New bill proposes at least one-third of women in upper management in large companies

Large companies in Czechia will have to ensure a more balanced share of men and women in leadership positions if a proposed bill published on the government's website is approved, the Czech News Agency reported on Saturday. According to the draft law, women should make up at least a third of representation in upper management.

On average, women hold 32.2 percent of leadership positions across the EU, while in Czechia, it is only 21 percent. It ranks 20th out of the 27 EU member states when it comes to representation of women in upper management and has long been criticised for failure to do anything to improve the situation.

The new regulation is required by last year's EU directive on improving the gender balance among directors of listed companies, and Czechia must adopt it by December 28. According to the accompanying documents on the government's website, the law is being adopted in the most minimal form required for it to still comply with the EU directive and the changes would only affect five companies and banks in the country. However, in their justification for the law, the authors noted that more progress towards gender balance was made in countries where the measures were mandatory and that, according to studies, an increase in the proportion of women in top management positions leads to higher performance, success and competitiveness.