A new parliamentary bill would impose fines on Icelandic companies that do not fulfil a gender quota on their corporate boards, mbl.is reports. The bill was presented by Left-Green MP Lilja Rafney Magnúsdóttir and has the support of Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir, who says she believes it will be welcomed by the business community.
According to the terms of the bill, which is currently under consideration in Alþingi, a daily fine of between ISK 10-100,000 ($80-790/€75-730) would be levied against companies whose corporate boards are not comprised of a legally mandated gender balance – namely that no gender may have less than 40% representation. The fine would be assessed until the company submitted an updated notice to the Register of Corporations showing a more equal gender balance.
According to recent reports, the percentage of women on corporate boards in Iceland is just over 30%, despite the fact that a higher rate is mandated by law and has been since 2010. It has also become clear that laws on gender quotas have not had the hoped-for spillover effect and led to more women entering executive or senior management positions.
“I think parliament should approve this bill,” the Prime Minister remarked during her speech at the Iceland Chamber of Commerce’s business conference in Harpa on Thursday. “…I believe that it will be welcomed by the business community.” Indeed, earlier in the conference, when Chamber of Commerce Chair Katrín Olga Jóhannesdóttir asked all attendees who were committed to being part of the solution when it comes to equality issues in the industry to stand, nearly every person in attendance did so.
“We all know that men and women are equal,” the Prime Minister concluded. “The fact that there are not more women executives [in Iceland] is a waste of human resources.”
