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The municipality of Paris was fined 90,000 euros for failing to comply with a 2012 law on gender equality, which requires large municipalities to represent at least 40 percent of each gender in management positions. Paris was sanctioned for appointments made in 2018 by Mayor Anne Hidalgo, who had nominated 11 women and 5 men for 16 executive positions.
11 women, 5 men… The Paris City Council was fined 90,000 euros for appointing too many female directors.
With my assistants, the directors and the group chairs, we will take this check to the Minister of Public Function. pic.twitter.com/yMDAeH86eS
– Anne Hidalgo (@Anne_Hidalgo) December 15, 2020
The mayor said in the town hall that she herself will take the fine check to the Ministry of Public Function, together with her collaborators, the directors and all the women of the general secretariat, also inviting the presidents of the majority groups and opponents. “This fine is clearly absurd,” said Hidalgo in the council, “and it is also unfair, irresponsible, and dangerous.”
Obviously, the law was created to guarantee greater female representation in managerial roles and therefore the mayor expected greater flexibility in its application. “What’s great about the bureaucracy is that it doesn’t know at all how to discern on a case-by-case basis,” Hidalgo said.
In fact, the rigidity of this rule was eased last year, when a change was voted to avoid penalties for employers who appoint too many men or women, if that doesn’t lead to an imbalance in the jobs in question. The new rule, however, came into force as of June 2020, while the fine referred to 2018. The municipality of Paris currently has 47 percent of women in management positions and therefore respects the established balances.
The Minister of Public Services, Amélie de Montchalin, responded to Hidalgo on Twitter, precisely explaining how the rule has been changed and ensuring that the money paid by the Paris municipality will be used to promote women in the public sector.
– Read also: Why We Always Talk About “Quotas”
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