Organic Law 3/2007, of 22 March, for the effective equality of women and men, provided for in Article 50, the creation of an equal enterprise in the field of equality to recognize those companies that stand out for the implementation of equal treatment and opportunity policies with its workers and workers. Royal Decree 1615/2009, of 26 October, governing the granting and use of the distinctive "Equality in the Company", established its name, the procedure and the conditions of its granting, the effects and powers derived from it. obtaining as well as the control and withdrawal procedures of the flag.

With the approval of this royal decree, some provisions are modified for, on the one hand, to adapt certain requirements for participation in the calls to the current legislation and, on the other, to adjust the criteria of assessment to obtain this distinction in order to incorporate or strengthen certain aspects to promote the effective equality of women and men who had not been incorporated into the regulatory standard.

The experience gained in the various annual calls for the award procedure for the "Equality in Enterprise" label also advises to reform some aspects of the procedure to introduce a system of monitoring, control and renewal of the most agile and effective distinguished entities.

With regard to the general requirements for filing the application to the flag or extending its validity, these are reinforced by requiring that the entities have not been sanctioned, in line with the provisions of the Law itself. Organic 3/2007, of 22 March, for the effective equality of women and men, for violations in the field of equality and non-discrimination in the access to goods and services; moreover, it is appropriate to the time limit in which the entities do not may submit their candidature for having been penalised for serious infringements of the same opportunities and non-discrimination to the maximum period of exclusion of benefits provided for by ancillary sanctions in Articles 46.1.b) and 46 bis.1.b) of the recast of the Law on Infractions and Sanctions in the Social Order adopted by Royal Legislative Decree 5/2000 of 4 August.

At the same time, it is appropriate to require new requirements such as the accreditation of the incorporation of monitoring and evaluation systems into the equality plans of companies submitting their application, or the presence of women in the administrative bodies of those commercial companies referred to in Article 75 of the Organic Law 3/2007 of 22 March, and in line with the forecasts contained in the new Article 540 (4) (c) 6 of the text recast of the Capital Companies Act, approved by the Royal Legislative Decree 1/2010, of 2 of July, introduced by Law 31/2014 of 3 December, amending the Law on Capital Companies for the Improvement of Corporate Governance.

With regard to the assessment criteria, Article 10 of Royal Decree 1615/2009 of 26 October is amended by the expression of new needs which must be taken into account for the granting of the flag. This includes new aspects, such as the valuation of the certifications that, endorsed from this Department, credit through external audits the compliance and implementation in the companies of some of the aspects listed in the above mentioned royal decree as necessary to achieve excellence.

On the other hand, it is appropriate to speed up and clarify the management procedures, and in this framework the regulation on the composition and appointment of the Evaluation Commission and the modification of the deadlines for the submission of annual monitoring reports and three-year extension requests, as well as the validity of the flag, making them coincide on the same dates, with the exception of the first year, irrespective of when it has been published their grant in the "Official State Gazette".

Finally, in order to meet the special characteristics of small and medium-sized enterprises, the size of enterprises is defined and defined by reference to the regulation of the European Union, in particular to the Commission Recommendation 2003 /361/EC of 6 May 2003 on the definition of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.

In the process of this royal decree, the autonomous communities, the most representative business and trade union organizations, as well as the Women's Participation Council have been consulted.

In its virtue, on the proposal of the Minister of Health, Social Services and Equality and the Minister of Employment and Social Security, with the prior approval of the Minister of Finance and Public Administrations, according to the Council of State and prior deliberation of the Council of Ministers at its meeting on 25 September 2015,

DISPONGO:

Single item. Amendment of Royal Decree 1615/2009 of 26 October regulating the granting and use of the distinctive "Equality in the Company".

Royal Decree 1615/2009 of 26 October on the granting and use of the flag 'Equality in the Company' is amended as follows:

One. Article 4 is amended as follows:

" Article 4. General requirements of the candidate entities to obtain the "Equality in the Company" flag.

1. Any entity or undertaking, of public or private capital, which exercises its activity in Spanish territory, may submit its application to the Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality for the granting of the business flag.

To these effects the terms entity or company must be understood in accordance with the provisions of article 1.2 of the recast text of the Law of the Workers ' Statute approved by Royal Legislative Decree 1/1995, of 24 of March.

The public authorities are excluded from the possibility of applying for the candidacy of the public authorities, which are understood by those related to article 3.2 of the recast text of the Law on Public Sector Contracts, approved by Real Madrid. Legislative Decree 3/2011 of 14 November.

2. Candidate entities shall meet the following requirements:

(a) Be enrolled in the relevant Social Security scheme and, where appropriate, be formally established and registered in the relevant public register.

b) To be aware of the compliance with the obligations in tax and social security matters.

