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Produced by the International Training Centre of the ILO in partnership with the Association of European Chambers of Commerce and Industry (EUROCHAMBRES)
in the framework of the contract "Raising the awareness of companies about combating gender stereotypes" commissioned by the Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities DG of the European Commission.
Papyrus has been in the paper industryfor a good 126 years
and we feel that we know this business pretty darn well.
Our main focus is on printing paper - all kinds -, the logistics that go with it,
our expertise in the paper business
and everything that comes with giving our customers the best possible service and care.
We are 58 people at the moment.
This will rise to 60 next year.
We have a strong set of values
and great confidence in ourselves and everyone we work with.
Here’s our sauna.
We use the sauna on all sorts of social occasions
as well as at demonstration events.
You need a refreshing drink after the sauna;
that’s why we’ve got our own little pub here.
The National Equality Act in 2006 got everything rolling;
we started thinking about what this change in legislation will mean to us.
We hired an external consultant.
Papyrus is perhaps one of the best examples
of how the new equality plan should really be implemented in the workplace.
The consultant’s job was to keep an eye on us in a way,
to assess our equality status in terms of salaries
and how we treat each other, and so on.
They could tell that something was not quite right with the working atmosphere.
We weren’t very far from having a good standard of equality
but the consultant's assessmentdid bring a few things to light
which we’ve now been able to discuss and work on.
We've talked a lot about attitude and behaviour
and how we should show regard for our fellow worker.
We held these discussions in our warehouse.
Everyone was able to participate and joined in on drawing up common ground rules.
I’d say the working atmospherehas definitely improved as a result.
We're making a real effort to be more transparent
in the way we treat each other and to take into account differences,
such as with gender, between ourselves and others.
The decision to organise these interviews and assessments
have had a significant impact on the well-being of the staff,
which is after all the aim of this equality plan.
Political commitment to gender equality has increased over the few past years.
Many Member States have passed legislation
and adopted measures to overcome gender gaps
and achieve equality between women and men.
Transforming this commitment into action and progress towards gender equality in economics is a job for SMEs.
It involves all the people working in an enterprise:
employers, managers, supervisors and workers.
It requires knowledge about the factors leading to inequalities.
Expert organizations and consultants can play an effective role
as SMEs’ partners in understanding mechanisms and providing methodology
and tools for reducing inequalities.
They can help enterprises start on the path
towards creating a workplace environment that generates well-being.
We at Papyrus Oy Finland have set up a team to consider these issues from time to time.
In their discussions, the team make use of the proper terminology
for the issues at hand and try to build up a sort of conceptual framework
for talking about equality.
In connection with this, we have put together a group of people
working in different areas within the company
who meet now and then to thinkabout how to put these ideas
about equality into practice and then to do the actual practical work needed.
We have, in my opinion, a good working atmosphere where people are considerate
of and respectful towards each other despite our differences.
We try to ensure that everyone here enjoys working here.
Every person here is taken into account.
The law requires employers to upholda fairly strict wage equality policy.
The new salary system dictates, in compliance with the Equality Act,
similar jobs should have similar salaries.
We went through our payroll system with our consultant
and examined whether or not differences in salaries were justified.
At Papyrus Finland Oy we have tried to determine this by simply evaluating everybody's job,
type of work station and level of responsibility,
with the exception of warehouse jobs, as these are attached to a contractual salary.
We aim to ensure that employees working in the same level of employment receive the same wage.
This means that in evaluating employee positions and corresponding salaries,
we have not evaluated the individuals working in these positions but rather the jobs themselves.
The medium and long term aim here
is to equalise salaries in a way that they are accorded exactly as they should be.
Where gender equality becomes part of business strategy and gets the commitment of all workers,
the pay gap between women and men can come to an end.
Yet the gender pay gap persists within the EU.
It’s the most relevant result of all the gender inequalities in the labour market.
There is no reason why women and men holding the same position and performing
the same job should earn different wages.
It’s not only an injustice, it’s dangerous nonsense for business.
It renders enterprises unable to retain talented women, whose potential and resources they therefore lose.
Take care of gender equality and you take care of your own business.
Equality in the workplace is everybody's responsibility.
It is something we all share.
This video is supported under the European Community Programme for Employment and Social Solidarity (2007-2013). This programme is managed by the Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities DG of the European Commission.
It was established to financially support the implementation of the objectives of the European Union in the employment and social affairs area, as set out in the Social Agenda, and thereby contribute to the achievement of the Lisbon Strategy goals in these fields.
The seven-year Programme targets all stakeholders who can help shape the development of appropriate and effective employment and social legislation and policies, across the EU-27, EFTA-EEA and EU candidate and pre-candidate countries.
PROGRESS mission is to strengthen the EU contribution in support of Member States' commitments and efforts to create more and better jobs and to build a more cohesive society.
To that effect, PROGRESS will be instrumental in:(1) providing analysis and policy advice on PROGRESS policy areas;
(2) monitoring and reporting on the implementation of EU legislation and policies in PROGRESS policy areas;
(3) promoting policy transfer, learning and support among Member States on EU objectives and priorities; and
(4) relaying the views of the stakeholders and society at large.
For more information see:http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=327&langId=en
The information contained in this video does not necessarily reflect the position or opinion of the European Commission.
Neither the Commission nor any person acting on its behalf is responsible for the use that might be made of the information contained in this video.