On Wednesday, assumptions for changes to the laws appeared on the government website, the provisions of which will affect many companies registered on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. The changes will have to be dealt with in particular by the larger ones.
Revolution on the stock exchange. Decision of the Ministry of Justice
The government is planning to change several laws, the reason being the need to adapt them to EU directive from 2022. This one, commonly known as the Gender Equality Directive, imposes far-reaching changes on the Member States. The provisions of the directive refer to underrepresented gender in corporate boardsso they apply to both men and women and are intended to introduce minimum requirements for listed companies in the selection of these candidates.
The directive does exclude from its scope micro, small and medium-sized enterprises employing fewer than 250 employees, whose annual turnover does not exceed EUR 50 million or whose annual balance sheet total does not exceed EUR 43 million, but it will still affect many medium and large Polish companies. It is estimated that the changes will cover about half of the companies listed on the WSEand will concern, in short, such employment on management and supervisory boards as to meet the gender quotas introduced by the EU.
Big penalties for gender inequality: Draft bill
The proposed bill assumes that regulated companies will achieve parity of 33 percent of all positions, both in the management board and in the supervisory board of the company. Once the regulations come into force, the general meeting of shareholders will have to decide who to delegate to these bodies so as not to violate EU regulations. And what if two people of different sexes but with the same qualifications apply for one position?
“In the event of a choice being made between candidates with equivalent qualifications, priority is given to the candidate belonging to the underrepresented gender” – informs the Ministry of Justice, providing at the same time some exceptions to this rule.
The regulations also require the company’s management board to prepare a report on gender balance in the company’s representation and supervisory bodies every calendar year. It will be worse if someone rebels and does not want to implement these new, equal principles in their companies.
“In the event of non-performance or improper performance by the company of the obligations arising from the proposed Articles 90gc, 90gg, the Polish Financial Supervision Authority may impose on the company a financial penalty up to the amount equivalent to 10 percent of total annual revenue shown in the last audited financial statement for the financial year,” the Ministry of Justice warns.
