APRIL 2021

SPOTLIGHT ON
PUBLIC POLICY

SPAIN
GENDER EQUALITY PLANS, EQUAL PAY AND PAY TRANSPARENCY
The Government of Spain is well known for its progressive policies
over the last decade to drive companies to take action to advancegender equality. The policy framework covers provisions for worklife balance and for equal sharing of care responsibilities between
women and men, equal pay for work of equal value, pay transparency,
reporting on gender pay gaps, and ensuring that workers have theright to collective bargaining.
Spain currently ranks eighth in the world for gender equality in theWorld Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2020.1 It is considered one of the most improved countries climbing 21 spots sincethe 2018 report.2
In March 2019, Royal Decree Law 6/2019 on urgent measures to guarantee equal treatment and opportunities for women and men in employment and occupation introduced, inter alia, several provisions topromote equal treatment and equal opportunities in working conditions and pay transparency, gradually extending the obligation toexpand, together with workers’ representatives, gender equality plans
to companies with 50 or more workers (the prior Gender Equality
Law 3/2007 minimum was set at 250 workers).

In October 2020, Spain published two Royal Decrees (901/2020 and902/2020) to regulate gender equality plans and their recording in a
public register, and enforce equal pay between women and men.
Taking effect in early 2021, companies of all sizes, including small businesses, will be impacted in some form.
Companies are required to adhere to policies within the indicatedtimelines and companies who do not comply to the policy will receive
substantial financial penalties.
The Labour and Social Security Inspectorate (LSSI) is in charge ofmonitoring the implementation of gender equality regulation in companies, and whether companies have, for instance: a gender equality
plan; a pay audit; a job evaluation of professional classification froma gender perspective; or a pay register. The LSSI can act at both thestate level or the regional level depending on where the company
activity takes place.
In 2019, the pay register became mandatory for all companies. All othermeasures will take effect on 14 April 2021.

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OVERVIEWThe recent Royal Decree 901/2020 concerning gender equality plansclarifies issues from previous legislation and provides greater detailon provisions required. It expands the requirement of gender equality plans considerably to include small businesses of 50 or more employees. 3 Micro-companies smaller than 50 employees may choose
to voluntarily develop a gender equality plan. According to Gender

Equality Act 3/2007, all companies have to adopt measures to foster
gender equality and to prevent gender-based discrimination, sexual
harassment and gender-based violence. The measures provided inRoyal Decree 901/2020 will take effect in 2021 for companies with
100 or more employees, and in 2022 for those with 50-100 employees.4

ROYAL DECREE 901/2020 5• Regulates gender equality plans for companies of 50 employees or more. The company’s entire workforce must beincluded in the gender equality plan (fixed-term contracts
and part-time contracts, regardless of the number of hours
worked, and temporary contract employees).

• Companies with 100 or more employees will have to adopt
and register a gender equality plan before 7 March 2021.

• Offers additional time (until 7 March 2022) for companies of50-100 employees to adopt and register their action plan.

• Gender equality plans must be negotiated with workers’
representatives following specific collective bargaining
regulations provided in the Royal Decree and the Workers’
Charter. When an agreement between employers and workers’ representatives is not possible, gender equality plans
will be registered by the employer.

• Enables negotiating parties to set the time period for the gender equality plan, as long as it does not exceed four years.

• Requires the gender equality plan to include a gender equal-

ity assessment or diagnosis to determine the company’s
current gender equality status, conclusions and proposals
for action. Quantitative and qualitative data indicators forthis diagnosis should include at a minimum: information on
recruitment, training, job classification, professional promotions, working conditions, work-life balance, remuneration,and prevention of sexual harassment and harassment on thegrounds of sex.

• Requests companies to register the gender equality plan at apublic register called “Register for collective agreements andgender equality plans” allowing all contents of the plan tobe accessible to the public.

Royal Decree 902/2020 aims to ensure equal pay between womenand men through pay transparency and provides companies withresources and tools to guarantee pay transparency and equal pay
for work of equal value. It offers four main instruments for companies,
such as pay registers for companies of all sizes, job evaluations froma gender perspective, equal pay audits for companies of 50 or moreworkers and the right of access to information. The measures, except the pay register, which is already mandated, will take effect 14
April 2021. 6

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ROYAL DECREE 902/2020 7• Mandates specific measures for companies of all sizes to keepa pay register of all employees, including executives andsenior managers.

