the year:
equal opportunities). It addresses both work-life balance but also women in management
(see the following section regarding women in leading positions). The initiative is
supposed to motivate companies to start implementing equality measures especially
targeting work-life balance for both parents, but also the representation of women in
management. At a more general level, it also targets to influence discourses about
women and motherhood and work, since it is still the prevailing opinion that women
have to choose either children or career and that a mother has to stay home with her
child at least for three years.