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Garrigues implements its Equality Plan

The first Spanish law firm to present such a plan

As from September 1, Garrigues has launched an Equality Plan aimed at making equal treatment and opportunities for men and women a reality and effectively ensuring that direct or indirect discrimination on the grounds of gender does not take place. The Garrigues Equality Plan is the first plan to be officially presented in the legal services sector in Spain and unquestionably consolidates the conciliation policies introduced by the Firm in recent years.

As from September 1, Garrigues has launched an Equality Plan aimed at making equal treatment and opportunities for men and women a reality and effectively ensuring that direct or indirect discrimination on the grounds of gender does not take place. The Garrigues Equality Plan is the first plan to be officially presented in the legal services sector in Spain and unquestionably consolidates the conciliation policies introduced by the Firm in recent years.

The Plan aims to promote measures to help attain a better work-life balance for all personnel and to encourage a shared sense of responsibility and commitment to the Firm, help retain talent and capitalize on the experience gained, not to mention rewarding effort and dedication while ensuring modern and efficient time management, and without losing sight of the needs and requirements entailed by the provision of legal advisory services and by the Firm’s business model.

“We consider that the measures approved are, by their very nature, effective instruments for ensuring a policy of equality among the Firm’s employees that really works,” explained Lourdes Ramos, Garrigues’ Human Resources Director. “We believe that the Plan will help us to foster a culture of training, information and awareness with respect to principles and policies in the area of equality with a view to implementing measures and solutions, where possible, to enable us to create a flexible working system.”

The Plan has been approved as an “open text”, allowing for improvements to be made through suggestions and other contributions by Firm employees and the appropriate channels and structures are already in place. A permanent committee has also been set up, tasked with ensuring observance of and compliance with the measures contained in the document.

‘First Year Plan’
In addition to the policies that are already in place at the Firm, the Garrigues Equality Plan contains other new features, such as encouraging teleworking as an effective way of striking a balance between the working life and home life of its employees. The Plan establishes that during the first year of parenthood, Garrigues personnel may ask to combine their time at the office with working from home.

Another new development is the creation of an established action protocol for cases of sexual, moral or gender harassment. The aim is to provide a useful, preventive and corrective tool, based on the principles of confidentiality, speed, transparency, objectivity, impartiality and respect for the privacy and dignity of all of Garrigues personnel.

The implementation of the Equality Plan further strengthens Garrigues’ commitment to corporate social responsibility as one of the Firm’s guiding principles. Together with the annual corporate social responsibility report that Garrigues has been publishing for the last two years, the Plan represents a clear commitment by Garrigues to its people, the search for excellence and quality management.