BPW International

BPW Belgium choose to BPW Belgium choose to take action for Equal Pay Day on March 26 in Ghent.
A lot of BPW members as well as other interested ladies gathered for the reception.
Remark the red dresses and jackets worn for this occasion !

Read the complete report

Due to the fact that data about the gender pay gap in Croatia are not yet included on the Eurostat web page, the comparison of the situation in Croatia with those in other EU countries becomes somewhat difficult. Still, some data do exist on the bases of which the issue of the gender pay gap can be approached.

The new Gender Equality Act was brought up in July 2008. It regulates general principles for the promotion of gender equality as one of the fundamental values of the constitutional order of the Republic of Croatia. It also defines and regulates the manner of protection against discrimination based on sex and creation of equal opportunities for women and men. In 2006, the National Policy for the Promotion of Gender Equality 2006- 2010 was adopted. It represents the basic strategic document of the Republic of Croatia adopted in order to eliminate the discrimination against women and to establish a genuine gender equality by the implementation of the policy of equal opportunities for the period from 2006 to 2010.

The recent study done inside the EU IPA project on women in the labour market in Croatia analyzed differences in net earnings of men and women by educational attainment, age, and occupation, and found out that discriminatory practices are in place, and though “gender-based discrimination seems to be more prevalent in occupations with lower skills and at lower educational attainment levels, (…) there seems to be a continuous age-based discrimination over the life-cycle earnings by gender”

The Gender Equality Ombudsman in the Report for 2010 presented some results from the research undertaken about gender pay gap in three companies in Croatia (full research is not yet available). The report showed that there is a need to investigate gender pay gap not only at the level of the whole company but at the level of different units (where gender pay gap can vary significantly from the gap found at the level of company), and in relation to specificoccupational structure.
The general conclusion of the Report was that gap is not a result of intentional discrimination of women, but is mainly a result of horizontal segregation at the labour market. It, however, fully justifies the need for analyzing pay gap in Croatian companies.

BPW Pula recognizes and supports  Equal pay day principles.
BPW Pula  as a small club has not a political influence, but it struggles by fostering business information, business education and business lobbying for BPW members and women entrepreneurs in general.

Alida Perkov

President BPW Pula, Croatia

Chair BPW Danube Net 2009-2012

BPW Germany: The German Equal Pay Day on the 23rd of March 2012 was organized with a successful, new concept by BPW Germany. The project is financially supported by the German Federal Ministry for Women for raising the awareness of the gender wage gap, which is 23% in Germany. more
Dagmar Judith Schwarz,
Koordinatorin Bundesgeschäftsstelle Entgeltgleichheit and Equal Pay Day Office BPW Germany

Movie session, BPW St. Gallen, Switzerland

This year the Business and Professional Women (BPW) Switzerland proclaimed national Equal Pay Day for the fourth time in Switzerland.  With a pay gap between men and women of 18,4 % Equal Pay Day 2012 took place on march 7th  on the subject « Equality pays off ! »

In view of the occasion BPW Switzerland sent a questionnaire to the 3000 biggest companies in Switzerland and collected positive experiences, implementations and Best Practice examples on this subject. Model companies had been presented on the internet site www.equalpayday.ch in a positive and attractive manner.

For the first time an alliance of women active in politics, economy and unions has thrown one's weight behind the Equal Pay Day. Together with BPW Switzerland they request the companies to act, to check the equality of wages between men and woman and to pay equal.

How much is a woman worth ? - Point the way for Equal Pay !

Also in this year, a lot of BPW Clubs in Switzerland had contributed greatly to the Equal Pay Day 2012.  A lot of projects, activities, demonstrations, debates and other creative events from flashmob to unhappy hours in cafes bars had taken place all over Switzerland on march 7th. All events were well received and had an excellence report in press and media.

For more information please visit   www.equalpayday.ch
Annette Nimzik, Equal Pay Day National Coordinator

The three clubs in the south of Sweden: BPW Malmö, BPW Helsingborg and BPW Kristianstad cooperate.The main speaker this year is Gertrud Åström, president of the Swedish Womens lobby. On the topic Salary and Value – women´s movement history, present time and the vision. BPW Stockholm invited three researchers who shared soft and hard facts regarding the situation for women and men on the labour market. www.bpw-sweden.se
Monica Einegren President BPW Sweden

BPW Estonia has run Equal Pay Day campaign since 2010. As the pay gap in Estonia is the highest in Europe (27,6 % by the statistics of 2008) we need to raise the public awareness and initiate public discussion how to narrow the gap. Under the title “Tilliga ja tillita” we have got very good media coverage and calls to national TV and radio programs. On Equal Pay Day restaurants and cafes all over the country serve salmon (means also “gap”) meals for 2 different prices with dill 30,3% (2010) and 30,9% (2011) pricier than without dill. We have also involved men as speakers and opinion leaders to support our campaign in 2012.
The campaign raises enthusiasm of women to stand for their equality in the society.

It has made BPW Estonia more visible and an opinion leader of this issue in our country.

The Equal Pay Day in Estonia has been held on April 19, 2012. Why on April 19?