(c) Not having been sanctioned on a firm basis in the two or three years preceding the date of completion of the deadline for the submission of applications, for serious or very serious infringements, respectively, in the field of equality of opportunities and non-discrimination, in accordance with the provisions of the recast of the Law on the Infractions and Sanctions of the Social Order, approved by Royal Decree-Law 5/2000 of 4 August.

(d) Not having been sanctioned on a firm basis in the two or three years preceding the date of completion of the deadline for the submission of applications, for serious or very serious infringements respectively, in the field of equality and not discrimination in access to goods and services.

e) Contar with an explicit commitment in terms of equal opportunities for women and men in working conditions, the organization and internal functioning of the company, and social responsibility. This commitment must be credited in writing and made public.

f) Haber has implemented an equality plan, in cases where the company is obliged to implement it by legal or conventional imperative. In other cases, they have implemented an equality plan or equality policies.

g) Having carried out balances or reports on monitoring and evaluation of the measures or the equality plan in the companies that have them. The assessment must have been carried out after at least one year has elapsed since the implementation of the measures or the approval of the equality plan.

3. Companies that are unable to make an abbreviated profit and loss account in accordance with Article 258 of the recast of the Capital Companies Act, approved by the Royal Legislative Decree 1/2010 of 2 July, and which have a board of directors, must meet any of the following requirements:

(a) Credit a female presence, on its board of directors, equal to or greater than the average percentage of women in such bodies collected in the last three annual Corporate Governance Reports securities issuers admitted to trading on official markets which, where applicable, publishes and updates the National Securities Market Commission for all these entities.

(b) An agreement has been concluded with the Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality within the programmes it carries out, in order to increase the presence of women on its board of directors on a voluntary basis

administration, according to its specific characteristics. "

Two. Article 6 is amended as follows:

" Article 6. Documentation.

1. Applications in addition to the supporting documentation of the ends referred to in Article 4 shall be accompanied by the following documentation:

(a) Full text or texts in which the equality plan or the equality policies in the enterprise is included, as well as the diagnosis of the situation in terms of equal opportunities for women and men, which served as a basis for the realization of the equality plan, as well as all the documentation that complements each other.

(b) The balance sheet or report on measures or equality plans implemented within the undertaking in accordance with Article 4.2.g. In those entities with the legal or conventional obligation to have an equality plan approved, it will deal with aspects related to the working conditions, the organizational model, the social responsibility of the company or the dissemination and publicity. of the products and services offered by the same.

c) Any other documentation that contributes to the best knowledge of the equality plan or equality policies in the candidate company.

(d) In cases where the company or entity has requested or obtained a similar flag from any other public administration, it shall also provide a copy of the relevant application or resolution which credit the granting of that flag.

2. Additional documentation: On an optional basis, a report of the representatives of the company's staff on the equality plan or the equality policies supporting the candidacy. If the company does not have bodies representing the workforce, its own workers and workers may subscribe to the report. "

Three. Article 7 (1) and (3) are amended as follows:

" 1. The Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality shall constitute a Evaluation Commission for the award of the distinctive "Equality in Enterprise", with the following composition:

(a) Presidency: the head of the Directorate of the Women's Institute and for Equal Opportunities.

(b) Vocalias: Three persons holding positions with an organic level of general sub-directorate or deputy director for the purpose of the Institute for Women and Equal Opportunities, appointed by the Presidency of the Commission Evaluator.

(c) Secretariat: A person with an organic level of at least a counselor or technical counselor at the Women's Institute and Equal Opportunities, appointed by the Chair of the Evaluation Commission.

3. The Evaluation Commission may request from other public administrations the reports it deems appropriate on the companies that are candidates for the flag, for the best development of its evaluating function. "

Four. Article 9 is amended as follows:

" Article 9. Delivery of the flag.

The Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality shall give the certificate of the distinctive "Equality in the Company" in public act called to the effect and to which it will be endowed with the appropriate solemnity and diffusion. "

Five. The following amendments are made to Article 10

1. Paragraph 2 is amended as follows:

" 2. Aspects relating to access to employment and working conditions.

(a) The breakdown by sex of the data relating to all the staff members of the company, by age, type of relationship with the company, levels, professional groups or jobs and their evolution in the last years.

(b) The breakdown by sex of the data relating to the remuneration of the company's staff, by age, type of relationship with the company, levels, professional groups or jobs and their evolution in the last years.

(c) The application of criteria for access to employment and professional promotion appropriate to the principle of equality and non-discrimination.