• Promotes transparency establishing the right of workers

to information on the pay/remuneration register, throughworkers’ representatives. In companies without legal workers’ representatives, individual employees shall also receive
some related information.

• Provides the tools needed for the following instruments:– Remuneration Register: Ensures transparency of the sal-aries of the entire workforce disaggregated by sex. The
register includes all employee wages disaggregated by sexand professional category. The Ministry for Employment
and the Social Economy and the Ministry for Equality, inclose cooperation with social partners, will publish a wage
record tool by mid-April 2021.

– Remuneration Audit: companies obliged to adopt andregister a gender equality plan must include an audit in
the plan to ensure transparency and monitoring of theremuneration system.

– Evaluation of job posts from a gender perspective: com-panies obliged to adopt and register a gender equality
plan have to analyze the professional classification used in
the company or in the respective sector collective agreement from a gender perspective in order to guarantee
the principle of equal pay for works of equal value.

– Guide for collective bargaining: aims to eliminate genderstereotypes in collective bargaining addressed to negotiators. The Guide will be developed by the Institute of
Women together with social partners.

• Requires companies to justify with supporting documentation any significant difference in pay between women andmen for the same position and same level of skills.

HISTORICAL CONTEXTThe Spanish Constitution in 1978 detailed equality between womenand men with the intention to eliminate all discrimination based on“birth, race, sex, religion, opinion or any other personal or social condition or circumstance”. 8In 1983 the Institute of Women was created through Law nº 16/1983
to provide women equal participation in economic, cultural, politicaland social sectors. The Institute of Women paved the way for four

institutional policies for gender equality between 1988-2005 with anemphasis on commitments to the Beijing Declaration and Platformfor Action adopted at the Fourth World Conference for Women(1995).9, 10 Since 2005, the Institute of Women continues to advancegender equality in all areas of society through implementation ofkey legislation such as Organic Law 1/2004, 28 December 2004 on
Comprehensive Protection Measures against Gender-based Violence;11and Organic Law 3/2007 introduced in March 2007.

RELATED LEGISLATIONIn March 2007, the Organic Law 3/2007 mandated companies of 250
or more employees to have gender equality plans in place, effectively ensuring equality between women and men in medium andlarge enterprises.12
Spain expanded requirements of gender equality in the workplace
for small and medium-sized businesses in March 2019 with Royal Decree 6/2019 mandating the development of gender equality plans.
This measure also included the offering of equal paid and non-transferable paternity and maternity leaves, including (breast) feeding
leave to both parents, extending paternity leave and ensuring equal
remuneration.13

In late 2020, with the majority of the workforce working from homeduring the COVID-19 pandemic, Spain enacted a policy to protect therights of people providing services from home or a place chosen by
the employee for at least of 30 per cent of their working time over athree-month period. The Royal Decree 28/2020 declares that remote
employees have the same rights as those operating in a traditional
workplace.14
The Royal Decree 28/2020 includes the right to flexible work, safe
working conditions, the right to the necessary tools and equipment
to carry out the work and the reimbursement of costs associated withwork. It also ensures that the workers have the right to collective bargaining. The law states that remote work must be agreed on a voluntary basis, but requires that certain formalities be addressed, including
the creation of a minimum legal agreement.15

SPOTLIGHT ON PUBLIC POLICY • SPAIN | 3TIMELINERoyal Decree 28/2020 regulates remote working, including the right todigital disconnection.

2020

Royal Decree 901/2020 provides greater detail for small, medium and large
companies developing gender equality plans and their recording in a
public register.
Royal Decree 902/2020 mandates measures for pay transparency and equal
remuneration between women and men.

2019

Royal Decree 6/2019, inter alia, mandates gender equality plans
for small and medium-sized companies.

2007

Organic Law 3/2007, inter alia, mandates gender equality plans forlarge companies.

1988-2005

Key institutional policies developed for gender equality with an emphasison commitments to the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.

1983

The Institute of Women was created.

1978

The Spanish Constitution included the elimination of all discrimination.