Because this is the amount of extra days in the current year women need to work to get the same amount of annual income than men for the previous financial year.
Last year a research on the reasons of the high pay gap in Estonia was revealed. Relying on the research and the experience from our campaigns we have decided to focus this year on attitudes and gender stereotypes as one of the biggest barriers in closing the gap. For that we are planning a seminar for employers and employees. One of the lecturers will be Tiina Saar, a well-known consultant about career development and an attractive speaker. She is giving lectures, seminars in the universities in Estonia. She has also published several articles and three books about career and work life and participated as the work interview consultant in the broadcast called “Tööotsija” (Job Seeker). The seminar is planned on 21 April 2012.
Women are often discriminated in the job interview without even noticing it. Women tend to ask and be satisfied with lower pay compared to men with the same qualification and experience. How to arrange objective interview and how to have a job interview are the topics we want to shed light on.
On 5 March 2012 the Round Table event was held in the Information Center of European Parliament in Tallinn Estonia on the topic “The biggest gap in Europe – how much more? Is it the cause of men, women, history, culture or law?” The President of BPW Estonia Pille Ruul was asked to participate as a key person, the members of European Parliament from Estonia and many opinion leaders of Estonia were participating in the discussions.
ECC decided to grant 1000 EUR for the Equal Pay Day campaign to BPW Estonia from the EPD Fund. We are very grateful and it helps to organize the campaign on the larger scale.
We hope that with the EPD Campaign we can reach more key people, raise their awareness, influence attitudes and stereotypes as well as diminish the pay gap in Estonia.

For the calculation of Equal Pay Day (EPD) of Japan, BPW Japan first obtained the latest appropriate labor statistics from the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare.  Figures are male and female average wages of General Workers (which excludes Part-time Workers).  They do not include overtime payment.  The percentage wage difference between men and women we calculated for Japan was 29.4% in 2011.  Then, we came up to the EPD of April 16, 2012, based on the 264 working days (22 days per month).  

Both Yomiuri Simbun and Nikkei Shimbun, two of leading Japanese papers, covered the EPD campaign which Club Tokyo held at the street.

BPW Club Tokyo held the Equal Pay Day (EPD) campaign at the busiest business district, Marunouchi, taking EPD red gears to the street.

Prior to the EPD, as a first step, President of BPW-Japan and other executives visited the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) and Gender Equality Office on April 11.  They introduced the concept of EPD and a wide range of EPD-related activities which BPW have been developing world-wide.  They also asked for the support and cooperation for the EPD campaign in order to raise public awareness of the pay gap between men and women.  Several staff from the MHLW showed up Marunouchi on April 16, and distributed EPD clear plastic folders with us.

Members of Club Wakayama and Club Yamanashi marked the first EPD by visiting their Prefectural Governments (the labor office and gender equality office) on April 16.  They introduced the concept of EPD and BPW’s EPD-related activities in European countries.  These first-step activities were well received among local high-level officials and facilitated extensive discussions on the issue of equal pay.  BPW members also handed a 70% of full size chocolate bar to officials.  Club Yamagata and some other clubs are planning to do some EPD-related activities later.

Yamanashi

Wakayama

Machiko Yanagishita

BPW Japan

Updated Agenda of the 4th Annual Equality Means Business Event: Gender Equality for Sustainable Business,  March 6, New York - President Freda Miriklis was invited to participate in the interactive session Setting the Pace: Multi-Stakeholder Efforts at the National Level  on the same day Secretary General Bankimoon will speak.

The French government has supported BPW France Equal Pay Day campaign since 2009, and this year, for the first time , they sponsored €3 000. BPW France will run events throughout France on March 15th.

Since 2011 BPW France implemented a national workshop called "Les Dessous de la Parentalité en Entreprise" to prepare the Equal Pay Day campaign. The aim of these monthly meetings is to discuss about work life balance issues and their impact on equal pay. Aurore Fimat, National Executive Secretary and a Young BPW is responsible for this initiative.aurore.fimat@yahoo.fr

Information Les Dessous : http://www.bpw.fr/fr/actualite/article-188/lancement-du-cycle-les-dessous-de-la-parentalite-en-entreprise.html

See photos:

Photo 1: Les Dessous de la Parentalite

Photo 2: Les Dessous de la Parentalite

Photo 3: Les Dessous de la Parentalite

Photo 4: Les Dessous de la Parentalite

BPW Switzerland will  launch the 4th Equal Pay Day on March 7, 2012, illusrating the  pay gap between women and men of 18.4%.

This year BPW Switzerland contacted 3000 enterprises on the topic of enterprise best profitability with women in the decision team (surveys Catalyst or McKinsey).
A national media conference on the Equal Pay Day will be held by a political coalition of right to left parties.
View the program for the Equal Pay Day and the statement of  the Swiss President.

Thanks to the Equal Pay Day, the media coverage of the topic has increased strongly in Switzerland : Press articles published about « pay equity » , « Equal Pay Day » or « BPW »

The Equal Pay Day is a smart way to maintain the pressure on an important subject for business and professional women.