On 4 December, José Luis Ábalos, Minister for Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, highlighted the realistic and ambitious nature of the Plan and announced the establishment of a monitoring committee to measure its degree of implementation and impact. The Equality Plan introduced by Ineco contains eight sections and includes important initiatives designed to achieve real and effective gender equality.

On several occasions, Ineco’s president has outlined the critical role played by women in the mobility sector, along with her belief that equal opportunities for all genders should form part of the company’s duty and commitment to society. “To believe is to create, and to believe in equality is to create plans and formulas that allow us to advance towards achieving it”, she declared on presenting the initiatives. The Equality Plan will be given continuity within the framework of the company’s commitment to the 2030 Agenda and, in particular, Sustainable Development Goal ‘SDG 5 Gender Equality’.

The Equality Committee, which works to safeguard the principle of equality between men and women, among other objectives. / PHOTO ELVIRA VILA (INECO)

The signing of the updated Equality Plan represents a milestone for the company. It is the result of work carried out within the Equality Committee, which is made up of both company representatives and legal representatives of the company’s employees.

The Committee’s priority was to continue safeguarding the principle of equal treatment and opportunities for men and women at Ineco, in line with the redrafting of Organic Law 3/2007, of 22 March, to include innovative and efficient updated measures for a continued commitment to effective equality between men and women.

The eight key elements of the Equality Plan

  1. Breaking through the 40% barrier. Although the number of women working in the world of engineering is increasing, they account for just 25% of Spain’s engineering and architecture undergraduates. At Ineco, women account for nearly 38% of the workforce, and in 2019 the number of women hired rose by 11%. The new Plan aims to eradicate any potential discrimination from our selection processes and encourage the hiring of women in areas where they currently have less presence, in order to break through the 40% barrier. Furthermore, and within the framework of these actions, efforts will be made to hire more victims of gender violence.
  2. Encouraging communication. Specific sections of the Ineco website and corporate employee mailbox have been dedicated to fostering a culture of communication and awareness around the subject of equality. These recently developed equality-focused channels will continue to set out general criteria for the use of non-sexist language. The Equality Plan has also been promoted on social networks and via Ineco’s Youtube channel.
  3. Equal training opportunities for men and women. Our objective is to maintain an equal level of training for men and women, given that training –to which Ineco dedicates more than 150,000 hours a year– is one of the cornerstones of professional and personal development. This includes specific training in the areas of equality and reconciliation of work and family life, as well as on the reporting procedures for incidents of psychological or sexually motivated harassment. The Equality Plan seeks to definitively break through “glass ceilings” with specific projects like the IN Women’s Mentoring Programme (see IT66). The IN programme supports the professional development of women with great potential at Ineco by providing them with a framework to develop valuable relationships, as well as the tools, resources and methods they need to progress in their careers.
  4. Promoting equality in areas with less female representation. We will continue to push for equality in professional development across the board, with particular emphasis placed on those areas with less female representation. To do this, we will ensure that an applicant’s ability to meet the criteria set out by the jobs map is judged on equal terms based on their knowledge, experience and skills. Women will be given preference for promotions to jobs or professional groups in which they are currently under-represented.
  5. Work-life balance rights. The company will continue to implement measures that support joint responsibility and reconcile the personal, family and work lives of all personnel. Information on work-life balance rights will be reinforced, extending accessibility to these rights to the entire workforce and ensuring that those working under reconciliation measures have access to the same career opportunities as other employees. Similarly, we will continue to guarantee that those working under timetables that differ from the standard schedule are not at a disadvantage in terms of career development, opportunities for promotion and advancement, remuneration or access to training.
  6. Equal pay. Since talent has no gender, neither should salaries. Ineco’s Equality Plan guarantees the principle of equal pay through its policies on fixed remuneration, variable remuneration and social benefit allocation, as well as by measuring its compliance with quantitative indicators. A progressive reduction of the overall wage gap, guaranteeing an annual decrease of at least half a point, is one of the Plan’s objectives.
  7. Zero harassment and better protection for victims. Our aim is to guarantee an atmosphere of mutual respect preventing, and where necessary, eradicating, any behaviour that could be construed as harassment in the workplace. Moreover, we aim to offer protection to women who have been the victims of gender violence and to facilitate the prevention, mediation and abolition of harassment in the workplace, as well as to establish responsive and simplified internal procedures with all the necessary guarantees of protection and confidentiality.
  8. Biannual monitoring and evaluation. Monitoring is an essential tool for proper analysis of the Plan’s progress. Evaluation procedures are necessary to gauge the level of satisfaction among employees and the impact of the Plan on company operations and the workforce. To this end, Ineco has set up the Equality Plan Monitoring Committee to assess and advise on the matter.