CHALLENGES AND CORRECTIVE MEASURES
Designing and developing a gender equality plan with the agreement of a majority of employees is a key challenge. Company leadership can ensure employee buy-in if they involve them from theoutset for the development of their gender equality plan.
In response to these challenges, the Government has taken incremental steps every few years to expand the category of companies
included in the legislation, thereby giving companies time to develop
their gender equality plans.
Closing the gender pay gap is a challenge for companies of all sizes.
It is often necessary to allocate targeted funds to help close the existing gender pay gaps and not all companies have these extra funds
at their disposal. Revisiting job classifications to find where the pay
gap exists and to ensure that new recruits are hired with equal pay
are two ways to eliminate the pay gap from the start.16

The Institute of Women has a free technical advisory service to support companies in the design, implementation and monitoring ofgender equality plans, and also provides information and several
related tools.17 It published a comprehensive guide in January 2021
for companies in Spain to better understand the changes to themost recent gender equality policy. The guide serves as a tool for themethodology to develop gender equality plans in line with Spanish regulations. The Institute of Women maintains the guide as a living document and will keep it updated regularly to ensure companies have the support they need.18
Staying true to its commitments to the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the Government of Spain is ensuring the private
sector commits to gender equality in the world of work.

SPOTLIGHT ON PUBLIC POLICY • SPAIN | 4

ENDNOTES
1. World Economic Forum, 2020. Mind the 100 Year Gap, Global Gender Gap Report 2020. Available at:https://www.weforum.org/reports/gender-gap-2020-report-100-years-pay-equality
2. World Economic Forum, 2018. The Global Gender Gap Report 2018. Available at:https://www.weforum.org/reports/the-global-gender-gap-report-2018
3. Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado, 14 October 2020. Real Decreto 901/2020. Available at:https://www.boe.es/eli/es/rd/2020/10/13/901
4. Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado, 14 October 2020. Real Decreto 901/2020. Available at:https://www.boe.es/eli/es/rd/2020/10/13/901
5. Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado, 14 October 2020. Real Decreto 901/2020. Available at:https://www.boe.es/eli/es/rd/2020/10/13/901
6. Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado, 13 October 2020. Real Decreto 902/2020. Available at:https://www.boe.es/eli/es/rd/2020/10/13/902/con
7. Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado, 13 October 2020. Real Decreto 902/2020. Available at:https://www.boe.es/eli/es/rd/2020/10/13/902/con
8. Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado, 31 October 1978. The Spanish Constitution. Available at:https://www.boe.es/legislacion/documentos/ConstitucionINGLES.pdf
9. Instituto de las Mujeres, 2020. https://www.inmujer.gob.es/en/elInstituto/historia/home.htm
10. United Nations, 1995. Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. Available here:
https://www.un.org/en/events/pastevents/pdfs/Beijing_Declaration_and_Platform_for_Action.pdf

Funded by:

11. UN Women Global Databsed on Violence against Women, 2016. Organic Law 1 of 2004 (Comprehensive
Protection Measures against Gender-based Violence) https://evaw-global-database.unwomen.org/pt/
countries/europe/spain/2004/organic-law-1-of-2004-comprehensive-protection
12. Council of Europe, 2007. Constitutional Act 3/2007 of 22 March for effective equality between womenand men. Available at: https://www.coe.int/t/pace/campaign/stopviolence/Source/spain_constitutional
act3_2007_en.pdf
13. Spain, Royal Decree-Law 6/2019 of 1 March. Available at:www.roedl.com/insights/spain-royal-decree-law-6-2019
14. Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado, 22 September 2020. Real-decreto-ley 28/2020 Trabajo dedistancia. Available at: https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2020-11043
15. UN Women, 2020. The Power of Working Together: Emerging Practices to Advance Gendery Equality.
Available at: https://www.weps.org/resource/power-working-together-emerging-practices-advancewomens-economic-empowerment
16. UN Women, 2020. See for further measures in the Guidance Note on Closing Gender Pay Gaps to Achieve
Gender Equality at Work. Available at: https://www.weps.org/resource/closing-gender-pay-gaps-achievegender-equality-work
17. Instituto de las Mujeres, 2021. Availalble at: www.igualdadenlaempresa.es
18. Instituto de las Mujeres, 2021. Guía para la elaboración de planes de igualdad en las empresas. Available at:https://www.igualdadenlaempresa.es/asesoramiento/diagnostico/home.htm

weps.org@WEPrinciples

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DISCLAIMER: The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the European Union, UN Women, International Labour Organization or the United Nations
and their Member States.