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Issue No. CCXII; September 27, 2013<\/strong> I. INDIA, DENMARK, AND CANADA — LATEST COUNTRIES TAKING ACTION TO INCREASE WOMEN CORPORATE DIRECTORS<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n The effort to increase women\u2019s access to boards has expanded to other countries.\u00a0\u00a0India and Denmark are the latest countries with aggressive legislative mandates to increase the numbers of women on corporate boards, while Canada is considering regulatory initiatives to encourage listed companies to bring more women on board.<\/p>\n India\u2019s and Denmark\u2019s actions increase the number of countries with legislative mandates for gender diversity on boards to 10 for listed companies, joining Norway, Spain, Iceland, France, Belgium, Malaysia, Italy, and the Netherlands.\u00a0\u00a0Twelve other countries have quotas for women on the boards for government-owned companies. (For complete listing of quota countries, click to<\/em>http:\/\/www.globewomen.org\/CWDI\/Quota%20Chart%202013.pdf<\/a>.)<\/p>\n In addition to this potential action from the Ontario Securities Commission, the Canadian Government has formed an Advisory Committee to provide recommendations on how to accelerate women\u2019s participation on public and private company boards.\u00a0\u00a0The Committee, under the leadership of the Minister of Health Rona Ambrose, includes leaders from the public and private sectors.\u00a0They are intent on moving the needle from the stagnant 15% women\u2019s board representation of its 500 largest companies.\u00a0\u00a0(For the full list of countries with gender diversity included in their corporate governance code, visit\u00a0www.globewomen.com\/cwdi\/cwdi.htm<\/a>.<\/p>\n II. NUMBER OF WOMEN PRESIDENTS AND PRIME MINISTERS REMAINS UNDER 20<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n With the re-election of Angela Merkel as Chancellor of Germany in September and the recent appointment of\u00a0Aminata Tour\u00e9\u00a0as Prime Minister of Senegal, 16 countries around the world now have a female head of state.\u00a0\u00a0When Erna Solberg takes office as Prime Minister of Norway in October, that number will rise to 17.\u00a0\u00a0Still, only 8.8% of countries worldwide are led by a woman President or Prime Minister.<\/p>\n The number of women in top political posts has changed little over the past decade, despite advances in women\u2019s rights globally in other spheres.\u00a0\u00a0There are fewer nations led by women today than there were in 2011, when 20 women were in power worldwide. That year marked the largest number of women leaders at any point in modern history\u2014 but still represented a 10.3%. Many nations\u2014including major global players like the United States, China, Russia, and Japan\u2014have never had a woman head of government.<\/p>\n Number of World Nations with a Woman Head of Government from 2004-2013<\/strong><\/p>\n In recent remarks at the annual meeting of the Clinton Global Foundation in New York, Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton noted recent progress made towards women\u2019s rights and inclusion worldwide.\u00a0\u00a0Yet Secretary Clinton also noted that, \u201cIt\u2019s time for a full and clear-eyed look at how far we have come, how far we still have to go and what we plan to do together about the unfinished business of the 21st<\/sup>\u00a0century == the full and equal participation of women.\u201d<\/p>\n Your thoughts on the pursuit of women\u2019s full participation of women in governmental leadership?\u00a0\u00a0Join the global discussion on GlobeWomen social media<\/em><\/p>\n III. MEN’S BONUSES DOUBLE WOMEN’S<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n U.K. male executives receive bonuses that are twice the size of those given to their female counterparts, according to a report conducted by the Chartered Management Institute, highlighting yet again the gender pay gap even at the C-suite level.\u00a0\u00a0Additionally, the average salaries of men in the UK are 25% larger than the average salaries of women. \u201cEven without taking bonuses into account, the data shows that the gender pay gap increases with each rung of the management ladder,\u201d according to the report.<\/p>\n At the entry level women fare better, earning \u00a3989 more than men on average, but by middle-management they receive \u00a31,760 less than men and at director\u2019s level the gap widens to \u00a315,561.\u00a0 \u00a0Ann Francke, CMI Chief Executive says, \u2018Despite genuine efforts to get more women onto boards, it\u2019s disappointing to find that not only has progress stalled, but women are also losing ground at senior levels.\u00a0Women are the majority of the workforce at entry level but still lose out on top positions and top pay. The time has come to tackle this situation more systemically, \u201d (Chartered Management Institute, 2013).<\/p>\n The Chartered Management Institute suggests three solutions that will serve to combat the gender pay gap.\u00a0\u00a0First, companies should conduct reports on the percentage of men and women in all tiers of positions within the organization, ranging from entry level to senior management annually.