The complicated regulatory framework of gender equality plans and protocols in companies. Some reflections on anti-harassment and diversity management protocols

Abstract

In the last four years, numerous legal reforms have been approved (RD Law 6/2019, Law 15/2022, Law 4/2023 and the ratification by the Spanish state of the ILO Convention 190) that incorporate numerous and complex obligations for companies to manage equality and diversity. Companies employing up to fifty workers will have the obligation to implement equality plans and, regardless of their size, all companies will have to negotiate a protocol for the prevention of any type of harassment and violence at work, with a greater development for the detection and redress of sexual harassment, harassment based on sex and sexual violence. Finally, the law 4/2023 mandates collective bargaining to incorporate clauses that address sexual diversity, and it also requires a further regulatory development of the obligation contained in art. 15, which is materialized in the mandatory negotiation of a set of measures and resources to achieve real and effective equality of LGTBI people, including a protocol of action for the attention of harassment or violence against LGTBI people.