(d) The application of systems and criteria for professional classification and remuneration that comply with the parameters of advertising, objectivity and transparency and promote the principle of equality and non-discrimination.

e) The establishment of measures for the organization of working time (working time and hours, shifts, holidays, among others) that facilitate the reconciliation of work, personal and family life or the establishment of other measures for the same purpose, including those relating to improvements and social benefits, to remote work or to geographical mobility, to the extent that they contribute to higher levels of reconciliation.

f) The establishment of awareness and outreach measures that facilitate the reconciliation of work, personal and family life for both men and women and to make men aware of the co-responsibility, preventing maternity from being a professional disadvantage for women.

g) The implementation of a training offer to correct the lack of training of women in jobs in which they are under-represented, especially those with greater responsibility, diversification, creativity and remuneration.

(h) The implementation of specific measures to prevent sexual harassment and harassment on the basis of sex at work: codes of conduct, protocols for action to give caution to complaints or complaints that may be made in the harassment, as well as actions to raise awareness and training for workers and their representatives.

i) The establishment of policies for the prevention of advanced and innovative work risks, especially in relation to maternity, parenthood and breastfeeding.

j) The presence of women and the adoption of measures in companies to boost their presence in the boards of directors, in other collegiate bodies and in the rest of the different decision-making positions and their evolution in recent years.

k) The presence of women and the adoption of measures in companies to boost their presence, among others, in jobs of high technological, technical and scientific content, and their evolution in recent years.

l) The gender-based analysis of decisions to be taken in the procedures and industrial relations in the enterprise, to ensure that they do not have negative effects on equal opportunities for women and men.

m) The effective dissemination and guarantee of rights and powers relating to the equality plan or equality policies and, in particular, the mechanisms of protection against discrimination. "

2. A new paragraph (h) is added to paragraph 3, which is read as follows, passing the current paragraph (h) to be called (i):

" (h) The subscription of voluntary agreements or ethical codes promoted by the General Administration of the State that aim to increase the presence of women in the positions of high responsibility of the companies, thus as the positive results obtained as a result of your subscription. "

3. Two new paragraphs are inserted in the following terms:

" 4. The companies that meet the calls for the award of the distinctive "Equality in the Company" that have obtained certifications or recognition of quality in the implementation of a management model in the field of the reconciliation of the life work, personal and family, granted by non-profit entities, which are audited by an independent third party and who collaborate with the Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality, obtain in the assessment of paragraphs e) and f) of the Article 10.2, a score in those aspects directly proportional to the graduation or category granted by the certifying entity. '

" 5. For the rating of institutions for their size, their size shall be treated in accordance with the criteria set out in Commission Recommendation 2003 /361/EC of 6 May 2003 on the definition of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Companies (Official Journal L 124, 20-05-2003), being qualified as "large companies", those that do not meet the criteria set out in that Recommendation. "

Six. Article 11 (1) (a) is drawn up in the following terms

"(a) The delivery to the undertaking in public by the Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality of a certificate of the award of the business distinguishing mark in the field of equality."

Seven. The second paragraph of Article 13 is worded as follows:

" The deadline for delivering the annual and three-year reports shall end on the last working day of the month of March of each financial year. Institutions that have to deliver the first annual report shall comply with that deadline after at least one year has elapsed since the publication of their concession in the Official Gazette of the State. '

Eight. Article 15 is amended as follows:

" Article 15. Effective.

The award of the "Equality in the Company" flag will have an initial term of three years, it being understood that the first annuity will be fulfilled on the last working day of the month of March after at least one year since the publication of its concession in the "Official State Gazette". "

Nine. The third paragraph of Article 16 is amended as follows:

" Each extension shall be three years and shall be subject to the same requirements and obligations as are established for the grant, so failure to comply with any of the extremes set out in Article 4 shall prevent the validity of the flag is extended, irrespective of whether the entity concerned may be present in future calls if it meets those, without prejudice to the application of the time limits provided for in Article 18.3. '

Ten. An additional provision is added with the following wording:

" Single additional disposition. Definition of the terms entity and company.

The entity and company terms used in this royal decree must be understood in any event in accordance with the provisions of the first paragraph of Article 4.1. "

Single additional disposition. No increase in public spending.

The provisions of this royal decree will not increase public spending.

First transient disposition. Transitional arrangements for procedures.

The procedures already initiated before the entry into force of this royal decree will not apply to them, governed by the previous regulations.

Second transient disposition. Transitional regime for the flags in force.

The requirements required by article 4.3 for obtaining the flag will not be required for the renewal of its validity to the entities that to the date of the entry into force of this royal decree are in possession of the "Equality in Enterprise" flag.

Single end disposition. Entry into force.

This royal decree will enter into force on the day following its publication in the "Official State Gazette".

Given in Madrid, on September 28, 2015.

FELIPE R.

The Vice President of the Government and Minister of the Presidency,

SORAYA SAENZ DE SANTAMARIA ANTON