Private sector faces gender quotas law

 In its bid to end male monopoly in workplaces, government is drafting law amendments that seek to extend gender quotas to the private sector.

Minister of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare Jean Sendeza has confirmed the development, disclosing that a task force was already working on the Gender Equality Act (GEA) review.

She said: “The review, among others, proposes to extend the issue of quotas to the private sector which currently only applies to the public sector, provision of protection to whistle-blowers…..”

The GEA, which was passed in 2013 compels employers to adhere to gender quotas of 60:40 during recruitment, meaning 60 percent male and 40 percent female or vice versa.

In her statement submitted to the United Nations (UN) Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, Sendeza hopes that the law review would reduce high levels of

 unemployment among women.

The document, which she presented at the committee’s meeting in Switzerland has been uploaded on the UN database website https://www.ohchr.org.

“The proposed Bill provides for an improved regime for the promotion and protection of the rights of women, in accordance with the Convention [on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women],” she said.

Asked about the composition of the task force, the ministry’s spokesperson Pauline Kaude said the members have been drawn from the Ministry of Justice, police, health and civil society, among other sectors.

The public service has not yet achieved the 60:40 representation, according to the Ministry of Gender.

Asked how the government expects to enforce the law in the private sector when it is failing to abide by it, Kaude said they haven’t failed.

She said: “Government is not failing to meet the gender quotas. Since 2021, it has been observing the 60:40 requirement.

“If there is still an imbalance, it is because of previous recruitments which were not following gender quotas.”

Meanwhile, the private sector representative Malawi Chambers of Commerce and Industry (MCCCI) has welcomed the plans to extend the quotas but cautioned that rushing the implementation would have negative implications.

“We are mindful that there are some roles which are gender specific roles. We, therefore, express some reservation on making this mandatory at least for now as it may affect productivity.

“Further, as a country, we have not reached the desired levels where we have enough women with adequate qualification to take up certain roles. This therefore needs to be carefully looked into as it may disadvantage the other gender,” said MCCCI communications executive Orama Chiphwanya.

She, however, added that MCCCI has already adopted the 40:60 gender quotas following a government policy that is in force.

Chiphwanya explained: “You may wish to know that this policy was already there and most companies and organisations, including the MCCCI, have already adopted the 40:60 gender quotas.

“Suffice to say we believe we have not reached the desired level to make this mandatory. Making it mandatory when other factors

are not clearly addressed could make it counterproductive.”

Employers Consultative Association of Malawi (Ecam) executive director George Khaki said the private sector was addressing issues of gender inequality.

“The private sector is already taking progressive steps to ensure gender equity in the workplace.

“Many companies have gender equality policies and programmes in place,” he said.

Khaki played down suggestions that the amendment of laws is key to levelling the playing fields in labour distribution.

He explained: “Amending the law alone may not resolve the issues that we face in promoting gender balance because some of the causes are systematic and cultural.

“We, therefore, need to take a holistic approach to resolving issues of gender like, for example, ensuring that females are not only provided with educational opportunities but they are also supported in this regard.”

Earlier this year, Ecam conducted a private sector gender audit which showed glaring gaps in distribution of jobs, especially in casual and seasonal employment and top management positions in companies.

It reads in part: “The survey distinguished between employees with casual or seasonal contracts and permanently contracted staff. In over 85 percent of companies surveyed, fewer than 20 percent of the casual and seasonal workers were women.

“Women were even less represented in positions further up the organisational hierarchy, representing less than 20 percent of employees in these categories in the majority of companies surveyed.”

The survey further says that although women tended to account for a larger proportion of permanently contracted staff, they were still in the minority overall.

“In over half of the companies [57 percent] surveyed, women represented 40 percent or less of the company’s total permanent labour force.

“In a quarter of the companies, the gender split was reasonably balanced between 40-60 percent, and in 18 percent of the companies, women accounted for over 60 percent of the permanent/contracted workforce,” the study found out.

Meanwhile, lawyer Bernadette Malunga, a staunch women rights advocate, said the review of the Act is necessary considering gaps in the law.