\u00a0\u00a0Secondly, flexible working opportunities for parental leave should be provided for all employees.\u00a0\u00a0Lastly, the sponsorship, mentorship and leadership development of women must be incorporated into the culture of the organization in order to foster greater opportunities for leadership roles for women in the future.\u00a0\u00a0(Source:\u00a0\u00a0The Guardian, August 20, 2013)<\/em><\/p>\n IV. CALIFORNIA WORKERS FAIL TO USE PAID FAMILY LEAVE<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n California Gov. Gray Davis holds up a paid family leave bill after signing it during a news conference at the University of California-Los Angeles, Monday Sept. 23, 2002, in the Westwood area of Los Angeles. The legislation, the first of its kind in the nation, allows most California workers to take paid leave after the birth or adoption of a child or to care for sick family member. (AP Photo\/Lee Celano)<\/p><\/div>\n Despite California\u2019s passing a law adding a Paid Family Leave program for state workers in 2002 \u2013 the only state in the U.S. to have a paid parental leave policy \u2013 workers\u2019 lack of knowledge about the program resulted in few taking advantage of it.A California Field Poll showed that less than 45% of workers were aware of this benefit, so less than 14 % of women and 7% of men had\u00a0signed up for it.<\/p>\n The report, \u2018Leaves that Pay,\u2019 summarizes the reasons why the survey respondents,\u00a0\u00a0the few who\u00a0were<\/em>\u00a0aware of the program, opted not to apply for paid family leave:\u00a0\u00a0one-third said the wage replacement was insufficient and one-third feared making their employer \u2018unhappy.\u2019 Twenty-four percent were \u2018afraid of being fired.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0What the California clearly demonstrated is that it\u2019s not enough to pass legislation that affects workers\u2019 lives favorably, there must also be a public information campaign that enables to not only take advantage of a critical benefit, but also that their fears may actually be unfounded.\u00a0\u00a0(Source,\u00a0Women\u2019s eNews, September 2, 2013).<\/em><\/p>\n Join 1,000 women coming to Paris at the REGISTER TODAY AT:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n WWW.GLOBEWOMEN.ORG<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Don’t receive this e-newsletter regularly?
\nTHIS ISSUE’S HIGHLIGHTS:
\n<\/u>I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 INDIA, DENMARK, AND CANADA — LATEST COUNTRIES TAKING ACTION TO INCREASE WOMEN CORPORATE DIRECTORS
\nII.\u00a0\u00a0 NUMBER OF WOMEN PRESIDENTS AND PRIME MINISTERS REMAINS UNDER 20
\nIII.\u00a0 MEN’S BONUSES DOUBLE WOMEN’S
\nIV.\u00a0 CALIFORNIA WORKERS FAIL TO USE PAID FAMILY LEAVE<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
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India\u2019s Companies Bill of 2013, enacted by Parliament and approved by the President, requires companies to have at least one female director.\u00a0\u00a0While this may not seem sufficient to some, the law encompasses several thousand companies which have at least 1 billion Rupees market cap (approximately US $15 million) and is a significant first step.\u00a0\u00a0The law\u00a0\u00a0should decrease the 60% of companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange that still do not have a single female director.\u00a0\u00a0Listed companies will have 1 year to appoint a woman director or face a fine for non-compliance.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/globewomen.org\/globalsummit\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/flag-denmark.jpg\")
Denmark took a different approach in requiring a certain percentage of women directors on its companies\u2019 boards, but left it up to each company to determine the number.\u00a0\u00a0The law requires Danish companies to set up and implement targets and policies for women directors, and most important, they must report on these targets each year in their Annual Report.\u00a0\u00a0Failure to set a target or to prepare a policy for achieving such a target may result in a fine, though there is no penalty if a company should fail to reach a set target.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/globewomen.org\/globalsummit\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/flag-canada.jpg\")
In addition to the legislative quotas, a number of countries have placed gender diversity language within their corporate governance codes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Canada is the latest company to consider requiring listed companies to provide disclosure regarding women on boards and in senior management.\u00a0 \u00a0Under the Ontario Securities Commission\u2019s potential disclosure model, listed companies would annually report their policies regarding\u00a0female representation on their boards and in senior management\u00a0and provide\u00a0statistics on both levels of corporate leadership.\u00a0\u00a0The comment period on this proposal ends on September 30.<\/p>\n
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\n2014 Global Summit of Women
\nJune\u00a05-7, 2014
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