The actions taken by the Labour Department since 2016 reveal greater awareness, especially in the area of gender, although the rate of sanctions is low
Discrimination at work, especially gender discrimination, is a more than evident reality, even though it remains hidden in the statistics. Even so, it is unquestionable that progress has been made in this area due to greater social awareness, with unions at the forefront, but also due to the increasingly firm commitment to equality on the part of employers and public administrations. Even so, there is still a lot of work to be done in the Region, even though the data on actions in this field by the Labour Inspectorate reveal that of the 1,300 interventions carried out from 2016 to the present, only 50 violations have been found - 3.8%.
In most cases, it is very difficult to prove with absolute certainty that there is a case of discrimination, whether through a previous complaint or through official controls. Not to mention the legal protection of some agreements that officially conceal these differences.
FIGURES:
546 Actions for direct and indirect discrimination were carried out in 2016, with 15 violations.
515 were the interventions carried out in companies in 2017, with 25 violations being recorded.
239 These are the actions carried out in the first half of 2008, with 10 violations recorded.
These results of inspections carried out during the years 2016, 2017 and 2018 (until last June 25) include discrimination for reasons other than gender, as well as employment, salary, immigration, and work-life balance. All of them are associated with direct and indirect inequalities in the labour market.
In short, these actions are part of the programme of objectives agreed between the state body for the Inspection of Labour and Social Security and the Autonomous Community itself.
One notable aspect is that last year there were thirty fewer actions than in the previous year, although there were, however, ten more sanctions. While so far in 2018 the results obtained in both sections continue in the same average trend.
A priori, one might think that if there are no more sanctions it is because there is not as much discrimination as is believed, but this reasoning is totally far from reality, as warned by the unions. The Secretary of Equality of UGT in the Region, Eugenia Pérez Parra, warns, precisely, about "the lack of human and material resources to monitor compliance with the law." Nor can one ignore the need for greater training and security so that those affected dare to report without fear.
Wage gap of 26%
Thus, until this leap occurs, it seems difficult to effectively combat inequality, especially in the comparison between women and men. The UGT organisation maintains that, beyond the fact that it is legal, the so-called wage gap in the Region exceeds 26%, and affects 190,000 women in Murcia.
The Regional Confederation of Business Organisations (Croem) maintains that, together with the unions and the Community, they are working on a plan of measures to combat the wage and gender gap; in addition to also promoting the development of equality plans and the establishment of training priorities.
For her part, the Secretary for Women and Equality of CC OO in the Region, Anna Mellado, acknowledges that “75% of the cases that come to them for gender discrimination at work have to do with claims for reduced working hours due to childcare.” In addition, “every week we deal with two to three queries about harassment.” In any case, “many situations are not reported to the Inspection due to the delay in resolving them,” she concludes.
The regional government has stressed its commitment to ending any type of inequality. It is also worth noting that the new Law 9/2017 on public sector contracts establishes in articles 71 to 73 that having been sanctioned with a firm character for a serious infringement in professional matters regarding equal opportunities and non-discrimination is a cause for exclusion from competitions.
Furthermore, the Central Administrative Court of Contractual Appeals (TACRC), dependent on the Ministry of Finance and Public Administration, in resolution 792/2017, "declares the impossibility of the autonomous communities or municipalities to increase the list of prohibitions established by the State on a basic basis, "so the Region cannot impose more limitations than those already established in its public competitions," stresses the Minister of Employment, Universities, Business and Environment, Javier Celdrán.
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