Costa Rica Creates New Certification to Promote Gender Equality in Companies

The Costa Rica News (TCRN) – Costa Rica has created a technical standard that will allow companies to become certified in gender equality, which makes it the second country to have a tool like this of its kind in Latin America, after Chile.

The INTE 38-01-01:2013 rule is by the National Institute for Women (Inamu) and the Institute of Technical Standards of Costa Rica (INTECO), and aims to develop policies and actions to eliminate gender gaps in employment.

The Minister for the Status of Women and President of Inamu, Isabel Chamorro, said in a statement that the rule “promotes equality and gender equality at work” and hoped that many companies get certified.

“Ideally, there are more organizations hiring women and men in various occupations and positions.  They need policies to reconcile work and family life, and policies and actions that discourage sexual harassment and bullying,” said Chamorro.

For his part, President of INTECO, Cristian Leñero said that the rule will allow companies or organizations to voluntarily engage directly in the process of recognizing gender gaps that exist inside and then apply measures to eliminate them.

“What is sought is that in this process, all involved will learn to recognize when and how to generate actions to eliminate discrimination and, consequently, propose solutions,” he added.

To receive the certification companies must document the gender gaps and then set goals and objectives to address the problem in areas such as recruitment, compensation, sexual and reproductive health, gender violence, harassment, working hours, health and safety occupational, among others.

In addition, public and private institutions wishing to be certified to this standard must comply with established labor rights in Costa Rican legislation. (EFE)

The Costa Rica News (TCRN)

San Jose Costa Rica