Labor punishes RFEF, Barça and Espanyol for lacking equality plan | Economy

The Minister of Labor and Second Vice-President of the Government, Yolanda Diaz, announced this Wednesday that the inspectorate has sanctioned the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and three clubs (Barça, Espanyol and CD Europa) for lack of equality. In addition, the inspection points to the RFEF for not activating the protocol on persecution.

“We are sending our world champions without an equality plan, without protocols on harassment in the workplace, this is very serious,” Díaz emphasized in an interview with Radio Nacional, in which he recalled what happened in the World Cup final with the now former RFEF president Luis Rubiales and non-consensual kiss from soccer player Jennifer Hermoso. “I want to tell the clubs and the federation that when we talk about equality, we are talking about fundamental rights and therefore they must respect the rules. Harassment is a very serious thing, we cannot continue without protocols of action, without equality plans,” Diaz said.

Sources at the Labor Inspectorate indicate that as a result of this episode, “the Ministry of Labor and Social Economy has decided to urgently act through the Labor and Social Security Inspectorate to review the equality situation of the 16 football clubs. , as well as sports corporations (SAD) and the Royal Spanish Football Federation.” These same sources do not currently specify the amount of sanctions. Diaz clarified that “we are talking about small amounts,” since the malfunctions are documentary in nature. That is, they are due to the lack of mandatory internal regulations.

Following the crisis that erupted in the Spanish federation over former president Luis Rubiales’ non-consensual kiss with footballer Jenny Hermoso, the RFEF and the players signed an agreement last October that prompted the creation of a mixed commission. , which represented parties other than the Supreme Sports Council, and in which the issue was explicitly mentioned: “The parties will ensure that protocols against abuse and harassment in sport are in place, (…) for the effective equality of women and men, as well as mandatory reporting on equality.” It was then that the Equality Commission was created, “which works intensively to ensure that these policies are promoted and respected through specific projects aimed not only at cyclical but also at structural changes.”

For its part, the RFEF says it has both an equality plan and a harassment protocol. “The plan has been in place since January 2022 and has developed an anti-harassment protocol,” federal sources say. The same sources suggest that after the inspection in September last year, some problems arose, for example, the registered plan does not match the one published on the federation’s website. A detail, they explain, that they do not attach much importance to. The said plan, as noted in the RFEF statement, “is valid for four years, includes 11 development areas and 26 specific measures that are implemented in the institution that governs football in Spain.” Moreover, adds the RFEF, which considers that “all legal requirements in this matter are now met”, after the Labor Inspectorate presented allegations in the findings regarding the registration of the equality plan: it questioned, among other things, whether this complied with its registration with the regional or state administration.

On the other hand, there was no news from Barcelona. It is also mentioned that RCD Espanyol explains that it has an equality plan from 2023 “pending administrative processing in the coming weeks at REGCON (registration and storage of collective agreements and equality plans).” At the end of September 2023, they add, “the club underwent a work inspection, which confirmed that we are at the documentation verification stage. For this reason the fine (already paid) was very low. We hope to resolve this process in a few weeks. The RCDE Workers’ Joint Bargaining Committee began preparing the Equality Plan on April 22 and a monitoring committee is now in place.”

As the Inspectorate clarified, the obligations of these companies for equal pay were checked (“that is, checking the availability of a salary certificate or the presence of wage discrimination”), actions were taken on the fact of sexual harassment (“verified” if they comply with measures to prevent sexual and gender-based harassment”), and examined whether they had equality plans in place. It was this latest analysis that led to sanctions against the clubs. “It is true that Madrid, Sevilla and others follow the rules best, but Barça and others are sanctioned because they do not have an equality plan,” Diaz explained.

Campaign started after non-consensual kiss

Dias announced the inspection campaign at the end of August last year along with a representative from women’s football’s majority union Futpro. The Second Vice President explained that the Labor Inspectorate will launch an information campaign through which it wants to remind sports clubs of their obligations regarding equality.

As well as having equality plans in place, the campaign focused on making sure pay gaps were justified. “What cannot be the case is that the differences arise because we are women. Should they earn the same? Probably not, but the differences must be clearly motivated. This is reflected in the pay equity provision that we approved in this ministry (in 2020).” As an example, he cited the minimum salary in the women’s league – 16,000 euros per year and in the men’s league – 180,000 euros per year. According to information provided by the inspectorate, the sanctions have nothing to do with these differences in wages. However, Diaz clarified that this part of the investigation has not yet been completed.

Futpro expressed its satisfaction with the inspectorate’s work in a statement: “As we have always said from our union side, we will work tirelessly to protect all footballers and achieve a safe and equal playing field for them by doing whatever is necessary. steps” to protect them. It is critical that our society’s most important institutions adhere to the values ​​of equality, respect and progress that citizens demand.”

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